I've been writing this brand review for what seems like weeks now and it's getting a bit long winded so I've decided to split the review into 3 parts. I'm doing this because I have too many eyeshadow palettes to talk about, so I'll write a separate blog post about those, and I have wanted to try the brushes forever, so I've just ordered a few and will do another post on my feelings when they arrive. This part will be a pretty long one, as there are quite a lot of products to cover, but I've tried to break it down and add as many pictures as I can so I don't bore you to death!
After being catapulted to stardom in the reality TV show Miami Ink, globally renowned tattoo artist Kat Von D launched her own makeup line for Sephora in 2008. Kat Von D Beauty was originally a Sephora exclusive and the initial launch included two eyeshadow palettes, eyeliners, brushes and four lipsticks - including the now iconic Lolita shade.
The brand has expanded over the years and now comprises of a full collection with everything from primer to setting spray. Kat Von D Beauty launched in the UK at Debenhams last year and counters are popping up in stores all over the country already. Super handy if you want to check out swatches or get shade matched to a foundation. All of the products are cruelty free and a good selection are vegan - the Kat Von D Beauty website will tell you which shades and products are vegan by the #VeganAlert hashtag on the product descriptions, which is pretty useful as so many consumers are switching towards veganism these days.
I've not got everything from the range but I have a decent selection so I'm going to give my thoughts on the products, and then the brand as a whole. In these reviews I'm going to try and stay away from the more problematic aspects of the brands and owners, as if I got into the whole drama aspect of the makeup industry I'd be here writing all day. It's all available on Google if you are a gossip lover though!
Let's start with the foundation;
The Lock-It foundation is SUPER full coverage. It's great for oily skin and it gives a matte finish. I initially didn't like this product as it is so thick it transfers really easily, even if I set it with powder. I've recently started to use it again though and I find that if I apply it with a damp beauty blender tather than a brush, it doesn't go on as thick and its much easier to set. Despite the heavy coverge and thicker formula, I don't find this foundation to be particularly cakey, it's a pretty nice foundation if you need full coverage - which I absolutely do! As you can see from the swatch image, it is not heavy enough to cover a tattoo, and it does enhance skin texture!
Might as well do this in the order I'd apply my makeup, so concealer is next up!
The Lock-It Concealer Creme was launched last year to replace the brand's original concealer (which I utterly hated). I do only have the shade White-Out which is pure white, so my review may not be totally accurate of the more pigmented shades.
I am very fair skinned, so when I read that Kat was coming out with a completely white concealer you can bet I was sat by my computer on launch day ready to buy this stuff! I do struggle to get a concealer that brightens my NW10 skin so this was ideal.Unfortunately, the coverage is absolutely diabolical! It's good to brighten the skin but it does not conceal at all unfortunately. I still use this concealer every day but I have to mix it with another one in order to conceal my dark circles.
Lock-It Setting Powder. I hate this stuff. I really cannot stand it. It cakes up around my oily patches and enhances my already gigantic pores something rotten. And baking with this is an absolute disaster. I'll stick to Laura Mercier.
Shade and Light Contour palettes;
The brand has two contour palettes, a cream and a powder. The shades are the same in each palette. I only have the cream contour palette though as I like to use one of the shades in the Shade and Light Eyeshadow palette for powder contouring! The cream formula is nice and soft, not super stiff and blends out really nicely with a brush or a sponge. There is a cream contour brush available from this brand, and although I've not tried any of the brushes I definitely plan to in the future.
Kat Von D Beauty currently only has one "blusher" in the range, and this is an "eyeshadow and blush" in the shade Lolita. It's the same size as the regular single eyeshadow pans and is EXTREMELY pigmented - I definitely had Aunt Sally cheeks the first time I tried this! Lolita is marketed as a universally flattering colour, and while this is certainly true as a blush, I would like to see more shades available for those of us who would generally sway towards a pink or orange blush, or even a more luminous blush.
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| Lolita: finger swatch, blush brush swatch and flat brush swatch |
The brand currently has two highlighter palettes, Alchemist and Metal Crush.
The Alchemist palette is very much like Moonchild from Anastasia Beverly Hills - a palette of duochrome shades best suited to pale skin tones, which can be used as highlight, eyeshadow or eyeshadow/lip toppers. I am not in love with this palette for highlighting, I find it to be quite chunky and a little more chalky than Moonchild, and the pan size is very small. I do, however love to use this as a topper on a smokey eye to give a stunning pop of colour. Here is my client Emily wearing the shade Saphyre over a black smoked out look:
The Metal Crush Extreme highlighter palette contains 3 pans of the Metal Crush formula, although the pans are larger to accommodate a highlighter/fan brush. A couple of years ago, the beauty community went crazy for the Metal Crush shade Thunderstruck as a hightlighter, and although I have never tried it personally, I was looking forward to the release of this palette. It contains a pink, white and peach shade and oh my goodness I absolutely HATE this palette!
