Review: Kat Von D Saint & Sinner Eyeshadow Palette (+ swatches for Urban Decay Heavy Metals Eyeshadow Palette)

Welcome back! 😄

As I was checking through my Sephora app for new releases (like usual, window shopping is real  hehe), I noticed that the Kat Von D Saint & Sinner eyeshadow palette is now back on stock! I was actually sad that I won't be able to review this because no one can get it anymore. So this news is great because when Kat Von D says limited edition, once it's out, it is out forever.  

This is my first ever first ever high end palette here in Canada. I have contemplated for so long before I picked it up because (1) it is so expensive & (2) I'm not sure I can get a lot of use out of it. I was actually encouraged to get it by the Youtubers that I respect the opinions of when it comes to quality of products. Jen of JenLuvsReviews, Liv of Livloveshermakeup & Jkissa all raved about the good quality of these eyeshadows & the ingredients so it really made me want to but it more. I convinced myself that with the 20% off from the VIB sale, it would be worth it LOL 😂 

Vegan

Made in Canada  -  Net Wt. 24 x 1g (0.04 oz)

I really liked the packaging. It is not practical but is really gorgeous. It is said that Kat Von D designed this herself. It is shaped like a cathedral and the shade arrangements reflects the colors of stained glasses in churches. The palette is divided into 2- the SAINT side which is the more natural, everyday colors & the SINNER which consists of more vibrant and fun colors. This has a mixture of mattes, shimmers and toppers. 

Look how vibrant the swatches are! These are all finger swatches without any eyeshadow primer. To be honest, I am really attracted to the Sinner side more because I just love colors so much! 

 WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS PALETTE:

- Cruelty free & Vegan. This means this product don't have any carmine (pigments from bugs) in it which is very rare in the cosmetic industry. If I can get a product without killing any kind of creature then that's the best way to go.

- Very pigmented & consistent. I have tried a lot of eyeshadows that swatches beautifully but doesn't translate to your eyelids, and I am glad to say Kat Von D shadows not only applies smoothly on the lid with or without primer but it also stays vibrant throughout the day too.

- Buildable & blendable. I know others prefer to have a very strong pigment at one go but I prefer it to be buildable because it is easier to blend. I can just get some product little by little and then blend. This way, I don't make mistakes easily and I can achieve the look & intensity I want depending on what I like at that moment. 

- I really enjoyed the color selection. I can create a complete look with just this palette. I have shades for crease, highlight, lid, accent & even colors to deepen the look. I won't need other supplemental palettes or eyeshadows because everything I need is here.

- Packaging is sturdy. I can travel with this palette & not worry that the eyeshadows will get crashed. I also love that it has magnetic closure that doesn't open up very easily.

- I am happy that I could create lots of looks from this ranging from no-makeup makeup look to edgy & colorful. I really am surprised that I get inspired whenever I open this even though I am not an artist 

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:

- The price. It is so expensive! $83 CAD plus 13% tax, all in all almost a hundred bucks for a palette of 24 shadows. I don't think I can buy this without the discount. 

- Even though I love the packaging, it is so hard to store since it is big. Maybe once I get a vanity table I can look for ways to display it haha

- It says in the packaging that this will expire in 9 months after opening. Although I don't follow the expiry date, I am worried that this will go bad faster than my other eyeshadows.

- Limited edition. I hate limited edition products because once I used it up or something happened to this, how will I replace it?

- Other people might get a hard time creating looks from this palette because of the arrangement of the shadows. I didn't mind it but others can get overwhelmed easily & get stuck on ideas because the shadows are scattered & was not layed out in a way that guides users in creating a look.

RECOMMENDED?

Definitely! You should buy this if you love a very versatile eyeshadow palette & you love playing with colors. These are very pigmented & blends easily so it is perfect for regular makeup lovers like me. I will definitely buy more Kat Von D eyeshadow palettes in the future if there will be new releases since I really love the quality, though I wish her products are not so expensive haha that's really a draw back most of the time.

