REVIEW: Kat Von D 24 Hour Super Brow Long Wear Pomade

I'm not a huge fan of the Kat Von D brand for a variety of reasons, but I was still intrigued when Influenster decided to include me in their Kat Von D brow product campaign. For some weird reason, I've been really in to brow products lately, and I've been especially keen on comparing various micro pencils to my old faithful Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz. Given my product preferences and how I normally wear my brows, I assumed they'd send me the Kat Von D Signature Brow Precision Pencil. Instead, I received the 24 Hour Super Brow Long Wear Pomade and the new #70 brush. I was a bit irked at first, since I admitted to myself years ago that I'm too lazy for brow pomades. Yet I've actually started to like this product over the past few weeks, albeit for very specific situations.

The Kat Von D Long Wear Pomade (as I'll be calling it for the rest of the review) retails for $19 for 5 grams of product in a glass jar with a plastic lid. This is on the cheap side as far as pomade price-per-gram goes:

ELF Lock On Liner and Brow Cream, $4 for 5.4 grams -- $0.74/g
Makeup Revolution Brow Pomade, $8 for 2.3 grams -- $3.48/g
Kat Von D Long Wear Pomade, $19 for 5 grams -- $3.80/g
Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow, $18 for 4 grams -- $4.50/g
MAC Fluidline Brow Gelcreme, $19 for 2.8 grams -- $6.79/g
Benefit Ka-Brow, $24 for 3 grams -- $8.00/g

The ELF pomade is obviously a steal compared to all of these, including the Kat Von D, but it lacks a decent color range. By contrast, the Kat Von D Long Wear Pomade currently boasts 16 shades, 7 in "regular" brow colors and 9 in bright editorial or mixing shades, like a pure white and a vibrant pink.

 From left to right: Kat Von D Long Wear Pomade in Medium Brown; Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow in Medium Brown and Chocolate; L'oreal Brow Stylist Definer in Brunette; Milk Makeup Gel Brow in Pilsner.

Influenster sent me the shade Medium Brown, which is probably my closest match in the range, but not the best shade for me overall--I tend to prefer something ashier, like the aptly-named Anastasia Ash Brown. Still, it's not overly warm, and it's definitely a workable shade for me.

Here's a shot of one brow with the pomade and one brow without, just so you can see the undertones. Again, my brow hairs are cooler and this product definitely leans warm.

The actual application of the Kat Von D Longwear Pomade was about as fussy as I expected: you have to dip your brush in to the pomade, then wipe most of the product off on to the lid or the edge of the jar, or you'll end up with way too much pomade. While I prefer a less drawn-on look most of the time, I think you'll want to use light strokes no matter what look you're going for, since that makes it easier to control the application and shape. I started at my arch and worked back, since that's the more sparse part of my brows, then filled in the front of my brows with what was left on the brush.

Speaking of the #70 Pomade Brush: it's very meh. I found it a bit bigger and thicker than I like for most pomades. The smaller, thinner Anastasia #12 is better if you want to make precise lines and/or have more control over your application, and it comes with a spoolie.

The actual texture of this pomade is a bit lighter and less dense than Anastasia Dipbrow, but I don't think the Kat Von D is quite as workable. You need to work quickly and in small sections because attempting to go back over this product once it has dried will create a bit of a mess: you might pull up a bit of the pomade, but it's more likely that the wet stuff on your brush will stick to the already-dried parts. See this portion of my brow:

Is it super visible to the naked eye? No, but again, I always work slowly and with a light hand to prevent more obvious snafus.

The good thing about the fast drying time, however, is that it seems to improve the wear. I didn't wear this pomade for 24 hours because I refuse to sleep in my makeup, even for the sake of science, but I did wear it for 12+ hours on a very humid day that included some traipsing about town and an hour on the porch in a misty rain. Here it is at the 10 hour mark:

As you can see, the pomade stayed decently in place. I do seem to have a bit of fading right in the middle of the arch, but it wasn't noticeable to the naked eye--I actually didn't see it until I looked at this macro shot. I also have a brow hair that has clearly jumped ship, but that's normal for me and isn't the fault of the pomade. (I skipped clear gel on this day to get the most fair and accurate photographs possible.)

