Sneak Peek: Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book Photos & Swatches
Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book
Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book ($55.00 for 1.20 oz.) includes 24 eyeshadows from matte to frost. I hope to review this palette in full, though what I can say about right now is that after wearing half the eyeshadows (and of course, swatching through all of them), I’m not optimistic about the quality of it. There are a few truly problematic shades (see the swatch for Gothica, which looks and feels like loose sand; how powdery Starflyer is), but many of the shades lean on the powdery side. None of them were stiff in the pan, but it was difficult to achieve true intensity on bare skin (certainly not the “color-packed pigment in one sweep”) due to the soft, powdery quality of many shades. We’ll see how it shakes out in the end.
Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book
Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book
Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book
Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book
Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book
Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book
Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book
Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book
Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book
Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book
Kat Von D Solar Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Nephilim Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Damned Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Division Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Platonic Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Mandala Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Depeche Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Brass Knuckles Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Anti-Star Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Estrella Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Banshee Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Violator Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Black Star Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Starflyer Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Gothica Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Fascination Street Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Moz Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Heaven Knows Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Crosses Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Covenant Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Smiths Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Leather Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Craft Eyeshadow
Kat Von D Cult Eyeshadow
Oh no! This is bumming me out already!
Sorrrrry!
Since you specifically referenced Gothica in your mini-review I figured it wouldn’t be stellar, but I honestly wasn’t expecting THAT. I didn’t even know eyeshadow could be that gritty. o_O;
Like I don’t understand at ALL. I have come across a plethora of textures and issues in an eyeshadow, but purple sand, I couldn’t account for.
I am laughing so hard right now. I literally gasped when I got to that picture.
At least it feels like sand? From the picture, you’d think it would feel like glass shards or something.
LOL!
WHAT? How can they sell a palette with a shade like Gothica? I’m shocked!! :O
I don’t know what happened!
GOTHICA WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON
That’s what I’d like to know, ha!
Yikes! Gothica! How does that even happen?!
I wish I knew!
Not very impressed. There are so many other great palettes available right now.
Very true!
Wow, I think I’m done with her whole brand in general. What a shame.
i dont know. so far im disappointed with all the holiday palettes. i ordered the vice 3 and the too faced one and they both are AWEFUL. nothing like last years. looks like im not gonna be buying much makeup this holiday season
The new l/s formula s****ed, now this! Why so s…worthy, when they put out Monarch + Chrysalis this year, each of which was fine…? HTG, the holiday stuff HAS been subpar, + that’s a real shame, bec. we want to give makeup GIFTS! Thanks for downrating Vice 3. Think I’ll pass on both this + that! Shame…. these + Promega were the ones i was waiting for… And then there’s the LE push. Dreadful. I get LE holiday, but not when they would make you look like an total novice amateur, if you gave them! Do like that orange (Mandala?) KVD does rusts/oranges well, but with Wrath + Cleopatra in-stash, this one looks like a big fat pass. It’ll be interesting to see if the other shades are good enough to balance out the obvious F on Gothica. I DARE someone to do a good look with Gothica and Motorhead! 15 primers, thinners, etc. BOOOOOOO!
LOL! I know it’s possible to make it work – a tacky base, whether stark white or similarly colored purple, you could make it work. It’s just ridiculous that at this price point you’d have to work that hard.
I’m really disappointed in Vice 3 too. Super powdery. Plus I usually like UD brushes that come in the pallets, but this one is useless.
I like the outer design of the palette with the black star pattern.
Starflyer looks bad and clumpy (along with others), but Gothica looks absolutely horrid!
I like the shade of Heaven Knows. I’m curious if I can find something similar to it elsewhere.
Thanks for the shades! Too many misses in this one, definitely a pass for me.
No problem, An!
Maybe MUFE Artist Shadow in M548 (Pink Gray)?
Ooh that’s a nice taupe shade that’s pretty similar. Heaven Knows looks like it has a bit of shimmer though.
I like Pink Gray. Thanks for the info.
Wow! That’s quite shocking for Kat von D shadows. I’ve never been a fan of the line simply because I prefer slightly drier eyeshadow formulas, but at least everything I’ve ever tested/bought applied beautifully. Gothica is quite shocking. I’d similar to what my pressed pigments/mineral shadows look like when I don’t use the right ratio of binder to pigment. 😛
I can definitely see some preferring other formulas, because hers is definitely a softer formulation in general, though usually still quite nice to work with.
It look like the binder pilled up like plasticine to me. VERY bazar! I was expecting one to be dry like Fascination or sheer glitter but really. Last years was WAY better.
