First Impression: KAT VON D SHADE + LIGHT CONTOUR PALETTE

I  got this palette and ordered it online a while back and I know this post is longggggggg - over due. If you didn’t know, I am a huge fan of contouring & highlighting because it really does a dramatic difference once you’ve done it the right way. So my makeup soul is always on “YASSSSSSS” whenever I see that there’s a new contour palette out in the market. I’ve had a few contouring kits, powders and highlighting powders as well but this KVD Shade and Light Palette is an exceptional palette that really stands out in the market these days (in my own stash too). 

Aside from being the largest contour palette in my kit, it is also the most buttery in texture, which means its easy to blend and not patchy on skin, cause sometimes we had those muddy looking contour and we don’t like that. The palette has 3 highlighting shade (0.08 oz each) and 3 contour shades (0.16 oz each) this palette has a ton of product in it. I just wish that the contour shades lean more towards on the cooler side or taupe-y shade rather than being all warm, but don’t get me wrong they’re all beautiful. It comes with a manual on how to use each shade and how to contour your whole face.  

The shade names are all unique; I believe some are in Latin words. Not sure  but let me just run through them one by one and give you guys a little description about each shades.

TOP (HIGHLIGHTING POWDER) LUCID – A slightly pink powder with beige undertone used to brighten up the under eye area. Perfect for setting under-eye concealers for fair skin with cool undertone. 

BOTTOM (CONTOURING POWDER) SOMBRE – is the only cool toned contour powder in this kit. I use this shade on my skin tone and it works perfectly. (NC15 on MAC) 

TOP (HIGHLIGHTING POWDER) LYRIC  – A slightly yellow toned powder with warm undertone. This shade can instantly lift your eyes and brighten up the under eye area. Perfect for light to medium - dark skin complexion with warm undertone.  

BOTTOM (CONTOURING POWDER) SHADOWPLAY – deeper and slightly warmer than sombre. Almost a bronzer shade but matte finish. Could work with medium to dark skin tones.

TOP (HIGHLIGHTING POWDER) LEVITATION  – A peachy shade used to cancel out dark under eye circles and this powder is great as a setting/highlighting powder for deep skin tones. 

  

BOTTOM (CONTOURING POWDER) SUBCONSCIOUS – The darkest shade in the palette. Not too warm compare to shadowplay but not too cool as sombre it is more in neutral undertone. A wonderful contour shade for all deep skin tones.  

L-R // LUCID , LYRIC, LEVITATION | SOMBRE , SHADOWPLAY, SUBCONSCIOUS

I’ve been using it for months now and this post is long-over due. I know there’s a ton of reviews about this beautiful palette from Kat Von D so I just hope that this post helped you deciding whether to buy it or not, I say give it a try. It’s beautiful, packaging is awesome, the amount of products your getting is enormous and the shades are all blendable and pigmented which is the most important thing to consider.

By far, it’s one of my most favourite as of today. Should I do a contour and highlight kit battle post? Let me know what you think! Thanks for dropping by beautiful!

with love,

Anne

Announcement:  ADVANCED Professional makeup workshop on APRIL 16. See my facebook page www.facebook.com/MakeupbyAnneBismonte for more details. 

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RECENT MAKEUP HAUL!

Hi there beauties! It’s been a while since I’ve done a haul, actually I’m in a hiatus, banning myself for some shopping, but I couldn’t resist makeup. I think that shopping for makeup is therapeutic (the famous and well used reason of every beauty junkie ha-ha!).  As usual, your mama went crazy and ended up buying a lot well mainly for my “Professional Kit” and some for my own beauty bag. 

My clients are my real treasure. Especially if I do get a referral from them or repeat services because I feel and I know at some point I have done a great job for them. Why would they even refer me or hire me again if I did not? Right?  So I never really but knock offs (FAKE) for my kit, because my clients deserve premium quality makeup brands, I know because if ever I’m a client I would want that too. 

I did a quick shopping last thursday at Makeup Pro – Makati and purchased some stuff online at Beautyholic Manila. I have 4 separate orders so expect 2 haul post upcoming.