I've also tested this on my lids as eyeliner, and it works okay for that. It's not as smooth or workable as a regular gel liner, and it doesn't seem to have the same wear time on my oily lids as it does on my brows, but it definitely gave me a rich, dark line for most of the day without smearing or flaking. If you were in a pinch or trying to cut down on products in your travel makeup bag, this could work as a liner.

While the Kat Von D Long Wear Pomade is a solid product, and the shade range sets it apart, I don't think it's better than the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow. I found Dipbrow a bit easier to work with and even longer-lasting. Still, I enjoy wearing this product on days when I'm out in the elements for a while and I don't want to worry about touch-ups.

RATING: 4 out of 5

Kat Von D products are available at Sephora.

This product was sent to me by Influenster in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Kat Von D Tattoo Liner

It's rare that I get two deluxe samples of the same product in different shades, but when I manage it, it's definitely prime reviewing material. In this case, I got two tubes of the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner: a brown (Mad Max Brown) in a gift with purchase and a black (Trooper) in my most recent Sephora Play box. I recently fell in love with the Physician's Formula Long-As-Hell-Name liquid liner, and while it's a tough act to beat, I figured these super popular Kat Von D liners might prove able opponents.

The Kat Von D Tattoo Liner is a brush tip liner that retails for $20 at Sephora. Trooper and Mad Max Brown are the only two shades, which is a bummer; comparable products like the Makeup Forever Aqua Liner contain double the product and come in a slew of shades. The Kat Von D range does offer a few similar products with more colors, however, like the Lighting Liner (with metallic shades) and the Ink Liner (with a felt tip). If this product's shade range expands, I'm hoping they come out with more awesome names like "Mad Max Brown." Because, you know, I have a history with Mad Max in general, and especially Mad Max Brown.

Do you have any idea how long I've waited to use this gif? Do you?!

Anyway.

Physician's Formula on top, Kat Von D on the bottom.

The Tattoo Liners have a very soft, relatively fine brush tip that is easy to control. I got an even line of color without any tugging or skipping on my lids. The thin point makes it easy to poke between your lashes and fill in obvious gaps, although admittedly, I'm too lazy to do that on most days. I'd say the Kat Von D brush is maybe a hair thinner than the Physician's Formula, but not by much.

Trooper on the left, Mad Max Brown on the right. Also, check out that sweet concealer crease!

Trooper is a rich, opaque black color that dries semi-matte. It has decent staying power; I can wear it for a good eight hours with only a small amount of smudging and flaking at the end of the roughest days--I'm talking one or two microscopic flakes on my lid or a grain-of-rice sized smudge after I've cried at the movies. It's also decently resistant to rubbing. The above left picture shows how Trooper holds up when your intrepid reviewer forgets she's wearing eye makeup and paws at her eyes for a full 10 seconds before realizing what she's done. It's a little feathery and there's a little flakiness, but overall, pretty impressive!

Mad Max Brown, though, doesn't quite live up to its namesake's rough-and-tumble reputation. The formula is more watery, and I needed two passes to get a rich brown color. I also found that it was slightly more prone to smearing if my eyes watered. That said, it's a damn pretty shade; in real life, it looks more like a soft black and is great for light makeup days.

I decided to swatch the Kat Von D Tattoo Liners up against the Physician's Formula 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner and Serum in Ultra Black. Honestly, in a blind swatch test, I couldn't tell Trooper and Ultra Black apart.

I also dampened a facial cotton and ran it across the liners three times. Mad Max Brown didn't hold up nearly as well as the other two. In all fairness, I don't think most people run a sopping wet cloth across their eye makeup and expect it to stay flawless, but it does show that Trooper is the better formulated shade of the two. Also, props to the Physician's Formula liner, because it barely budged until I whipped out the baby oil.

I understand the hype for these liners, I do. The packaging is beautiful, the brush is efficient, and Trooper is a fantastic basic black. Is Mad Max Brown just as good, though? No, it's not, and that's what prompts me to drop the score from a 5 to a 4. I likely won't purchase these in full sizes, either, because I think the Physician's Formula 2-in-1 liner is just as good at half the price.

Unless they release new shades and give them amazing names like Imperator or Aunty Entity. I'd be all over that shit.

RATING: 4 out of 5.

Kat Von D products are sold at Sephora.