Yes, it definitely was! I gave last year’s a B+.
wow, it’s like a couple of these aren’t even there *shudders*
but the rest of them seem to perform well! but that’s so poorly done by them.
Yes, it definitely has some hits and some misses!
Gothica… I really hope somehow that’s a batch error and they recall a few. It looks like just gritty glitter mixed with gel…
It’s not on my list of eyeshadows, that’s for sure. Last year’s KVD palette was good, was it?
B+ for last year’s
I just bought this today, and my Gothica is like a sheer base with sparkle swatched dry, but over a stickier base, it’s gorgeous! I swatched it with a RT Shading Brush, over NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils in Milk, Black Bean, and a purple shimmery one. I don’t think even a regular primer or concealer will work, but a stickier base works wonders!
Thank you for letting me know how you made this successful!! I was getting worried, as I bought this online as soon as it went live. I’ve been waiting for this one all year!
No problem! I have to use a “stickier” base for most shadows, anyway, regardless of brand/quality because my lids are sooo dry I’ve gotten used to this extra step, LOL!
An interesting sidenote is, on the back of the palette, wher the “quads” are diagrammed, Gothica is actually labeled as a *crease* shade. I have no idea who came up with that one… It’s far too thin & powdery.
Xamyx, I’m so glad to hear you were able to make Gothica work. Thanks for the info.
I usually scroll very quickly through your swatches (blogs are my work breaks so I feel less guilty if I go fast but I did totally stop at Gothica. I’ve never seen anything like that ever..speechless. And I ordered this palette but it hasn’t arrived. I’m almost tempted to swatch Gothica before returning it…to see it in person. How does one wear a shade like that?
Probably with a tacky base!
Yanno it’s funny, I was at Sephora yesterday and my hand just BARELY grazed past a shadow on the KVD Monarch palette and already there was so much shadow left on my hand, it was crazy smooth and pigmented. Then I see stuff like this and ask the heavens why there’s so much injustice in the world.
I liked Monarch quite a bit!
Most of the shades look fine except for the few obviously problematic ones. But the 3 I spotted just at a glance are enough to make it unacceptable for the high end price point. Honestly I really don’t regard this line very highly anymore, lots of misses for me.
I don’t know what’s up with the texture of Gothica!
I’m actually a little annoyed that she’d name a beige shade for Morrissey rather than something interesting (because I have my priorities in order, haha…).
However, Heaven Knows seems appropriate, given that the whole song title is “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” and that shade looks pretty miserable.
LOL!
Somebody at Kat von D is clearly going through something deep and dark, for them to seriously be trying to sell Gothica to other human beings to wear on their faces.
Something deep and oh so dark.
You are hilarious, lol!
Oh Fascination Stret…you maybe my favorite cure song, & such a beautiful color in the pan, but no. So sad!!! I WORE OUT violator and fascination street & love all these other 80s goth references… But the best looking shadows are (as always) the warm toned ones that would sit untouched :(. Heaven knows I’m miserable now!
awwwwww! 🙁
gothica, yikes D:
Indeed!!
The “we’ll see how it shakes out” was worrysome enough and the omg Gothica has to be one of the most bizzare fails ever. This is a def skip for me.
LOL! Well, more or less, based on swatches, my general experience with KVD’s formula, and having tested half of them… I don’t think it’s going to be a “Go get this!” palette, haha.
This seems really similar to last years besides the bright blue and orange :/
I’m sure there is some overlap!
Oh! I am so bummed that all the large holiday eyeshadows palletes are performing so bad…
I am looking for more colorful colors, I already have UD naked and the Vice 2.
I was looking foward for this pallete review but now I don’t even care about a full review anymore after this purple sand disaster…
Do you have any sugestions for me Christine?
I am thinking about getting the vice 3, I normally don’t need to use eye primer and I always do my eyes before the rest of the makeup, so maybe I will be happy getting the UD3 + the UD primer… I love the colorful shadows in the vice so much….
I’d probably just keep waiting… If you love the colors of Vice3 and feel like you’d use them often, then maybe that’s what you should get 🙂
Tks Christine 🙂
Maybe I will get the vice 3 and also wait for more palletes… lol….
Lets hope we have higher grades palettes showing up 🙂
Anyone else find it funny that there are 3 Morrissey-themed shadows in the lower left quad (Moz, Heaven Knows, Smiths)… and then one called LEATHER? Maybe the people who made this never got around to buying Meat is Murder. 🙂
You know your Morrissey! 🙂
Leather is simply a repeated shade found in several previous palettes. It would have been more annoying, I think, to reuse a shade-especially such a great one-and give it a new name to fit a “theme” (ala tarte…). Or, maybe they were trying to be ironic?
