Shadows & Light

"There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast." - Charles Dickens

After much deliberation and loads of research from blogs, vlogs, and swatches at Ulta and Sephora, I set my sights (and credit card) on Kat Von D's Shades + Light Contour Palette! Ringing up at $46, it's certainly not the cheapest option, but for the amount of product included, the mill of the powder, and the name it's associated with, it's truly not a bad deal.

Check out the first of our "Sit Back and S[watch]" monthly series with a demo video on our YouTube channel and see for yourself how beautifully these pressed powders glide on!

The 6 colors included in this palette are 3 light cream shades (“Lucid”, “Lyric”, & “Levitation”) and 3 deeper shades (“Sombre”, “Shadowplay”, & “Subconscious”). The far left top shade is the lightest, a neutral to pink-toned color. The next one over has a strong yellow hue while the far right shade is peachy-toned, perfect for under-eyes after concealer is applied. The bottom row’s far left shade is a true “shadow”, cool & medium darkness, and the middle shade is warmer, very much a bronzer shade. The far right shade is very deep, too dark for my skintone, but it’s a perfect eyeshadow for my eyes in both the crease and lid!

All of these shadow pans are plentiful in product and velvety smooth in texture, and the best part is that they’re individually refillable on the Sephora site were you to eventually run out of a shade or two in, say, 50 years. I love the color selection as there is something for everyone, but none of the colors are similarly repetitive. I can’t say that I use the yellow-toned shade much except to color correct a very pale, cool-toned concealer (my “winter” shade). The shadows blend exceptionally on the face as contour and on the eyes as matte shadows, so thus far, I’m a fan!

The only beef I have with this palette is that when I press my brush into the shade of choice the fallout into the pan is pretty severe. There is no fallout on my face, and as a whole, the powder is creamy, but for some reason the transfer from pan to brush is powdery and loose - "Suboptimal".

Have any of you tried this palette yet? How about the eye shadow palette of Kat's that shares the name?