  

By the way, sorry if I don't have any pictures using this palette. I was planning to do so but my eyelids were still super dry & flaky until now from the extreme weather conditions here in Winnipeg (-40 degrees!). I am not wearing any makeup for the last 2 weeks now because my skin from head to toe are so dry. I promise to post makeup looks soon once I get better skin condition. Crossing my fingers my new moisturizer will help.

  

BONUS:

I got the Urban Decay Heavy Metals eyeshadow palette last Christmas when it went on sale for just $35 from $72 CAD. I was actually aiming to get it when it first came out but I can't get over the price especially since I just bought the $82 KVD palette. Lucky for me, they went on sale and was able to grabbed it before it went out of stock. Although I have seen it on Shoppers Drug Mart website a week ago so I'm not sure if they still have some on stock. 

I have actually not used this yet on my eyes, but based on first impression with the finger swatches, this will look bomb! I bought this because I love very shimmery eyeshadow looks but I hate the need to use glitter glue, so this is perfect. Also, it has all the shades I will need to create a look & it will go nicely with my other eyeshadow palette that lacks glittery colors. 

Bulk Made in USA, Assembled in Dominican Republic 

Net Wt. 20 x 0.8g (0.03 oz)

What are your favorite eyeshadow palette? Please share them on the comment section below. 😄  


Thank you for dropping by! 

Product Review: Urban Decay Primer Potion

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great week. =)

Today, I will review the very popular Urban Decay Primer Potion eyeshadow base. I was able to get a deluxe sample together with my Urban Decay Smoked palette when I purchased it last year. I was so excited because the only time I was able to try it was when one of my friends gave me some on a pot but that didn't end up well so I thought it might be because it was already exposed to the air. So now that I have one in its proper container then I would definitely be able to test it out. 


Now, I have oily skin & my eyes are hooded plus I live in a country that is always humid so I really need a good eyeshadow primer that will help my eyeshadow to stay put & not crease on me. I am always for a lookout for the best one whether it is high-end or drugstore.

*photo credits to owner .. I don't have my own photo because I threw out my tube when it broke.

According to Urban Decay website:
"Eyeshadow Primer Potion is coveted by makeup artists and makeup junkies alike because it guarantees more vibrant eyeshadow that lasts for 24 hours and NEVER CREASES! Once you experience its powers (plus how smoothly it glides on – an added bonus) you'll never want to live without it."
  

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT:

- Makes eyeshadows stay longer on my oily lids without creasing.

- Makes eyeshadows more vibrant compared to if you don't use any base.

- Dries translucent so it won't affect the color of your eyeshadows.

- Texture is good for making pigments cling to your lids.

- No drying time needed before you apply your eyeshadows.

- I think the price is okay if this will work for you. It is pricey but I think you will get a lot of good use for it since you don't need to use a lot for every use.

- It now comes in a squeeze tube. Very easy to squeeze out product & you have good control on the amount you want to dispense.



WHAT I DON'T LIKE:

- This clumps so bad on me. I really can't have a smooth surface especially on the outer edge of my eyes. It looks like dead skin cells and I can't blend it out & just looks worst when I try.

- This is not good for dry & mature skin. This clings to dry patches & wrinkles. 

- I can't use this on my lower lashline under my concealer as it clumps together.

- Very hard to spread out. I always end up tugging my eyelids whenever I apply this.

- My tube broke around the tip area after a couple of months. I'm not sure if the quality of the packaging is poor because this is only a sample or if the full size is still like this.



OVER-ALL RATING: 3/5

This is an average quality product for me. I like my Etude House Proof 10 eyeshadow primer over this & that's like half the price. If only this spreads better & doesn't clump I would have loved this and give it a 4/5 as it did make my eyeshadow more vibrant and increases the longevity of my eye looks. I guess this is better for those that doesn't have any dry patches around their eyes.