I was thinking it was a mix-up and it was really supposed to be Suedehead, but that would make too much sense…
My jaw literally dropped at how bad Gothica was. And I thought Dust from Naked3 was the worst in that category.
Only color that I am excited about is Mandala so I guess I need to finally get a nice vibrant orange.
Haha!
My palette arrived 5 minutes after I saw this post. I immediately swatted Gothica and it’s awful…and that’s putting it kindly. What a piece of junk eyeshadow. Even when I swatched it with UD’s primer, it was awful. It’s way to gritty to be safe around the eyes. Craft has a similar texture (gritty and powdery) but at least it leaves behind a lot of pigment. Again, I won’t be able to use this eyeshadow because of it’s grittiness which is a shame because it’s a nice color. It would work well as an eyeliner if the texture was better. Some of the shades did swatch nicely but now I have to decide: do I keep this palette or keep the MAC Brooke Shield’s palette which also arrived today.
LOL! Okay, I hate that you are experiencing it too (because I’d rather everyone receive an A+ palette!), but I’m glad I”m not alone. OH MY GOODNESS, it’s totally off… never have had an eyeshadow feel like that before.
WHOA! Gothica! What happened?! The rest of these look promising – but what happened to Gothica?! It looked so promising!
A mystery we may never solve!
What the hell has happened to Gothica?! This is the first time I’m shocked looking at a Kat Von D palette. And not the good kind of shocked.
Haha!
When I initially saw this on Sephora.com, I had that knee-jerk “I want it!” reaction, especially since I didn’t get last year’s Spellbinding palette. But after looking at the colors and, oh yes, remembering that I just was laid off from work, I decided passing was a necessity on so many levels. Is it wrong that I am happy to read your “not optimistic” review and see those uninspiring swatches?
Nope, not at all!
Sorry to hear about your job, Christina! Hope you’re able to find a new job soon.
I’m bummed out by this, but at the same time relieved. I no longer have the urge to own this! My wallet is now directed to better things!
Yay!
MEH
🙁
Sad, I love KvD’s 8-pan palettes, but none of the shadow boxes have impressed me.
Also that swatch of Gothica, my jaw actually dropped!
It is one of those swatches that makes you do a double take!
After the lipstick relaunch debacle, and now this, I can’t wrap my head around what the execs at KVD are thinking. Especially since so many people seemed to like the Monarch and Chrysalis palettes. This has got to be one of the most inconsistent brands I’ve ever come across.
I have no idea what’s going on!
I’ve been kind of stalking this online since I loved last years, and her shadow
in general. Then I saw a very bad review on Sephora. When I checked later
to see if there were more reviews it was gone. Today all the reviews are basically
positive. Hmmm. Sephora?! I no longer trust you 🙁
That sucks 🙁
How Gothica could pass any quality check by the brand is beyond me. Seriously, how DARE they try to sell such cr*p to their customers??
I know purples are notoriously hard to make well, but there’s mediocre, and then there’s offensively abysmal.
A lot of the other shades look super powdery anyway so I don’t think this palette would be worth checking even without Gothica.
I don’t know how anyone could swatch and go, “Score!”
When I First saw this palette i had an off feeling about it. Then I started to hear all these raves about it. But now after seeing your swatches (Esp Gothica) I finally decided this is a big Pass for me.
Happy I could help!
Wow some of these are terrifyingly bad.
Indeed!
I have to say that seeing your sneak peek makes me happy I didn’t buy the palette.
I wouldn’t waste the money 🙁
Gothica shouldn’t even be called ‘eyeshadow’. What a mess! Even with a tacky base, I’d be afraid to put it anywhere near my eyes. I know you rate products from A+ to F, but I think Gothica deserves an F- ! When I saw the texture I thought it might be more useful for scouring pots and pans. 😀
On the bright side, I do like Estrella. The rest are just kind of… meh.
There are a few products that have scored 20-30% range, which is far below the F level, lol.
Is Gothica meant to look like a skin disease? Not surprisingly, there are some luscious looking neutrals in there – Division, Craft and Covenant especially (probably ones for which I have dupes in the Monarch palette) but the orange tones and the iffy looking pigmentation of some of them (which is being kind) will keep me restrained on this one, I think (hope!)