REVIEW: Kat von D Lock-It Concealer Creme

I've recently come to the conclusion that the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer is, in fact, the newest addition to my short list of Holy Grail products, so you wouldn't think I'd be trying another expensive concealer. However, I was placing an order at Sephora and noticed a coupon for a free deluxe sample of the updated Kat Von D Lock-It Concealer Creme, and I thought, "Eh, what the hey."

The Kat Von D Concealer Creme retails at $26 for 0.22oz of product. This is about standard size for a liquid concealer; the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer is $29 for the same amount of product. The sample clocks in at 0.065oz, which is surprising to me given how generous it seems. The packaging is clear, sturdy plastic that lets you see how much product you have left and what the general color is. This is actually my preferred packaging for most base products. It comes with a slanted doe foot applicator. The doe foot pulls up a lot of product, at least in this sample tube, so I was constantly wiping it off on the lip of the container.

Natural light on top, flash on the bottom. From left to right: Kat Von D Lock-It Concealer Creme in Light 3, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly, NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Siberia, Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer in Sx01.

Kat Von D et all have been working on expanding the shade range for her base products this summer, both on the fair and deep ends of the spectrum, and I think that alone deserves some applause. Unfortunately, the free samples were only available in select shades, including just one of the light colors: Light 3, described as "fair shell with a warm undertone." Light 3 is a bit too dark and a little too peachy for most of my concealing purposes. Based on the description and swatches from Phyrra, I'm thinking Light 1 would have been a better match for me.

However, those peachy undertones actually make the Lock-It Concealer Creme a good option for concealing my blue-tinged undereye circles. The texture helps as well: this is a matte finish concealer, but I find that it doesn't look exceptionally crepey or dry on normal or oily skin. (My undereyes are neither oily nor dry.) This concealer feels thinner to the touch than my favorite NARS, but is slightly tackier and more viscous than the popular Urban Decay Naked Skin. It feels weightless on the skin and gives my undereyes a brighter, more even appearance.

Here's a macro shot of the Kat Von D Lock-It Concealer Creme on my undereyes. As you can see, it has a very natural texture and does a good job of concealing my circles without looking or feeling cakey. While it looks very shiny in this picture, I'll note that it dries down a little more matte after a few minutes.

I didn't have quite as much luck using this product on my blemishes, however. While my undereyes are normal and my nose and eyelids are oily, most of my face is very dry and dehydrated. I tried patting the concealer on to pimples with both my fingers and a brush, and in both cases, it wouldn't completely stick. This experience, combined with the overall matte texture of the concealer, makes me think it's not the best option for dry skin.

I'm also irritated that they don't list the full ingredients on Sephora's website. Normally, if a product's ingredients aren't listed on Sephora, but it's available from other retailers, I'll grumble a little and find the ingredients elsewhere. Kat Von D is exclusive to the Kat Von D Beauty website and Sephora, so the lack of an ingredients list on both sites is an issue for me. Buzzwords like "non-comodogenic" really mean nothing: beyond the fact that not everybody breaks out from the same ingredients, it's been an unregulated term for as long as I can remember.

The Kat Von D Lock-It Concealer Creme isn't going to replace my NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer any time soon. That said, I like using my Light 3 sample on my undereyes, and I think the product is pretty solid. It's not my personal favorite, but I have no qualms recommending it to others.

RATING: 4 out of 5

Kat Von D products are available at Sephora.

REVIEW: Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick

I'm a huge fan of the Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipsticks, but their range of colors is a little small for my taste. I decided to check out similar products from other lines. And at just $19 each (versus ORLL's $28 a tube) with a very different assortment of colors, the Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks looked like a great place to start.

I decided to try two very different shades: Armageddon, a milky bubble gum, and Bauhau5, a lush berry. The tubes arrived very prettily packaged, with KvD's signature patterned boxes, see-through tubes, and matte-textured lids that make it easy to hold the applicator. Said applicator is a traditional doefoot with a slightly flattened tip.

There is no major perfume that I can detect in this formulation; it just smells like liquid lipstick ingredients. This is my personal preference, because I find most of the extraneous perfumes unpleasant, but some people may not care for the "raw" scent.

Here are the quick swatches I did of both lip colors...and I did them right after a long day at work, so  I look like a total mess. Sorry. :/

First, the positives. These apply exactly as they're advertised: matte and opaque. As long as I didn't press my lips together for a few minutes, I experienced zero patchiness or movement; once they were on, they were on. The formula has a very intense silicone feeling, which makes it apply relatively smoothly and gives it a weightless feeling.

