Round-up: Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick Overview & Thoughts
Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick
Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick ($21.00 for 0.10 oz.) was an incredibly disappointing formula. The majority of the shades were drying, difficult to apply, under-pigmented, and uncomfortable to wear. The brand made some big claims like 10-hour wear, which was hard for most shades to live up to, but the surprise was more in just how dry and stiff many shades were. The stiffer consistency made it hard to get even, rich color payoff on the lips. It’s such a shame, because the range has a lot of interesting colors in it. Overall, the shimmery shades performed better than the matte finishes, but few shades were worth considering at the end of the day.
- BEST PERFORMING: Adora (A), Poe (A-)
- WORST PERFORMING: LUV (D+), Slayer (D+), Agatha (F), Coven (F), Homegirl (F), Motorhead (F)
- MOST UNIQUE: Poe (A-), Gothica (C), Thin Lizzy (B+), Wonderchilde (C), Coven (F)
- PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS: Adora (A), Poe (A-)
Report Card
- Adora (A)
- Poe (A-)
- Backstage Bambi (B+)
- Lullabye (B+)
- Thin Lizzy (B+)
- Hellbent (B)
- L’Ecole des Femmes (B)
- Lovecraft (C+)
- Wolvesmouth (C+)
- Gothica (C)
- Wonderchilde (C)
- LUV (D+)
- Slayer (D+)
- Agatha (F)
- Coven (F)
- Homegirl (F)
- Motorhead (F)
See more photos & comparison swatches!
Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick
Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick
- Hellbent (B)
- Adora (A)
- Lullabye (B+)
- Backstage Bambi (B+)
- L’Ecole des Femmes (B)
- Agatha (F)
- Lovecraft (C+)
- Gothica (C)
- Thin Lizzy (B+)
- Wonderchilde (C)
- LUV (D+)
- Wolvesmouth (C+)
- Motorhead (F)
- Homegirl (F)
- Coven (F)
- Poe (A-)
- Slayer (D+)
These had so much potential and it’s a shame because the shades are gorgeous! Glad it wasn’t just me who found them extremely underwhelming. 🙁
At least we can be in the same club 😉
I’m still not over how bad Coven performed. It could have been the perfect lavender color, but nah. If anyone knows a possible dupe, let me know :).
Hopefully we will find one!
NYX macaron lipstick in lavender and Limecrime d’lilac are both very pretty lavender lipsticks : )
Portland Black Lipstick Company’s “Purple Cloud” is what I have and I think it looks very similar, if maybe a bit more grey-based. But Christine’s photos have a very warm tone, so it’s hard to tell.
They are an indie company that has AMAZING stuff, long-lasting and moisturizing. Best lipsticks I have, IMO. Check them out with Google. I swear I don’t work for them. 😛
Also macs lavender whip is a pretty color I don’t use much purple and I thought it was cute also macs heroine
There’s a liquid lipstick from Pretty Zombie called “Potion #9”, I think, if you’re into liquid lipsticks.
Pretty!!! *_*
I really enjoy Melt Cosmetics’ Darling. It’s a really pretty lavender.Super matte, too!
I still may end up getting one of these – I passed them up in stores. But maybe Poe is worth having just to have in my collection. 😀 (Oh, how we justify things)
Poe is pretty, and the finish/color are interesting/unique enough to justify, even if it didn’t hit A+. A- isn’t bad to me. Anything B or below is “eh” unless there’s something interesting about it OR if it’s something that doesn’t matter to me (e.g. it says it’s waterproof, it isn’t, but that’s not something I need personally in my makeup).
I love the round up posts and bookmark them 🙂 Adore for me ASAP 🙂
looking forward to try this formula and the new NARS Lipsticks 😀 😀
thanks for all the hard work dear
Happy to help, Rashmi! 🙂 Hope you and your family are well.
thank you dear 🙂 we all are doing well 🙂
mid august i was busy with my brother’s marriage and can you imagine i did makeup for my sister and she was flattered 🙂 i must show you some pics and see what you have to say about the outcome 😀
i wore Too faced melted berry on marriage function and was happy for myself ( over happy lol)
then last week of august we had a small festival celebration so again i was busy 😀
is this your b’day month ? plssss kill me for asking 🙁 🙁
I bet she looked gorgeous, Rashmi! 🙂
Yes, it is my birthday month! You have a great memory!
I bought one of these in “Sexer” when it first came out, and I was so disappointed! It looked awful on my lips, patchy and dry. I had to return it. Urban Decay Revolution in Jilted turned out to be the color (bright pink with iridescent shift) that I was looking for, and it has a great formula too. I love Kat Von D shadow and liner, but these were such a disappointment.
YAY!! So glad Jilted ended up being better 🙂
Fortunately I had better lucky in Motorhead. It´s a little tricky to apply, but I prep the lips first and when I added a second coat, the color became more evenly and stayed in place without fading for many many hours. I´m really impressed indeed. 🙂
I forgot to say I used Baby Lips from Maybelline to prep.