It’s funny, because to even get that to photograph, I had to barely disturb it once it’s on. The sand just dusts away, LOL.
There are a few shades that take some extra effort, but there are others that make up for it! Nephilim & Violator more than compensate for Gothica, which isn’t a complete loss.
Glad you’re enjoying it!
Wow. The color palette for this already wasn’t impressing me but Gothica. What the hell? Is there a lower score than F-?
F is the lowest, but anything below 59% is an F.
I really like the array of colors in this palette, as I don’t have a ton of colors. I’m fairly new to high-end stuff (I’ve always eyeballed it, but have only just started spending the big bucks) though so I’ll wait for your full review, if you do one. Even with the one awful eyeshadow, it may still be worth it to me!
We shall see!
I don’t… I don’t know what that even is. What do you call that? That’s not even eyeshadow! That looks like stuff I’d use for DIY to add texture/a wash of color. Someone who works on the KVD palettes is going to get it, I’m sure. What’s something similar to Gothica’s color/blue reflect without being… Sand? I’m getting Jagged flashbacks lol.
LOL! It is serious grit. Not even loose sparkle, but grit.
I genuinely cannot think of any justification for putting Gothica in a palette. It’s absolutely dreadful, I’ve never seen an eyeshadow like it!
Neither can I!
WTH? OMG, Gothica…there are no words. I ordered this with my other stuff to make sure I got it, but if it tests like yours, it’ll be the first thing I’ve ever returned to Sephora. What a bummer.
Keep me posted, Rachel! Otherwise, dig out a lightly tacky cream eyeshadow or base!
I’ve got glitter shadow “glue” bases. We’ll see. Even if I get it to stick right, I might not like the gritty texture of Gothica. I’m hoping that’s not the case.
I’m assuming primer can help the other “iffy” shades, but I’m not going to put a ton of work into getting a bunch of stuff to work if it doesn’t.
What is going on with Quality Control at KVD’s manufacturing plant? The inconsistency in these swatches, and the Studded Kiss lipsticks, is just so weird. 🙁
OK, mine just arrived. I swatched it on bare skin, regular primer and glitter glue primer. On all three, the texture feels very smooth, and not scratchy.
Bare skin: Swiped – very sheer deep purple with patchy glitter. Mine is not “purple sand,” but doesn’t look great, either. Patted on: Even wash of very sheer deep purple with even glitter. Doesn’t build up very dark. Does not blend easily on bare skin. Blending also tends to make the color fade to almost nothing, but it does look more like a wash than purple sand, so it’s kind of better.
Regular primer (Coastal Scents, sheer nude color): Semi-sheer deep purple with a lot of glitter. Swiped on is a bit patchier than it did when patted on with a finger or synthetic flat brush. Can be built up. Blends easily.
Glitter glue primer: I think this gives best results. It looks absolutely gorgeous and dramatic. It’s more opaque than with regular primer, but still semi-sheer deep purple with lots of glitter. Can be built up to be completely opaque and much darker. Again, patting on better than swiping. Blends easily.
Duhhhh! Forgot to say these results are just for GOTHICA. Sorry. lol
Oh, wow, Rachel! Talk about a detailed report 😉 Cookies for you (virtual, of course, conveniently calorie-free!).
THank you so much!
Nom, nom, nom! Calorie-free virtual cookies: My favorite! 😀 😀 😀
You’re welcome.
Uh oh…all these comments about disappointing holiday palettes is staying my hand. Fingers crossed that Lorac’s selection works out!
If you want to skip a review on this–by all means go ahead. Otherwise, I would love knowing any dupes to Violator, Mandela, and Division.
I hope Mega Pro works out, but we’ll see…
Maybe Kat loves her “disintegrating” eyeliner look soooo much that she wanted a surprise color to couple with it…? Gothica is def reminiscent of that liner look lol
I also think that both the Naked2 Basics palette & Vice 3 are ultra powdery & nothing like UD’s normal shadows. Seems like they’re having lab issues (Kat too). The biggest winner so far is def MUFE’s 30-30-30 palette…
& again, thank goddess for you, Christine! You really help a girl out.
It’s funny, Cory, but as I work through all these palettes, the only palette I’ve REALLY loved lately has been MUFE’s 30 palette. Of course, that was $295 and most of these are ~$50.
Tax is a bitch. I always forget about the tax until it’s time to pay up.
They do have a Studio Case available through Sephora rt now for $59.50 w/12 of their studio shadows plus a .01oz. Studio Liner (don’t know how much shadow is in each pan)…that’s pretty close to the usually holiday palette pricing.