In this haul , everything I picked up are all face products because I wanted to try something new and restock some old favourites for my kit. Here are the products that I got from the Makeup Pro store and Beautyholic Manila.

    RCMA series favourites’ palette in KO

   Laura Mercier Foundation Primer (original) 

    Hourglass ambient blush in Diffused Heat 

    MAC Pro-longwear concealer in NC20 and MAC studio fix powder foundation in NC20 and NC30

I know that I’m too late about the Hourglass craze. I know, but it’s better late than never. Lol! So I made a pre-order for the other shade of Hourglass ambient blushes and the lighting powder just because I fell in love with the Diffused Heat. I think that they are perfect for weddings and other special occasions. I got the Pro-longwear for my personal beauty bag because it is my absolute favourite for my under eye. I got the 2 MAC studio fix powder foundation in NC20 and NC30 from Beautyholic Manila. I picked up the NC30 for back up because it is the most used shade in my kit. 

Plus I got some gifts from my Makeup Hub family! YEY! I got the very famous City Color Contour Effects and Look Beauty Intense color lip balm & stain Fat Lips in shade snog. Thank you Ms. Sarah! If you want to get your own check out their website at www.makeuphub.com.ph 

If you guys want to see in-depth reviews of any of these products, let me know at the comment section down below. Thank you again for reading my blog and see you again on my next post! Have you made any new beauty purchases recently?

Much Love,

Anne

REVIEW: Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit

Hey there beauty! Finally, my first product review for the year 2015 is up. (Laughs)  I have been into my makeup gigs and workshops recently so it took me sometime to just sit down and talk about makeup and write you guys my own honest opinion about this product.

Today we’re gonna talk about my very own ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS CONTOUR KIT (powder). Alright so I know this product is a popular one, I’ve seen great and bad reviews about it. I had this contour kit for almost 5 months and it’s my first contour kit actually because I’m using individual shades or products from MAC and NARS for my contour shades and highlighting shades before.

When I got this kit it is pretty small and I wasn’t really expecting that. The packaging is the usual cardboard magnetic type.  Each pan has 3g of product for each shade inside the kit. You can actually create your own kit and choose the shades you wanted at Anastasia’s website. I regret getting the original kit because I seldom reach for HAVANA and SAND. 

TOP (L-F) VANILLA, BANANA, SAND
BOTTOM (L-F) JAVA, FAWN, HAVANA

As you see, you have 3 highlighting shades (VANILLA, BANANA & SAND) and 3 contour shades (JAVA, FAWN & HAVANA).  All these shades are matte except SAND, which is actually a beautiful shimmery highlighter. 

Let’s take a closer look to all contour shades first.

(L-F) JAVA, FAWN, HAVANA

Fawn is a medium taupe; and it’s the best contour shade in my opinion.

Java is more warm than fawn. It has a little reddish kind of tone to it compare to fawn. I like to use Java as a bronzing powder.

Havana is the warmest contour shade of all three. This is the only shade I don't like and I seldom use, because it appears to be too orange when applied to the skin. 

(L-F) VANILLA, BANANA, SAND

Vanilla is a pink under-toned matte highlighter. You can use it to set and brighten your under eye, forehead, chin, and your nose bridge (commonly know as T-zone).

Banana is a yellow under-toned matte highlighter. You may also use this to set your under eye concealer and brighten the areas you'd like to be highlighted.

Sand is a shimmery highlighter with a very light pinky shimmer and as you can see it barely show off to my medium fair skin. You can use this to give you the "glowing" look by placing it on the high points of your face such as the cheekbones, brow bone, bridge of the nose, and your cupids bow.

Overall I think the palette is worth the money and really perfect for a Professional Makeup Artist, just replace the Havana shade with another taupe-y contour shade and the palette is good to go. 

(L-R) SAND, BANANA, VANILLA, HAVANA, FAWN, JAVA

I’m recently looking for another contour kit and I’m torn between KVD shade and light palette or the NEW LORAC PRO contour kit? Help me decide at the comment section below! 

I hope you find this post helpful (which I know there’s a ton of reviews out there) tell me what do you think about ABH products? What are your faves from ABH?

Hope you had a very wonderful day!

Much Love,

Anne