Happy you were able to make it work 🙂
I am really interested in motorhead but most of the swatches look so different. One looks like a deep purple red and the other looks more purple. How does it swatch in person? Thx, Kristi
Even after the C rating, I couldn’t resist Wonderchilde, and thankfully, for me it’s working out perfectly. It does behave pretty much like you said, but I love the way it wears off on me- for some reason it fades really naturally. It was just too pretty to resist!
Hey, if you like it, that’s all that matters! 🙂 I think of reviewing products and grading them as setting expectations – because if you still love a product even though I’ve rated it a C, I don’t care. I’m happy you’re happy!
That’s it exactly! You helped set my expectations and as a result of them not being too high, I was able to be really enjoy this particular product. Thanks for all that you do, Christine!
My pleasure, Wanda 😀
me, too! I couldn’t resist Wonderchilde but have the same issues. It wears off pretty quick and is a little dry and tugs when I apply it but it’s such a great color, I just had to have one!
I found that a little lip balm (a drier one- I use Coola’s sunscreen one) underneath it actually helps it spread more evenly and stay on longer. It is such a pretty color!
I’m still on the fence about Thin Lizzy. I love the color for fall, but the glitter/metallic in KVD is a little too much for me. Do you have MAC Fresh Moroccan to compare? I actually like the formula of MAC’s frosts.
Fresh Moroccan would be darker and redder, I think.
I don’t think I want any of them, to be honest. Poe is a gorgeous blue, but I think I’d rather go for OCC Technopagan instead.
Technopagan is a good option!
Why LUV gotta be bad! Dang! LOL! That’s the only one I wanted.Oh well money saved for me 😀
Aww!
The shade L’Ecole des Femmes speaks to me but knowing my luck I would cling in a bad way on my lips. Most matte finished don’t like me Except Wet N Wilds formula. lol
Still loving Poe though!
Aww, your poor lips! My guess is these probably wouldn’t be much kinder. I didn’t feel like they really caught on the lips, but they weren’t usually flattering on either.
I bought Homegirl and while it’s absolutely atrocious on its own, it’s okay with a good liner as a base and a couple layers. It isn’t perfect but it’s workable and the staying power is good for me. I tried Coven at work and I felt the same way. It needs a base and several layers but it looks awesome once it’s own as best as it’ll go!
Glad you’re able to make them work!
This was very unfortunate.
Indeed!
I’m thinking if the formula for the colors that already existed also changed. I have the lipstick with the older package in Cathedral and I like it a lot.
Enjoy your original Cathedral!
So very glad I checked myself at just two.. When I was shopping this line before review, my temptation was to pick up a handful.
I deeply regret placing a 2nd order so quickly, LOL.
still think they should ‘new coke’ it. (go back to the original formula.) but, unfortunately, there will probably not be the backlash that there should be. not enough temptalia readers!
Haha!
The reviews on Sephora are mostly positive, so probably not!
I do agree with you that the shades are on the dry side and tugged on the lips when applied.
However, I have 5-6 of these lipsticks and most have worked for me. I did have to do a little prep work before using them. I had to scrub my lips, apply a lip balm, and finally a lip primer. With all that extra work, I got a better application. Also using a lip liner really helped me with getting an even coverage.
I also agree that some of the brighter colors don’t have the pigmentation that I was expecting.
I ultimately prefer her liquid lipsticks. I wish she would come out with more colors for that collection.
Also, have you tried out her new liquid eyeliners. I would love to get your opinion on them.
My lips are usually in pretty good shape since I’m regularly doing lip swatches (which is like mild exfoliation, lol) so most formulas go on okay without additional prep work, but these definitely need all those extra steps you mentioned.
Which shades do you have, Stacy? Maybe I just picked all the bad ones, haha!
Sorry, I haven’t tried her new liquid eyeliners!
Hehehe…I think we all had really high hopes for these lipsticks and they just perform the way we wanted =(
Some of the other colors that I have that you don’t have on the list above are: Bachelorette, Prayer, and BauHau5.
Were any of those really good, Stacy?
I love so many colors but I’m a little leery about trying a few of them. I keep seeing negative reviews lol. I’m going to try at least one and see how it goes from there.
That’s a good plan 🙂
Wow. I definitely don’t contest your grades. What is with the darker shades? Man, that’s a disappointment.
I wish I knew! 🙁
Such a shame it’s so hit-and-miss, even within the same color. I like the ones I have, but it’s ridiculous to spend $21 on a lipstick and be unsure what it will look and perform like.
They also don’t help themselves with the claims they make (10 hours is LONG!).
No kidding! smh
I have Thin Lizzy. It’s my first experience with Kat Von D. I liked the color and application but had a Stila (I think) stain under it. It lasted quite a while for me but I can never get lipstick to stay on more than an hour or two. I have dry mouth from meds and constantly sip water. Mabye that’s the reason.
I’m glad you liked yours, Susan!
Agree with your assessment. And they smell very odd too! Such a waste…
I didn’t have any smell issues! What was the smell like for you?
Kinda like stale make-up. I thought I was imagining it so I swatched 5 different lipsticks from the collection – all smelt the same.
Wow, that really sucks! I wonder if they lost their scent being open at Sephora.
