Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Palette

When the Shade + Light Eye Contour palette was announced, I immediately started drooling for it. I got mine early by nicely asking a Sephora employee about it, after seeing a few people on Instagram with it.

Top row, L-R: Laetus, Lazarus, Ludwin
Bottom row, L-R: Samael, Solas, Lucius, Saleos, Shax, Liberatus, Succubus, Sytry, Latinus

Top: Laetus
Bottom: Samael, Solas, Lucius

Laetus - Pale yellow beige
Samael - Light tan. Leans warm
Solas - Medium brown. Leans cool.
Lucius - Pale cream

Top: Laetus
Bottom: Samael, Solas, Lucius (Laetus and Lucius are nearly the same color as my skin, which is why you can't see them)

Top: Lazarus
Bottom: Saleos, Shax, Liberatus

Lazarus - Light taupe
Saleos - Medium-dark grey with a hint of brown
Shax - Black
Liberatus - Cool-leaning white

Top: Lazarus
Bottom: Saleos, Shax, Liberatus

Top: Ludwin
Bottom: Succubus, Sytry, Latinus

Ludwin - Slightly tan peach
Succubus - Reddened medium brown
Sytry - Medium-dark warm brown with a slight grey undertone
Latinus - Very pale yellow. This is the only shade with a satin finish.

Top: Ludwin
Bottom: Succubus, Sytry, Latinus

PIGMENTATION: For the most part, these shadows have excellent pigmentation.  Shax and Saleos fell slightly short of everyone else's mark. If I gave them report cards, Saleos would get a A- and Shax would get a B. Laetus and Lucius nearly match my skintone, but if you aren't a ghost, they'll definitely show up. (If you are a ghost, they will make excellent blending colors!)

PRODUCT: Laetus and Lucius felt a little chalky.  Samael and Solas felt almost like cream shadows when I touched the pan. Succubus, Sytry, and Latinus were so lovely and buttery.  I wore Laetus,
Samael, Solas, and Lucius the other day without UDPP (which I NEVER do) and I didn't have any creasing or fading for the entire time I had the shadows on (which was only about five hours). Eyeshadow ALWAYS creases on me- even when my skin was like paper from taking Accutane- so color me impressed. When I was dipping my brushes into the pans, a lot of powder was kicked up, but I didn't notice any fall out or crazy dust halo of eyeshadow on my cheeks (which sometimes happens when I'm trying to create magic with super powdery shadows.)

Check out that fancy background!

PACKAGING: The packaging is cardboard with decently sized mirror. This palette is divided into three tone sections: Neutral, Cool, and Warm and comes with an instruction guide on how to use the each section. There are two looks given for each tone section for a total of 6 looks-- perfect if you're new to makeup, or get in a rut. 

PRICE: $46

All in all, Shade + Light Eye Contour is THE perfect neutral palette. It has a great range of shades that really would work for all skin tones, there are no real duds in terms of texture, and it even comes with a guide to take the guesswork out of using it.

As always, you don't have to take my word for it. Kat Von D's Shade + Light Eye Contour palette will be fully available from Sephora soon! 

Look of the day- April 3 2015!

Today I accidentally had perfect hair so I decided to put on makeup. Because that's what you do when your hair looks good.

One of these days I'll be photogenic! My top is from Vivien of Holloway if you're curious.

Let me preface this by saying a lot of my look today was achieved with Urban Decay Naked on the Run palette.  I've listed it as "UDNotR."

FACE:
Josie Maran tinted moisturizer- fair
OCC skin conceal- Y0
Blush & highlighter- UDNotR

EYES:
UDNotR- Dive, Fix, Resist, Perversion mascara
Kat Von D Lightning Liner - Fyfe (original version)

BROWS:
Tarte EmphasEYES- Rich brown
Blinc Brow Mousse- Dark brown

LIPS:
Kat Von D liquid lipstick- Vampira (barely patted on and rubbed in really well)
Benecos lipstick- Pink Honey

Bella & Spike Azuki Bean Facial Scrub

I don't quite remember how it started , but I've been obsessed with powder exfoliants. It's been crazy hard to find an affordable one that is also cruelty-free.  Enter the Bella & Spike Skincare's Azuki Bean Facial Scrub. They describe it as "a gently exfoliating facial scrub that will leave your skin feeling smooth, moisturized, and radiant."

The powder a little lumpy, probably because I keep it in the shower and extra moisture gets in the bottle.

PRODUCT:  This is a powder that you can mix with water to create an exfoliant paste. (I sometimes mix it with my cleanser to kill two birds with one stone.) The grains are really fine so I don't feel like its scratching my sensitive skin. It smells like brown rice, which isn't amazing, but it's definitely not the worst smell in the world. The only complaint I have is that it my skin feels quite a bit dry after I use it, but its nothing I can't fix with a good moisturizer afterwards. With regular use I've noticed that my skin tone has been more even, which I didn't think would EVER happen.

PACKAGING: The scrub is housed in a frosted glass bottle with an easy-to-screw-open metal top. I keep it in the shower, so the ink on the label has began to run. It's not so bad that I can't read anything anymore, as you can see from the pictures.

PRICE: $20 for 4 oz.

Despite it not living up to its moisturizing claims, I really like the Azuki Bean Facial Scrub, and would definitely purchase it again.

As always, you don't have to take my word for it! The Azuki Bean Facial Scrub is available on Bella & Spike's Etsy page.