*D-236, D-926, & I-218 are in the “Bold” trio, and the Chic & Natural trios are nice too (I like color
Oooh, I hadn’t even seen that yet! Sephora says 0.024 oz. for each eyeshadow.
One nice thing is that none of the eyeshadows are exclusive it seems, so even if you want one, you can make that happen!
I know, I just can’t stop buying the singles!
… well…
As others have commented, I was expecting a dodgy Gothica swatch from your blurb, but… yep. Purple sand. That’s *got* to be a (mass) production error, right? Please tell me no-one at KvD actually tested that and said ‘Yep, seems legit! Onward to mass production!’.
I’m not going mad, right? Someone at these companies does actually give things a swatch at some point, yes? *looks around hopefully*
Of course, I’m irked that so many of the purple/blue shades fell through the floor on this one. I’m never bothered too much by iffy neutrals (although I realise this is reversed for other people!), but the brights being dodgy offends me. Estrella *looks* decent, but Starflyer looks powdery and Fascination Street, which is my actual favourite colour ever, looks sheer and patchy.
*grumble*
I really hope someone does… but then if someone does, how did this get through? I wish I knew, because I feel like I need an answer on Gothica.
Oh man, I was scrolling through the swatches and I was like “ooh these look pretty nice” AND THEN GOTHICA APPEARED AND I WAS LIKE WHAT IS THAT??? I’m so disappointed, I didn’t know it was possible to have such a crappy color especially since I’ve heard nothing but good things about Kat Von D eyeshadows.
LOL! One thing is not like the others.
Some of these eyeshadows look very pretty, but some look like they were hard to swatch. Hmm not sure about this palette.
Pretty much 🙁
holy crap balls gothica! ugh but i want this so bad. the only palette i’ve hated from her line was the esperanza palette, so maybe i will like this one? hahaha
If you get it, I hope you enjoy it more than I have!
Wow. Gothica. WOW.
There isn’t any note on the packaging that it’s supposed to be some kind of topcoat or transformer shade like Dayglo in the Esperanza palette? I really want to find a way to give that the benefit of the doubt, but it looks like they tried to press glitter with only alcohol and no binders!
I didn’t see any, but it doesn’t have any similarity in regards to texture to Dayglo. The only note I saw was that there are six “quads.”
This is breaking my heart.. 🙁
But, it seems like it isn’t a complete loss.. Looks like the majority of the shades look like they would be a great quality.. Right…??…?
Hopefully!
Meh, I’ll pass. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for the colors in the palette, not to mention Gothica! I think the lipstick reviews have caused my bias too…lol.
On another note, Christine, I can’t keep up with your posts! I’ve been pretty busy the past week or so and haven’t been checking bloglovin’ daily. How do you crank out so many in a day? You have such drive!
I don’t know how I did it when I went to school full-time, but now it is my full-time job so I work on the blog about 60-80 hours (depends on the week) a week. About 8AM to 10PM with lunch/dinner breaks, and then maybe just 8AM-8PM on Saturday/Sunday.
Ohhhh, I see! I know blogging is hard work but I can tell you enjoy it because you put so much time and effort into it. It definitely pays off because the quality of your site and its posts are great! Thank you for your dedication. It makes spending a portion of my weekend getting caught up on your posts well worth it! 🙂
I am lucky to love what I do (and be able to do it) 🙂 So it never feels like a 60-hour work week or anything like that. There are tasks that are less fun than others, but much of it is fun 🙂
I would have to give this a big NO!
I hear ya!
I did a double-take at Gothica. Whoa! I wonder if it’s supposed to be considered a glitter overlay/topcoat, though you’d think it would be mentioned as such.
I like the way you photographed the groups of four, they look like stand-alone quads. Most of the shades are a “miss”. So far of all of the large holiday eyeshadow palettes, I’m most interested in the Lorac Mega Pro.
I meant most of the shades are a “miss” for me.
The palette is actually set-up so that there are six quads 🙂
Gothica made me laugh!
It almost made me cry-laugh.
Wow, those swatches…what a disappointing palette. Especially considering how wonderful her monarch and chrysalis palettes were. I was looking forward to this, but I will pass.
I was hopeful, but not so much now.
I am so bummed that this is what I have been saving up for and it’s so awful. I had bought the chrystallis pallet and didn’t like that the shades were not nearly as intense as they were in the pan & now this. Vice 3 was going to be my second choice – and that one is sub-par. I have every Kat Von D pallet – last year’s holiday one was sold out when I went to get it and I’ve been disappointed in the rest other than esperanza which I loved. I may have to find a new HG eye shadow brand.
