Kat Von D Shade & Light Contour Palette

Welcome back lovely people!

This week's make-up related post is going to be all about Kat Von D's somewhat new Shade & Light Contour Palette!  We all know that Kat is an extremely talented sketch artist and is able to manipulate shadow and light to create dimension in her portraits.  WELL, now we have her very own palette that give us the tools to sculpt our faces through the art of shading and highlighting.

Nowadays, I feel like every brand is coming out with their own rendition of a "contour" type of palette, and with so many on the market it can be quite overwhelming in the stores (speaking from experience).  I walked into Sephora about a month ago and I was on the hunt for a contouring/highlighting type of palette,  The girl that worked there must've given me 8 different options.  I explained to her that I did not want the Anastasia Contour Kit because it was too overrated and everyone and their mother already had it.  On the plus side, it was waaay too warm-toned/orange-looking for my pale skin! 

I stumbled across Kat Von D's palette and after having it tested on me, I fell in love!  Kat created this palette in order to empower us with her artistic knowledge by giving us the tools to sculpt our faces through the art of shading.  

There are three highlighting shades (0.08 oz each) and 3 contouring shades (0.16 oz each).   The kit also comes with an information card where Kat outlines different ways to use the palette and her recommended tips!  The packaging is absolutely beautiful and knowing it was created and designed by Kat, it doesn't surprise me!  The case is very sleek and is perfect for traveling (especially because you can double up the shades as eye shadows!).  In Canada the palette retails for $55.00 and it is $46.00 in the United States.  So the palette IS up there a little in price, but after using drugstore and inexpensive bronzers/contour shades for so long, the splurge was definitely worth it!  

For my fair skin, I find myself gravitating towards the left side of the palette, however, I can still use the super dark shade for my dramatic, night-out looks if I really wanted too.  The only shade I cannot use for my face is the soft peach shade (Levitation); I can use it as an eye shadow though!  Since they are so pigmented, I recommend using a duo-fibre brush with the shades or using a very light hand when applying.  They can also kick up some fall-out when you swirl a brush in there so be careful with that as well!  Below is a small description of each contour and highlight shade in the palette:

Highlighting Shades

 

 Lucid

Pinkish nude shade

Matte finish 

Great for light skin tones 

Lyric

Yellow beige shade

Matte finish

Similar to the other "banana" shades on the market 

Great for all skin tones 

Levitation

Soft peach shade

Matte finish

Great for darker skin tones

Contouring Shades

  Sombre 

A true taupe shade

Matte finish

Great for light to medium skin tones

Shadowplay

Soft, warm brown shade

Matte Finish

Great for all skin tones (either as a bronzer or contour shade) 

Subconscious 

Deep brown shade

Matte finish

Great for medium to deep skin tones

Top Row (Left to right): Lucid, Lyric, Levitation
Bottom Row (Left to right): Sombre, Shadowplay, Subconscious 

So I'll just go over a quick Pros & Cons list:
Pros

•  Compact, sleek case WITH a mirror
• All shades are matte finish
• Different types of shades for different times throughout the year (darker shades for the summer months, lighter shades for the winter months)
• Includes a nice mix of cool and warm shades for both contouring and bronzing 
• Very pigmented and blendable 
• Formulated without parabens, sulfates, and phthalates

Cons

• Price-point ($55 CAN/$46 US)
• Highly pigmented causes some dust to kick up in the palette; must use a light hand
• Some shades may be too light/dark depending on your skin tone

Follow the included inserts—illustrated by Kat herself—and master the art of contouring in three simple ways (Side Note: the brush that you see in the face-charts below is the Shade & Light Contour Brush that Kat Von D also created to go with this palette. I did not purchase it because I find my brushes to work perfectly fine with the palette, but it is there for you at Sephora if you'd like to purchase it): 

1. Define cheekbones: sculpt and chisel your appearance. 

2. Slim your face: slenderize features and define the jawline. 

3. Shape your nose: taper your silhouette.

As you can see, using all three contour shades I was able to slim out my face and define my cheek bones.  By taking the banana-type highlighting shade, I placed it above the contour to really make my cheek bones stand out.  No editing to the photos whatsoever and it looks like I lost 5 pounds in my face haha. 

The photo on the right displays the defined cheek bones and also all three contour shades shades around the perimeter of my face.  Using the shade colours, I'm able to minimize the look of my forehead and defining my jawline/chin.  

 The photo on the right displays all three of Kat's information sheets (Define Cheekbones, Slim Face, and Shape Nose).  As you can see, by using a smaller brush I am able to change the look of my nose by making the bridge more defined and ever so slightly slimming out the ball of my nose. 

 (P.S. I'm not sure what the black dot is on my left eye in the before pictures, so please disregard that. Thank you!)

I hope that if you do check out the palette, you love it just as much as I do.  Like I said previously, it really is a wonderful palette and worth the splurge!  So next time you're in Sephora, get one of the employees to test it out on you!  If you're anything like me, you won't be disappointed! 

Stay tuned for my next blog post and take care,
Glynn

“Strength doesn't necessarily come from resisting fear, weakness, or any other feeling and overcoming it.  Strength comes from looking at those things straight on - and accepting them as they really are." 

Kat Von D