Archived Post

Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette for Spring 2015 (Now Available!)

Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette
Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette

Shade + Light Contour Palette ($46.00) (New, Permanent)

An expert sketch artist, Kat Von D uses shadow and light to create depth and dimension in her captivating portraits, infusing them with lifelike authenticity. Take artistry shading into your own hands with this Shade & Light Contour Palette, and effortlessly sculpt, chisel, shape, and slenderize your features for enhanced definition. Unlike traditional bronzing powders, the Shade & Light Contour Palette is loaded with a unique selection of matte shades that capture the true hues of shadow and light. The three contour shades create realistic shadows to recede facial features, while the three highlight shades impart a soft luminosity to amplify dimension. A true artist’s palette specially designed to be used with the included Shade & Light Contour Brush, these silky, buildable powders blends effortlessly into the skin for a flawless, fade-proof finish that flatters every skin tone or face shape

  • Sombre True taupe
  • Shadowplay Soft brown
  • Subconscious Deep brown
  • Lucid Pinkish nude
  • Lyric Yellow beige
  • Levitation Soft peach

Availability: Now at Sephora

47 Comments

Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!

Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).

We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!

Comments on this post are closed.
Andrea Avatar

I saw the MUFE contour palette… At first glance seem cool enough. At least one of the shades. Looked like a true taupe. But then, was just passingly. So will give the ones you mention a look as I haven’t found anything yet.

najwa Avatar

lol as an olive toned, yellowish but tan arab, this is how i feel about the endlessssss amounts of foundation/concealer/powder that are geared towards those of paler skintones. nice to be on the opposite end for once 😛

Kandie Avatar

Not a fan of contour palettes, or should I say bronze & highlight palettes. You would think with that product description that she would’ve gotten this right but no. Curious to see swatches though. The first one says “true taupe” but that looks like straight brown to me. I prefer MAC Sculpt to contour and until someone makes a cute palette with a “true taupe”, I’m not buying.

xamyx Avatar

I’ve learned to not rely on promo pics-more often than not, they are completely inaccurate. I have an almost unhealthy obsession with contour products, and I love the KvD line, so I’m really looking forward to this.

I find MAC Sculpt to run a bit warm on me, although it is “wearable”, it’s not the best option. Inglot has a really good one, 501 I think, as well as Smashbox. Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder is also pretty good, although NYX Twin Cake in Cappuccino is a superior “dupe” (it’s actually a powder foundation, and grayer).

liana Avatar

the highlight shades in this dont seem suitable for those of us with extremely fair skintones. i’m also curious to see how these shades compare to the anastasia palette.

Lisa Avatar

SOOOOOO excited for this. I’m not sure the stock photo is accurate. I saw a pic on instagram that made the palette look overall lighter and a touch cooler. But I was a little disappointed in the Anastasia palette, so I’m hoping this one will be HG, since Kat von D’s cheek products are amazing quality. Wish it were a little cheaper though–maybe $40 like the ABH palette, or even a little less–espectially since this one doesn’t give you the option to replace the shades individually.

Shelley Avatar

From having MUA friends in the biz who work in television and print they won’t be buying this. A true contour product with have a gray undertone to it to create a shadow…not brown. Now I’m going to see an explosion on misinformed beauties running around with brown stripes on their faces….not cute.

Sarah Avatar

I’ve been looking for a contour palette since contouring really isn’t my thing and selecting shades is kind of daunting. The Anastasia one seemed overall too light, but this one looks better for darker skin tones. Looking forward to seeing more photos and swatches.

Veronica Avatar

Anastasia has 2 contour kits 1 for light to medium skin tone and the other is for medium to dark. Kat Von d is actually made for light to medium tones.

