THE CONTOUR PALETTE EVERY WOMAN NEEDS | KAT VON D SHADE AND LIGHT

Chanelle Schuler
Nov 12, 2016
4 min read

Ladies I want to introduce you to...the BEST contour palette I have ever seen, let alone owned. Kat Von D Shade & Light palette.

How awesome is this packaging! Made up of sturdy cardboard (travel-friendly) It's black and silver, I love the edgy vibe. The font on the palette is in a distinctive tattoo style, which totally ties in with Kat Von D's branding. The box the palette comes in is identical to the palettes packaging.( Including the shade names on both packaging at the back) Inside the box you get a handy guide for how to define cheekbones, slim the face and shape the nose. Inside the palette comes with a full sized mirror and it closes shut with secure magnets.

The shade and light contour palette have 6 different matte powders, three which are highlighting shades and three bronzing shades. All shade names are very unique. What I most love about these shades is that they are all distinctively different and have a purpose for adding shade and light to the face.

Lucid

A pale slightly pink/beige toned powder which works better for brightening up the under-eye circles for those of you with pale/fair skin. I sometimes like to mix this with the yellow shade next to it if I feel like I'm not highlighted enough.

Lyric

My FAVOURITE yellow powder ever! It brightens up the face, keeps concealer in place and doesn’t look cakey at all, one tap is all you need. Lyric will work well for most skin tones which are light-medium and deeper. If I could buy this shade individually I 100% would.

Levitation

A pale orange shade which swatches a lot less intensely than it looks in the pan! I think this would be the perfect setting shade for my beautiful deep skinned ladies. Also, the orange tone can work well at correcting dark/ashy tones. Although it is easier to use a corrector underneath your concealer, a touch of this works decently.

Sombre

One of the best greys toned powders I have ever seen, its mimics a shadow so well that you can really achieve a chizeled look. Also for any of you who like to nose contour, a little this will be your best friend. The lack of warmth means it’ll be very hard for you to get a smudgy or muddy looking nose which is always a good thing!! I love this shade so much, it is perfection! Plus it’ll work well for all skin tones from fair-deep olive.

Shadowplay

Deeper and slightly warmer than Sombre, meaning you can get a great contour with this as well as a touch of warmth too. I’ll go for this shade if my foundation is quite light, one swipe of this will add definition and when it is blended around the perimeters of the face it gives me a healthy warm look.

Subconscious

The deepest shade in the palette, obviously this will make a wonderful contour shade for all the deep-skin beauties out there! I LOVE that Kat Von D made sure that each of the shades would cater to a specific skin tone in particular and also that the deepest shade doesn’t have a red or orange tone...it has a grey tone too! I find that a lot of the time when you get bronzers this deep they don’t have that vital grey undertone to form a shadow.

The powders are all pigmented and quite soft, when you put the brush into the pan it can kick up some powder which shows how finely milled it is. I find that one stroke of the brush is enough to get the desired look on the face which means that the pans should last a decently long time, even Lyric! Also, these powders blend like an absolute dream, though they are pigmented, you don’t need to spend ages blending to achieve a flawless finish. I should also mention here that Kat Von D has created a double sided brush to go along with this palette and it is $10 cheaper, personally I didn't feel the need to pick it up (I already have an army of brushes!) but it's worth considering if you're looking for a decent tool to use.

I think the guide sheet that is included is great, even with all the tutorials out there it can get a little confusing if you’re a beginner at this contouring stuff! On it is written ‘each hue is created to be universally flattering and compliment all skin tones and face shapes’ and I could not agree more. Like I’ve already mentioned, the deeper shades all have a grey undertone and if you look at the palette they’re almost in sets of two. The lighter ones for the fair people, the middle for medium skin tones and the two on the right for the deeper skin tones - which is awesome, she has truly taken into account everyone. However as explained above, I can and have utilised all the shades which are brilliant.

Now for the exciting part, Kat Von D has come out with brand new packaging for the shade and light palette!! How stunning is this packaging!