I’ve tried on Agatha, Cove, Wonderchilde and L.U.V. at Sephora. I found the first 2 to be thick and opaque which is really necessary for such a pale lipstick and they last well. Not even close to 10 hours. Wunderchilde was thinner, less opaque. It looked similar to your pic. Did you by chance have some oily lip balm on before you applied these? They do look so transparent in the pics. I thought L.U.V. Was very dry like a MAC retromatte
I never, ever put on lip balm prior to lip swatches. I always use a makeup remover wipe on my lips right before the first lip product I apply and between each one after that.
I like the iridescence of a lot of the shimmery colors (Thin Lizzy, Wonderchilde, etc.), but eh. It’s probably not worth it with that kind of performance .:/
Milani has some fun metallics in their range – might not be dupes, but the finish reminds me of KVD’s somewhat.
Lovecraft dooessnn’t look HALF BAD in the swatches. I’m surprised it got a C+! Will not be picking up these lipsticks though.
A big problem is they claim 10-hour wear on these, which is a tough claim to get to.
I just bought one in Lolita and I love it. I was waiting for you to review it but it seems like you don’t have the color. Anyways, I’m happy how it performed for me and I Love the color!
Don’t have Lolita, sorry!
There are so many gorgeous shades in the collection but most of them just failed to perform… kudos to you for bearing up with such a disastrous formula on your lips… 😛
Thank you!
I’ve really enjoyed all your reviews. Thank you! These lipsticks really appealed to me with their colors and packaging, pity that they are so disappointing. I had ordered Wolvesmouth (Youtube reviewers praised it a lot and I liked the shade the best) before you wrote your review, which is C+, so I hope I won’t be disappointed much. Especially because I paid double price for it (ca. 25 pounds), because I can’t get it in my country, so I had to purchase through a reseller website, where prices are high (still I’m grateful that such an option even exists for me). I don’t care about the promised 10-hour wear at all, I wouldn’t mind if it faded after – let’s say – three hours, so I hope that would make my rating better and me content with the purchase. And I really hope it arrives.
I know many shades were really bad. But can you see yourself buying some of the supposedly better ones, which you haven’t tried yet, in the future? I know it’s expensive, I just really enjoyed reading all your detailed reviews and comparisons of various shades of this lipstick….
I already bought 17 (that’s $357!) but few were more than decent – and I made sure to pick a good variety of colors and finishes (light, medium, dark, shimmer, matte, sparkle) so I don’t see myself purchasing any more at this time. Perhaps if she released a new shade that was particularly innovative, but I couldn’t say for sure. There are always a lot of other products that are coming out, so I think my money is better put towards purchasing new products as I feel this is a pretty comprehensive overview of the range 🙂 I can’t always buy every shade of every formula (especially not in such a large range), so my goal is to get a few shades from a new formula to provide an overview while being able to cover a great number of formulas and products.
If you don’t mind it not wearing long, and you don’t mind a drier consistency/drying formula, I’m sure you’ll be fine! 🙂
Thank you for your support!
Of course, I understand, there are better ways how to spend money (definitely better products). I think you picked the most interesting ones. 🙂 Pity that most of them didn’t meet the expectations.
I was thinking about getting one of her reds first, but they all seemed similar to me and I’ve read/heard they are also pretty hit and miss, so I didn’t know which one to pick. First I liked Bachelorette, but then I found out it’s way too fuchsia for my liking. I also like Hexagram and Hellbent, but they are matte and mattes seemed mainly disappointing in this line. Adora is really nice, but probably too orange for me (neutral to cool undertone). So I settled on the berry Wolvesmouth instead. 😀
Wolvesmouth seems to be a favorite! 🙂
I…I *try* to just look at Poe and think happy thoughts, but…
…my eye keeps flicking back to Agatha…
…like when you find some sort of medical picture, and you can’t stop looking at it even though your stomach is having other ideas… 😛
I’m so sorry you had to go through some of these, Christine! You’re a true adventurer!
I have to say, Lullabye looks pretty nice in the picture too, and there are several that I really like the colours of/find really interesting, like L’Ecole des Femmes, Lovecraft, Wonderchilde, Wolvesmouth, etc. It’s just such a shame that the performance of these was generally so ‘bleh’ (and Slayer is an embarrassment for a brand like KvD) 🙁
The more shimmery shades are easier to wear, even if they still fall short overall! I expected the line to be more famous for its mattes, so I didn’t quite expect this level of miss…
I do not understand how so many of the Sephora reviews say that these lipsticks are creamy and moisturizing.
I have no idea 🙁 I wish that is what I experienced!
I was just upset by this line. Kat Von D is a fairly quality brand overall and I felt this formulation just brought it down.
I agree!
Oh wow! I’m kind of glad I haven’t got around to trying these out if they are really that bad. Such a shame. The line seemed to have so much potential.
I wish it was a better line!
I still have warm feelings for Poe, but I think I’ll get Technopagan and I don’t wear blue so very often. I do kind of love Gothica though, but I’ll probably pass on it.
Technopagan is more interesting, I think, than Poe… though both are nice.
Do you know of a good dupe for Wolvesmouth, but with a better formula? I loved the colour, but so awful formula!! It settled into my lines and got soooo patchy. I had to return it.