WILL I PURCHASE THIS AGAIN? Nope. This is the same issue I had when I tried it years ago. I rarely reach for it because of my struggle to smooth it out all over my lids. I would prefer not to use any primer at all and that's saying something. I'm just lucky that I didn't get the full size coz that would be a waste of money.

I know this is a cult favorite and you might like it. I also don't know if I just got a bad batch. Nevertheless,  we'll all have different opinions about certain products because of different conditions. I would suggest if you haven't tried this yet, go ahead & buy coz it might work for you. But if you are on a budget & doesn't want to spend too much, I really believe the one from Etude House is really comparable and it spreads a lot better too.


What are your favorite eyeshadow primers? Please let me know so that I can try them out. =)


Until next time. Thank you for dropping by!

Update on Urban Decay

Hello everyone! I have came across a couple blog posts from some of the bloggers I follow about Urban Decay's change of heart about selling in China. They have decided to not push through with their plan of selling their products in China...you can read their whole statement in their website or you can click here to go to the page.

Here is an excerpt of their statement:

UD Decides Not to Sell in China

After careful consideration of many issues, we have decided not to start selling Urban Decay products in China. While several factors were important in reaching this decision, ultimately we did not feel we could comply with current regulations in China and remain true to our core principles. We know there are many progressive consumers in China who would embrace an opportunity to purchase non-animal tested products - our hope remains that we have the chance to offer Urban Decay products to these consumers someday in the future.

Following our initial announcement, we realized that we needed to step back, carefully review our original plan, and talk to a number of individuals and organizations that were interested in our decision. We regret that we were unable to respond immediately to many of the questions we received, and appreciate the patience our customers have shown as we worked through this difficult issue.

Since our founding in 1996, we have been committed to ending animal testing in the cosmetics industry. As demonstrated by the renewed support we have received from organizations like PETA and the CCIC, this principle remains at our core. Urban Decay does not test its finished products on animals, nor do we allow others to test on our behalf, and we require our suppliers to certify that the raw materials used in the manufacture of our products are not tested on animals. Urban Decay is proud to be 100% cruelty-free.

If you have additional questions, please email us at info@urbandecay.com.

MY OPINION:

I am glad that Urban Decay decided to change its decision of selling  in China because that will mean a lot of animals in the laboratories in China would be saved for now....It is just sad to think that they would still be used for testing other big brands who have recently decided to push through with their plans *ahem MAC* *ahem Estee Lauder companies* ...

Now, here's the thing...I don't know if I believe Urban Decay that they have decided to not push through with their plans because they "can't sacrifice their core principles" of being cruelty free... I'm sorry but I think they are more motivated by monetary aspects rather than what they call core principles. 

UD have been bombarded with a lot of negative comments, statements and actions (after they released their statement last month that they will sell in China) by a lot of cruelty-free organizations like PETA and Leaping Bunny and also a lot of their loyal customers who supported them because they are cruelty free.

Urban Decay have been one of the top picks both by animal lovers and vegan customers for a long time when it comes to cosmetics because of the great quality of products they offer and their cruelty free logo. So I think it really damaged their sales when majority of their customers decided to boycott them and stopped buying products. 

Also, being bombarded by all these negative things might have taken a toll on the company and so to stop all the craziness just decided that it is not worth it (Chinese market) so they released another statement this month retracting their earlier statement. This really proves that customers have a say in this matter. We can make these big companies realize our importance as animal advocates.

Here's the big question: Should we support them again because of this? I think giving them a second chance is a good thing to do just so we can show them they have done the right thing BUT for me, personally, I have decided to just wait it out first. I wanted to be 100% sure that I can trust them again. I can't help but think that they could be tempted again by the monetary pull and would just abandon their "principles" easily like what they did...And, they can do it under the table next time so that they won't get these kinds of reactions.

It is actually up to you on what you should do. Either way, I think this is a happy ending because they decided to not sell in China and that's good news to all the laboratory animals there ^_^

What about you? Would you support them again or not? Do share your opinions below in the comment section coz I would love to hear your thought on the matter ^___^