If you didn’t dig Chrysallis, I don’t think you’ll love this 🙁
Yikes! Maybe the Gothica in this palette was somehow… defective? Some of these colors seem pretty in theory though, e.g. Estrella, Starflyer, and Cult.
It will be interesting to see if anyone else has problems with Gothica!
Feeling like companies are pushing product earlier each year to get it out there when they clearly should be spendibg more time focusing on quality. I wonder if the formula they used for Gothica changed from creation to now…just hoping for some integrety and that Sephora and Kat Von D would not put their name on a product that seems to be subpar (to put it lightly)!
I really hope that when they were in pre-production and did test runs Gothica was better. It is appalling!
Oh, dear! What happenend to that unfortunate little shadow. Some of the others don’t look so good but Gothica, poor thing! Maybe you are supposed to use it as a glitter and glue it on.
I had a good time reading all comments. Needed a laugh 🙂
Don’t know what happened to Gothica ;(
Gothica is a big fat mess. So disappointed! Also I had high hopes on Brass because it looked very pretty on the sneak peaks but it’s not what I expected. I really liked Estrella though.
It is CRAZY bad.
Thanks for the review…urghh i should’ve bought last years holiday palette…
No prob, Elise!
A bit of a mixed bag. The metallics and jewel tones are lovely but some shades are really chalky!
Yes, definitely seems like it!
I love the packaging on this palette, but I don’t like the shades nearly as much as I liked Kat’s holiday palette last year. Also, as everyone else said… Gothica!!! D:< I wouldn't dare put that anywhere near my eyes! For the sake of others, I really hope you got a bad one because loose sandy glitter is not an excuse for an eyeshadow. Also, I read in someone else's review that their palette didn't close and the magnet was useless. Overall sounds pretty disappointing.
Reader Rachel said her Gothcia was more like loose glitter (not sand), but she was able to make it work!
Gothica. WTF. How did that happen?!
Haha!
I collect KVD and this was my most anticipated holiday collection purchase. I stalked Sephora’s for this until they finally brought one from the back. I got home and went to swatching…I was so unbelievable disappointed. I TRULY cannot believe KVD let this palette be released. It’s awful. The color combos are weird, nothing special shades and they are unlike any texture or consistency of any KVD palette in my collection. This is not a cheap palette either. I was also beyond upset to see their wasn’t ANY of KVD artwork on the palette, which is a staple in her collection releases. It’s as if she never saw this palette or had anything to do with making it. The packaging doesn’t even have a magnetic closure, are you serious? That spells disaster. I attempted several looks with this palette all which I had to use a jumbo milk white base to get any color to show up (which defeats the purpose of paying $55 for premium quality shadows) and still the colors were patchy, extremely powdery and not at all worth the price. While using the palette I folded over the mirror making it easier to hold a total of 3 times and the binding was already starting to deteriorate. I considered keeping this palette for over a week, purely because I am a collector and I would be missing a piece of her collection. But after much thought I did RETURN it and that says a lot. This palette could have been everything but instead it scored lower on the makeup chain then most drug store eyeshadows, even elf has better shadows. If you can only afford one palette I strongly suggest the Too Faced Holiday palette they are all GREAT, the Vice 3 if you aren’t afraid of color or the Tarte Bon Voyage palette if you prefer a more soft natural look.
Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy yours either 🙁
Mine’s going back. I’ve tried it out on my eyes, and most of the shadows are so, so powdery with so much fallout. It’s too much work to get a decent eye look. Too much work for a $55 palette, for sure. I’m so disappointed. More money for something better, though!
Oh nooooooo! 🙁
I’ll definitely be looking for dupes for Starflyer, but that is about it (besides a more opaque version of Cult) that I find even worth duplicating :/
LOL! What. is. up. with Gothica? I’ve never seen anything like that before in my life. I think DIRT would perform better as eyeshadow.
Wow this really had the potential to be great. The colors look gorgeous in the pan but some of the swatches look horrible. Lol Gothica really looks like sand. I’m shocked
I went to sephora today not expecting to get anything. I saw the palette online on sale fpr $33 but when i decided i wanted it, it was too late. So when i surprisingly saw it in stores with only four left, i grabbed it for $33. I think it is a steal of a deal and the colors are quite nice. Thank you for your swatches. It must be hard work taking all those pictures.
Glad you’re enjoying it!