Kat Von D Star-Crossed and Starstruck Palettes

Yeah. So I'm not going to go into my whole love the brand/hate the brand ambassador thing. KVD has some pretty awesome stuff in their line-up and it's no longer an argument I can have with myself as to whether I'll suck it up for this one last palette (ha!) or not.

That said, what is the deal with their palettes winding up in the Sale section of Sephora within milliseconds of debuting? I get that it's a co-brand, and the Sephora stuff is usually what defaults to Sale once the season is passed (as opposed to luxury brands, which take back the items from previous collections to offload in mysterious and geographically inconvenient - for most people - warehouse sales). And hey, it's always nice to pick up a sweet deal. I'm just annoyed that I keep getting these at full price, taking my time testing and reviewing them, and then seeing them marked-down and sold out a few weeks later. What the - !!

ANYWAYS.

For you, a review. It may or may not be useful, since these palettes are no longer on Sephora.com (though they likely still have them in-store, if the Fairview location is any indication).

These two lovelies are the the Star-Crossed and Starstruck Palettes:

Star-Crossed at the top, Starstruck on the bottom.

Star-Crossed at the top, Starstruck on the bottom.

After watching two seasons of Ink Master, I have to say that I do appreciate the artwork on the packaging a little more. Not everyone's cup, but then again, neither are tattoos. (I want a big back piece.  I am SO not a tattoo person, but after seeing how intricate and beautiful a tattoo can be when done by a true artist, I am very much taken by the idea of wearing a permanent Art Nouveau "painting".)

Star-Crossed on the left, Starstruck on the right.

These are obviously not all-purpose palettes, with a highlight/medium tone/crease sort of combination of shades. Rather, each one is a play on a theme - a cool, mysterious haze, or a burst of burnished light.

Star-Crossed.

Hyperballad, Scandinavian, Oceansize, Ville.

Hyberballad and Scandinavian are a gorgeous shimmery silver-grey and metallic taupe, respectively. They have the signature KVD texture - soft and dense, with easy payoff. Not the most inventive shades, however.

Oceansize is a sea blue, not quite teal or aqua, with teeny silver glitter dust.

Ville has a less melting texture than the other three, feeling a touch drier and thinner when pressed, but still incredibly pigmented for a purple.

Starstruck.

Fallen, Unrequited, Pagan Poetry, Hermit.

Fallen and Unrequited are like many metallic bronze shades - very pigmented, smooth like whipped butter, feeling more like a cream than a powder. They are also very similar to each other. I do wish KVD had opted for a deeper brown for Pagan Poetry. They are also, of course, incredibly dupable.

Unrequited is a brilliant yellow-gold with a crumblier texture, rolling up into bits during application. A difficult colour to use except as an accent.

Hermit is gorgeous metallic wine-red. Like Ville, it had a less creamy texture but is completely wonderful in both application and payoff. By far the standout shade in this palette.

Wear on these is about average for me - 4-5 hours without a primer for some fading, stretched to 7-8 hours with primer. Like several KVD shadows, they show a slight tendency to fall down a bit as the day goes on, but not to a degree that I wouldn't wear them.


Availability: In-store-only if you're shopping at Sephora, but they are also available via Amazon.com at full price, or more. They were 20$ USD/24$ CAD originally, but 17$ CAD on sale.

Pros: Gorgeous texture on all but one shade, strong colour-theme, excellent purple and red in each palette.

Cons: The neutral shades are more dupable, and Unrequited has a choppy texture.

(I purchased these items at Sephora.)