Besame Cosmetics Brightening Vanilla Powder

Besame Cosmetics is a brand that I've been looking at longingly for a really long time, but never actually bought anything.  Thanks to my dealer, Sephora, for making it easy to try one of their products out.

PRODUCT: This is a yellow-toned HD finishing powder.  It's really finely milled so the texture is really soft. The finish it gives is really lovely, and I haven't had any issues with caking or it screwing up my makeup EXCEPT on days where my skin is mega dry. On those days, it emphasizes any flakes I have (like how any powder would).  This does have a vanilla scent, which disappears very quickly once the powder is applied.

Check out that fancy manicure! *barf*

The tiny velvety powder puff that's included is no slouch either! Ok, it's nothing extraordinary, but it does the job and I feel fancy putting my fingers behind the ribbon loop.

PACKAGING: The design on this is sooo pretty, but the outer packaging is plastic. I'm afraid the twist-off cap will eventually crack or break. There is a plastic sifter on the inside, as well as a plastic guard for the powder puff, and to prevent powder going everywhere-- yay! I probably will remove the sifter because not enough product comes out to my liking.

PRICE: $22 for 0.21 oz

All in all, I really like this product! The yellow tint helps correct redness I get, and the powder itself gives a blurring effect which is always welcome considering I am cursed with large pores.

As always, you don't have to take my word for it. Besame Cosmetics' Brightening Vanilla Powder is available now from Sephora.

Kat Von D Lock-it Featherweight Primer

Brand spankin' new in the Kat Von D line is the Lock-It Featherweight Primer. The packaging claims it is "hydrating, water based, weightless fragrance free, and oil free."

Product:  I've been using this for a few days now and I can't tell whether I like this or not.  It's initially hydrating, but it doesn't lock moisture into my skin for all-day comfort (i have dry skin.  If you have more oily skin, you may feel differently about this).  I have large pores and some fine lines happening under my eyes and on the sides of my mouth; and, this helped delay creasing in my lines, but it did nothing to fill in or blur my pores.  This was a better companion to my powder foundation then it was to my liquid foundation(s).

Packaging: Like the Lock-It Foundation, the primer has sort of packaging-within-packaging.  This has a pretty peacock feather design on the inner packaging. You can easily control how much comes out of the pump by how much you depress the button., This packaging has something I wish that the foundation had: a fancy stopper!

I'm sorry for this terrible picture.

Price: $32 for 1 oz.

All in all, I'm on the fence about this.  It's not amazing, and it's not terrible.  I'm going to continue to use this, and will update this post if I come to a more definitive conclusion about this.

Of course,  you don't have to take my word!  Kat von D's Lock-It Featherweight Primer is available now at Sephora.

Look of the day 1/11/2015

I got inspired by a Venus Palette Dupe post on Reddit since I had two of the mentioned colors, so I came up with this look.

Face: Featherweight primer
Lock it foundation in L45 mixed with an old tattoo concealer equivalent to L42
Lock it powder foundation in L45 (all by Kat Von D)
OCC skin conceal in Y0
Tease from the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette to contour

Eye brows: Tarte EmphasEYES high definition eyebrow pencil in Rich Brown
Blinc eyebrow mousse in Dark Brown

Eyes: Cleopatra from the Kat Von D Ladybird palette
Bootycall from Naked 2 for the highlight
Fixated from the Melt Cosmetics Love Sick Stack in lower lash line/outer corner
Hourglass Film Noir Mascara

Lips: Bite Lip Lab Creme Deluxe Lipstick in 01/15

Illamasqua lip pencil in Severity

Bite Lip Lab Creme Deluxe Lipstick: 01/15

For 2015, the folks at the Bite Beauty Lip Lab (which is in SoHo if you're in NYC) are doing a Sephora-exclusive run of twelve exclusive lipsticks.  A new one will release each month, then disappears into the ether. I guess.  Sephora describes January's release as a "deep burgundy with red undertone" and is Bite's creme deluxe formula, which is described as "luxurious pearl, silk, and champagne" (and costs $48 if you create a lipstick in this formula at the Bite Lip Lab).

Pigmentation: I'd say this was decently pigmented, but it needed a few strokes from the tube to get there.

Maybe not as deep as described, but I think a red-toned burgundy is a pretty accurate description.

Product: Upon initial application, this had a glossy finish, but dried down to a satin. Has a lot of slip that doesn't seem to go away as it dries down, making it move around when I pressed my lips together. For the life of me, I could not get this to make a crisp edge straight from the tube, so a lip liner or brush will be crucial for future applications. (Illamasqua's Severity pencil is a perfect match FYI)  Can't put my finger on what the scent is, but it's faint, pleasant and doesn't stick around long.

I applied this on unprimed dry lips and, at first the formula was super comfortable to wear, but as I write this post I'm three hours in and it's pretty drying.  01/15 also settled into my lip lines after about two hours.

Packaging: The tube has a slanted cap and is plastic with a rubberized finish. 

Price: $36 for .15oz

Truthfully, I had high hopes for this lipstick and I'm really let down. For the price and knowing the normally high quality of Bite's products, this fell short of so many marks. I personally will be keeping it because I don't mind having to do the prepwork prior to wearing or re-applying, but I'm definitely turned off to seeing what's ahead for the rest of the year.

Update: I wore this the next day and it's SO high maintenance I've decided to return it. Or maybe take it to Bite's Lip Lab, dupe the color in a different formula, and then return it.

You don't have to take my word for it! 01/15 is available now (for a limited time only!) at Sephora.