A couple of month ago I cashed some of my Sephora Beauty Insider points for the Kat Von D Rock'n'Roll Palette. I have to confess that I don't get Kat Von D or any of the body modification culture. I don't understand the aesthetics or anything else about it. I know I'm extreme: none of the women in my family has ever had her ears pierced for three generations, and even though my great-grandmother had hers done when she was very young, as far as my mom can remember, her grandma never actually wore earrings, not even clip-ons. It's interesting, considering they all loved jewelry and had several beautiful statement pieces, but regarded pierced ears as vulgar.
This might or might not explain why piercing and tattoos are so out of my personal comfort zone that I can't look at Kat Von D without cringing. I guess I'm not her target audience and never gave the makeup line a second thought until I accumulated too many points and had to redeem them for something, and the Rock'n'Roll Palette looked decent enough. Which it is, just not really good.
The colors are fine. I wasn't sure about the lavender purple one, but as you can see in the swatches, it's not quite s bright as in the pan. Still, not really my color and doesn't look very healthy against my skin, but that's what you get when you're clearly related to Martians. The two light colors- a shimmery white and a shimmery peach are actually super sheer. I had to pile on five coats to be able to take a picture. The other problem with them is glitter fallout. In the palette they both look more pearly than glittery, but once you apply the eye shadows, there's a lot of glitter landing on your cheeks, and that's over a primer. When swatching I only used a light lotion underneath and had to do some cleanup before I could take a clear picture. The dark glittery charcoal, on the other hand, has a lot less glitter than you'd expect from looking at the palette. It would have made a nice liner if it weren't so crumbly.
I'm spoiled, I admit. The products in my regular rotation, from Armani to Edward Bess, have taught me to expect gorgeous shades and superb quality. Kat Von D's below average color payoff and questionable texture are just not my idea of excellence in makeup. I understand that her prices are very attractive: the current eye shadow palettes in the regular line offer 8 colors for $34 (Dior Palettes run between $42 to $58), but even in the Kat Von D price range you can do better- Cargo palettes are great and priced at $32 and Urban Decay has several options between $30-38.
Bottom line: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Photos of the palette and swatches by me, Kat Von D from hollyscoop.com.
This might or might not explain why piercing and tattoos are so out of my personal comfort zone that I can't look at Kat Von D without cringing. I guess I'm not her target audience and never gave the makeup line a second thought until I accumulated too many points and had to redeem them for something, and the Rock'n'Roll Palette looked decent enough. Which it is, just not really good.
The colors are fine. I wasn't sure about the lavender purple one, but as you can see in the swatches, it's not quite s bright as in the pan. Still, not really my color and doesn't look very healthy against my skin, but that's what you get when you're clearly related to Martians. The two light colors- a shimmery white and a shimmery peach are actually super sheer. I had to pile on five coats to be able to take a picture. The other problem with them is glitter fallout. In the palette they both look more pearly than glittery, but once you apply the eye shadows, there's a lot of glitter landing on your cheeks, and that's over a primer. When swatching I only used a light lotion underneath and had to do some cleanup before I could take a clear picture. The dark glittery charcoal, on the other hand, has a lot less glitter than you'd expect from looking at the palette. It would have made a nice liner if it weren't so crumbly.
I'm spoiled, I admit. The products in my regular rotation, from Armani to Edward Bess, have taught me to expect gorgeous shades and superb quality. Kat Von D's below average color payoff and questionable texture are just not my idea of excellence in makeup. I understand that her prices are very attractive: the current eye shadow palettes in the regular line offer 8 colors for $34 (Dior Palettes run between $42 to $58), but even in the Kat Von D price range you can do better- Cargo palettes are great and priced at $32 and Urban Decay has several options between $30-38.
Bottom line: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Photos of the palette and swatches by me, Kat Von D from hollyscoop.com.