Now for the negatives. While the formula is definitely lightweight, it feels a lot like rubbing powder on your lips. The problem with that? It makes it feel very, very dry, like I just dusted my mouth with blotting powder. I find that, while these are "lighter" than the Hourglass liquid lipsticks, they're also more drying.

Also, I found it difficult to "stay in the lines" with this formulation. You can probably see that my swatch of Bauhau5 is a mess. It's better to use a  lipliner with these, especially the darker shades, to guide you along.

From left to right: KvD Armageddon, MAC Viva Glam Gaga I gloss, KvD Bauhau5, Bite Beauty Quince pencil.

The individual shades are both very pretty. Armageddon is simultaneously pastel and bright, and it looks absolutely horrendous on me, though I can get away with it if I apply a similar-colored gloss on top. Maybe it's just too cool on my skintone...? Regardless, it doesn't suit me, and I'll be swapping it away.

Bauhau5 is definitely more my style. It has such beautiful pink undertones! I think it would flatter many skintones.

Now, for the big test: how does this stuff wear?

I decided to wear Bauhau5 out to dinner with my friend. What did I order, you ask? This delightful pot of handcut fries, mixed with cheese curds and pulled pork, and with a side of gravy.

It was delicious.

It was delightful.

It got everywhere.

But my lipstick stayed pretty well. Here I am after dinner, making another idiotic face because my friend kept making me laugh. As you can hopefully see, there's minimal smearing around the perimeter of my lips, and some very slight fading, mostly at the very center of my mouth. But the actual color stayed pretty well put.

Oh, and we also had frozen yogurt before dinner, since the wait was so long. (DON'T JUDGE ME.)

I've gone back and forth on whether or not I want to keep Bauhau5, since I prefer the Hourglass formulation, and if I want to try more colors. You see, my biggest problem with liquid lipstick formulations is that they never, ever have decent light/nude shades. I'm a brights girl through and through, but sometimes I like a soft pink or a delicate mauve to wear to work. I'd really like to see a liquid lipstick line fill this niche.

Overall, these are very nice, very affordable liquid lipsticks. People who dislike anything drying or difficult to apply will want to steer clear; people who want something more lightweight and more daring than the Hourglass liquid lipsticks should give these a try. As for me? I think I'll stick with what I love.

RATING: 4 out of 5.

New Product FOTD and Some Sloppy Kat von D Swatches

I recently received a number of foundation samples from really kind friends, along with my Sephora VIB order. But unfortunately, a lot of these products haven't been working out for me. Just as I was about to give up on these new foundations altogether, a miracle happened: the last one I tried turned out to be really, really nice, and properly pale! It's the Armani CC cream. The jury's still out on whether or not it's going to wow me, but after a thorough testing, I'll be posting a review.

BASE: Armani Luminescence CC Cream in #01, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly, Dolce & Gabbana powder foundation in 50 Ivory, Skindinavia setting spray

EYES: Shu Uemura brow pencil in Seal Brown, Maybelline Full n' Soft mascara

CHEEKS: YSL Baby Doll Kiss and Blush in #9 Rose Epicurien, Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl

LIPS: YSL Baby Doll Kiss and Blush in #9 Rose Epicurien

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Also, here are some quick slap-it-on and go photos of the Kat von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks I recently received. My face looks haggard because I swatched these after a long work day, and I look haggard overall because...long work day. I apologize for the sloppiness! Again, an actual review will be coming along when I can manage it.

Bauhau5 and Armageddon. Less frightening swatches to come.

Don't forget: there are 2 weeks left to win a free Kevyn Aucoin lash curler!

REVIEW: DiorSkin Nude BB Cream

I was beyond sad when I left my boyfriend at the airport last week, so I decided to splurge on one last makeup item in the Duty Free store before starting my No Buy. I haven't used much Dior besides the lash primer, and I've been curious about their base products, so I went straight for this BB cream. Not only did it offer a bit of sun protection and the lighter coverage I prefer, but it also came in an incredibly light shade, 001 Light. (The second shade is 002 Fair, but don't be fooled: 001 is definitely lighter.) It swatched beautifully on my N5-ish jaw, so I didn't hesitate to plonk down the $44.