I can't put into words how much I can't stand this bloody thing. It looks SO stunning, the packaging is beautiful, the shades are so pretty and when first applied to the skin it gives the most blinding, metallic shine. Give it two hours though and your face looks like you've just had a glitter bomb go off in front of you. There are so many glitter particles in these highlighters, they are so glitter heavy that it just ends up looking a mess if you wear it for anything other than taking a picture for Instagram. I'm super disappointed with this palette, it's definitely not what I had hoped for.
Brows:
The brand does have a brow product, Tattoo Brow, but it isn't available in the UK. I've not tried it so can't give my thoughts. I do, however, use the Shade and Light eye palette for brows a lot!
Eyeshadow:
Kat Von D Beauty sells individual metallic eyeshadows, the Metal Crush range. I don't own any of these individual pans, however I am fairly sure that the formula is the same as that of the metallic shades in the Metal Matte palette, and I absolutely adore those. They are super soft and full of pigment, and they are highly metallic. If I was going to pay £16 for an individual eyeshadow then this is exactly what I'd expect from it. Currently the only single matte eyeshadow available is Lolita, which I have discussed above. Here is a picture of me wearing Lolita on my eyes and cheeks and also the Lolita 2 liquid lipstick:
Eyeliner:
Ok, I know that everyone in the entire universe RAVES about the Tattoo Liner, but I have honestly never even wanted to try it because I am so emotionally attached to my NYX liquid liner (seriously, I have gone through 3 of these this year). However, I picked up one of the very cute mini kits from Debenhams (if you want to try this brand but don't want to spend a fortune, take a look at Debenhams, these little kits are excellent value for money) which included a deluxe mini Tattoo Liner, so I thought I'd give it a little review.
I don't hate it. I actually really, REALLY like it. I hate to say that I completely get why it's hyped up so much. It's super matte, super black, stays on all day and doesn't crack or flake...but neither does my NYX one, and that's £6 compared to £16 so I know which one I'll be repurchasing.
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| Top two swatches, Kat Von D. Bottom two swatches, Nyx. |
The brand has recently released a limited edition eyeliner collab with Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day
Marketed as an "anti-precision" liner, Basket Case is a smudgeable black pencil. It is super soft and creamy to apply with the idea it can be smudged out to get a super black smokey eye, just like Billie Joe wears. I haven't had chance to play about with this yet so I'm hoping to do a separate review later.
Lips:
Kat Von D Beauty has an impressive selection of lip products. You can choose from the old school bullet lipstick or the current favourite, liquid to matte lipsticks. There are also lip liners in an array of colours, and the newly released Everlasting Glimmer Veil liquid lipsticks.
The Studded Kiss Lipsticks come in absolutely beautiful packaging. The casing is studded (obviously) and feels nice and sturdy. I have never been a fan of bullet lipsticks, but I have tried a couple of these and I quite enjoy them. They don't drag on the lips or cling to texture and imperfections like a lot of lipsticks can. The colours are nicely pigmented and opaque and they apply very smoothly.
Considering I really don't love the Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks, I own an awful lot of them!
I definitely don't hate this formula, but it is really not my favourite at all. It applies nicely, although I'd prefer a little more pigment in some of the nude shades and although they are comfortable to wear, I find that the wear time is not great. I also hate the giant applicators on the full size lipsticks, so I do prefer the minis. There's usually a box of mini liquid lipsticks out at Christmas, so if you are wanting to try these particular lipsticks then I definitely reccommend starting with one of those little sets.
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| The Lolita Vault which includes three lip liners, two liquid lipsticks, a studded kiss lipstick and the lolita blush. |
I'm going to say pretty much the same thing about the Everlasting Lip Liners that I said about the Tattoo Liner. These lip liners are beautiful. They are soft, creamy and pigmented. They glide on beautifully. However, so do my NYX lip liners. I love the three Kat Von D lip liners that I own, but unless I need a specific colour in future, I think I will be sticking with NYX.
I find Kat Von D Beauty as a brand, pretty appealing. The packaging is always fantastic, but that is to be expected from a world renowned artist (Kat designs the lettering and packaging on all of her products). The brand has a great selection of products and colours, and are always coming out with new and innovative ideas - I am incredibly excited for the range of rainbow coloured eyebrow pomades coming this year, and I almost peed my pants with excitement when I found out they are bringing out a Divine palette in February! The brand does have some products which I personally think fall short of expectations, but I would say that this is true of most makeup/beauty brands. The fact that Kat is so passionate about animal rights and veganism makes this brand appealing to the many consumers who are moving towards cruelty free makeup these days, and it is great to see a brand of this size have so many vegan options. I know that, as a makeup artist, if I have a client who requests vegan products only, I would be able to get pretty much everything I need just from this brand. I definitely enjoy a lot of Kat Von D Beauty products, and I will continue to buy from them in the future as long as they keep up the same level of quality and innovation.
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