Amy Avatar

i think this may fit any skin tone. especially darker ones like myself. the problem with the ABK one was that it was just too light for me so this is right up my alley and will look good on the brown shades of the women in my house. great job. Cant wait to try this out. contouring is the new thing hahaha

Rachel R. Avatar

It’s hard to tell from the promo picture, but I’m betting the three bronzers will be too dark for me, or pull too orange. Maybe Sombre would be OK. I hate the idea of paying for two or more pans of contour/bronzer I wouldn’t use. I’d have to try them on my face.

Sylirael Avatar

This was pretty much my reaction. I’ll reserve judgement until I see real swatches, but I’m fairly certain this wouldn’t work for me. It is bothering me (as it is others, from what I see in the comments) that despite the waffle in the promo literature about shadows, there are no cool tones or greys here. *sigh*

I’m still waiting for the day when the designers of products like these will realise that we’re not all either warm-toned or using fake tan/tanned. I in no way begrudge the warm-toned their goodies, but I’d like to see some more carefully thought-out alternatives. Of course, I can only speak for the vampire end of the spectrum!

Rachel R. Avatar

Cosmetics companies seem to really leave out the lightest and darkest skin tones. I swear if I win a mega-lottery, I’m starting a makeup company that will cater to fellow vampires and our super-deep toned sisters on the other end of the spectrum.

CatBelly Avatar

I agree with those who have commented about the shades being too warm and brown (not gray). I have yet to find the right shade for contouring. (Yes, I have MAC Sculpt, but it’s too obvious and/or hard to blend.)

Michelle Avatar

I’m excited to see what else Kat von D has in store for spring outside of this – my skin tone just doesn’t work with most bronzers. I saw on Instagram that there will be 15 (!!!) new shades of the Everlasting Love Liquid Lipstick line.

liz Avatar

I have literally never once seen a contour palette with shades that are actually useful for contouring. Even on dark skin tones and even on warm skin tones, shadows are not WARM BROWN. as a painter, this frustrates me so much. If you look at the contour shadows on the rest of your skin, in 99% of all lighting situations, they are two shades darker and a shade grayer. Basically the only situation that will throw warm brown shadows on any skin is ultra warm (think fire light), dim lighting.

I’ve just seen so much BAD CONTOUR irl that it makes me seethe when companies put out palettes like this. Warmer contour might photograph fine, but it looks feckin dreaful irl. Kat Von D is an artist! She should know better. At least brand this as a bronzer palette. It looks awesome for that!

Erica Avatar

Liz, everything you said is right on the mark. If I had a dollar for every bad contour look I saw in 2014, I’d be able to retire in 2015. My NC50 complexion does not have warm brown shadowing. I would just look like I swiped a chocolate bar against my cheeks. Let’s hope other makeup companies formulate better contouring shades in 2015.

kohimiruku Avatar

Liz, you stole the words out of my mouth. I can’t for the life of me figure out how to contour my face, I end up wishing I could just shade in my face with my pencil, like a drawing. And unfortunately I’m not nearly pale enough to actually do that, haha.

Italia Avatar

I’m super excited about this palette. I saw a little tutorial vid on the Sephora YouTube, with Kat talking about it. Looks quite lovely. However, I think it may be a little warmish to be used as contour and that I’d likely find myself using it to bronze!

stephanie Avatar

The only people that are saying contour colors should only have a gray undertone are not people of color. Makeup isn’t just for you all.

Erica Avatar

I’m NC50 with yellow undertones and I prefer a cooler toned contour as well. I obviously can’t speak for every WOC, but dark warm contour colors turn red on me. The Anastasia contour palette looked ashy on my skin and the darkest color swatched red. These new contour palettes should include cooler tone contour colors or at least let the consumer purchase individual pans for their unique skintone.

Valerie C. Avatar

I look forward to your review. I also like a gray/brown to contour. I’ve been using the It Cosmetics contour palette for years and MAC Symmetry for contour prior to that.

Dany Avatar

I am intrigued by this palette. KVD is one of my favorite makeup brands. And I am curious to see if these shades can also work as eyeshadows.

We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!