The packaging for this BB is absolutely flawless: it's a squeeze tube, meaning you can squish out every last drop of product, and it has a pump, which makes it more sanitary. It's very easy to control how much comes out of the pump; I was able to disperse a pump-and-a-half of product to cover my face and the top of my neck without trouble.

The product itself is a very smooth, creamy foundation that feels beautiful when blended on to the skin. I was able to smooth it on with my hands and with a brush without trouble, and I found that it had the same amount of coverage regardless of what method I used: more than most tinted moisturizers, but less than a medium-coverage foundation, with a slight dewy finish. My zits and undereye circles were "softened," but not completely covered.

It absolutely reeks of cheap cucumber melon perfume, though, which I found appalling; if you're going to advertise a product as part skincare, you shouldn't load it up with fragrance. Furthermore, if you're going to claim that a product's main purpose is sun protection--as the back of this product's box claims--you seriously need to do better than SPF10.

At first, I was 95% thrilled with how this product looked on my skin. Although I knew it was a smidge too pink from the get-go, I didn't think it was horribly noticeable, even in these HD photographs. Cream and powder products blend over it very well, and it doesn't transfer on to my clothing. But I also realized that this wasn't a product for certain skin types.

I'm a little sorry for this Super Creepy HD shot of my nose, but I think it illustrates an important point: this is NOT a product for oily skin. I took this picture immediately after applying the product to my oily nose, and you can see that it's already greasy, with the product separating and migrating to my pores. I didn't powder for the sake of this review, but if you have combination skin, you'll want to powder this product down, and if you have straight-up oily skin? It's not the product for you.

Now, it looked absolutely beautiful on the rest of my face, which is quite dry, except for a few spots...

...spots with flaking or textural issues. This close-up shows how lovely the DiorSkin Nude BB Cream looks on areas that are dry-but-smooth, but it also shows the minor flakes on my cheeks and at the corner of my mouth being emphasized. And yes, these are minor flakes brought on by using acne spot treatments, not instances of prolonged textural issues. Hence, I would only recommend this product to people with normal to dry skin and no texture issues.

But again, 95% thrilled! It had the perfect amount of coverage for me, felt nice on my skin, and looked great on 3/4 of my face. And I have no problem powdering and priming my nose, since it's the one "really weird" part of my face. I was willing to overlook the terrible smell and slight pinkness because of how convenient this BB cream would be for my needs, seeing as I travel long distances to work and prefer to do my makeup on-site on those days.

Alas, it was not to be. Not only does this product completely break down on my oily nose (so much so that even blotting powder couldn't save it), but it also darkens up and gets more pink after about 20 minutes. You can really see this happening in the natural light picture on the right: my neck is about N5, and the BB cream has darkened to NW15-20. Many reviews for this product mention the same "darkening" effect, and some foundations are just formulated in such a way that they will get darker shortly after application. This was quite a shade jump, though, seeing as it went from about NW5 to NW15--two full shades darker. If you want to try this product, I highly recommend requesting a sample first.

So alas, this product didn't work for me, and the people it will work for are a small group. While it will probably look beautiful on those people, it's also going to give very little sun protection (regardless of what its advertising states) and reek to high Heaven. Color me disappointed...and two shades too dark.

RATING: 3 out of 5

Note: the Dolce & Gabbana Creamy foundation applies lighter than it swatches. Koh Gen Do Manifashi Moisture foundation oxidized on me, but doesn't on most people.

Not really unemployed? Let's celebrate with swatches!

So now that I'm actually semi-employed versus unemployed, I think it's time to celebrate with MOAR SWATCHES! I actually went a bit crazy and bought a drugstore foundation: the new Maybelline Fit Me Shine-Free foundation, the little ditty in the stick, in the lightest shade (110). Preliminary swatches suggest that it's waaaay too pink for me, but I'll still test it out for reviewing purposes. I'm also way behind on my reviews for these three other foundations--Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Finish Creamy foundation in 60, Kat Von D Lock-It foundation in 42, and Illamasqua Skin Base in 2--so I'm hoping I can do one big comparative blogpost after I've tested them out some more.

Please bear in mind that I walk outside for at least a mile 2-4 times a week, so even with sunscreen, I've managed to tan up from about N5 to N10 on my face and neck and a good N15 on my hands, arms, and shoulders.