Review: Kat Von D Chrysalis Eyeshadow Palette

I'm not much of a Kat Von D fan and I don't really care for "reality" TV at all.

But her makeup line's revamp? That I can certainly get on board with. Those Studded Kiss Lipsticks are calling my name! But this palette had to come first.

Kat Von D Beauty has always had palettes. Since day one of the brand. They used to be a bit boring, due to repetition in colors. They eventually stopped making them, put out Shadeshifter singles and then restarted with the Monarch and Chrysalis palettes. Holiday palettes are also put out, much like any other brand.

Monarch and Chrysalis came out way back in April or May last year. One is cool, dark jewel tones and the other warm neutrals. I waited with baited breath to see if the shades in Chrysalis lived up to the promo images.

The palette lid and the back of the box.

Chrysalis features a butterfly made up of skulls in purples, blues, and pinks, all outlined in black for a very pretty palette cover. It is a cardboard palette, but cardboard is comparatively lighter than plastic palettes. While they don't have sleek, clean edges, they are easier on the hands than a plastic palette! The Chrysalis palette is fairly weighty, but not terribly so. There's also a nicely sized mirror, surrounded by the same flourishes you see on the lid of the palette.

 

Inside you have three neutral base shades (0.095 oz) and nine dark jewel-toned "accent shades" (0.049 oz) sectioned in trios under the base shades. I personally like this setup. It's a nice suggestion for looks (think of the Wet n Wild trios and quads, that have "Base," "Lid," "Crease" stamped into them!), so if you don't have time to experiment or you're feeling lazy, there's color combinations already worked out. This doesn't mean you can't use Lunar Lights with Tornay or Mezzanine; it just means you can seriously simplify a dark eye look!

The base shades are, from left to right: Lifelike ("matte cream"), Lunar Lights ("pearl gray") and Lucid ("sparkle rose"). The nine accent shades are Hybrid Moments ("matte deep purple"), Mezzanine ("sparkle violet"), Transition ("pearl mauve"), Glasswing ("matte caramel"), Melancholia ("pearl silver"), Black Milk ("matte gray"), Graphic Nature ("pearl charcoal"), Entombed ("pearl blue"), and Tornay ("matte navy"). I put the base shades with their respective trios for swatching-simplicity. **None of these swatches are over primer.**

L to R: Hybrid Moments, Mezzanine, Transition and Lifelike.

Lifelike is described as "matte cream." It's a yellow-based, beige cream. It's a silky matte, not chalky, hard, stiff... Just soft. It's wonderful for a subtle brow highlight or to set nude eyeliner for a pretty noticeable brightening effect. 

Hybrid Moments claims to be "matte deep purple." There's a bit of ultrafine shimmer in the matte base! Its a deep, eggplant purple with very slight cool brown undertones. The shimmer is also a variety of colors, but I detect yellow-green, bright blue and purple. It is a bit dry and powdery feeling when swatched plus it doesn't look very pigmented. It does perform better over primer however. I so love this for the crease and outer corner, since it blends nicely and easy to pick up on with a brush.

Mezzanine is called "sparkle violet." A warm, pink-violet with a pink duochrome to it and the loveliest "blurple" and pink shimmer. This shade is softer to the touch than Hyrbid Moments but also feels powdery. Again, this is a shade that's better with primer since pigmentation is weak on swatching. It's still a beloved shade for me.

Transition is a called "pearl mauve" and really, it lives up to that. A cool, pinky-mauve with a beautiful sheen and stellar pigmentation. It's also buttery and I adore it. Just so pretty. Can't get enough.

L to R: Glasswing, Melancholia, Black Milk, and Lunar Lights. Glasswing is actually much better than it appears here. Sorry!

Lunar Lights is described as "pearl gray." It's a dirty, gray-white with a frosty finish and lots of shimmer. It's a beautiful shade, with a soft formula that's easy to blend. It can easily be applied sheer for a highlight or layered for more intensity. I think it'll make a neat little inner corner highlight! I like experimenting with highlighting the inner corner; current favorite for the inner corner is actually Sugarpill's Frostine.

Glasswing, described as "matte caramel," is a warm tan, almost like a dark beige. This would make a great transitional/blending shade for neutral eyes. This has the same buttery formula as Lifelike. It's an amazing matte and just so, so pleasant to swatch.

Melancholia is another great pearl in this palette. Its called "pearl silver" but it's more a pewter gold. It really reminds me of the color of Fool's Gold; a subtly warm, ultra-smooth gold. If you want gold but you prefer it to be a subtler gold, Melancholia would be a good choice. It is powdery but it's nothing that can't be worked around.

Black Milk is an epic shade that I have a strange passion for. It's a cool, light gray with a matte finish and silky feel. Like Lifelike and Glasswing, it's not stiff, hard, or even chalky--the only problem is that it is a bit powdery. Buttery and smooth are much more apt descriptions in spite of the powderiness. It blends into my skin a bit but the pigmentation is there.

L to R: Graphic Nature, Entombed, Tornay and Lucid.

Lucid is described as "sparkle rose." Not sparkling rose, but sparkle rose. It's a pale, blue-based pink with loads of silvery-white sparkles. It does swatch true-to-pan and is delightfully smooth. It is pigmented, but it near disappears into my skin due to how light it is. For me, I'll probably use it of highlighting my brow (which is sort of what these shades are intended for!).

Graphic Nature is "pearl charcoal" and unsurprisingly, another lovely pearl. It is powdery but it still retains the soft, buttery feel. A softened, gray-black with a subtly multicolored shimmer—I pick up green, pink, purple, and orange. If black is too harsh for your tastes, Graphic Nature is a nice alternative choice.

Entombed is "pearl blue." This is what I think of when I think of sapphire. It's a blue with a little blackened base and a very strong metallic sheen. There's brighter blue shimmer that contrasts the richness of the blue in the base. Beautiful.

Tornay is one of the major shades I was after but it's a disappointment to look at. It's described as "matte navy," but I find it's more of a muddy, dark green-based teal. It's sort of grayed. Makes me think of zombies... It's soft in texture but it's pretty packed in the pan. Ah well. Can't win them all.

Overall, it's a decent palette. The pearl shades are pretty great and there are some wonderful mattes in the palette. It really broke away from the neutral palettes we were seeing at the time and I can't get over the dark jewel tones in the palette, especially because they're cool-toned with loads of purples. (I love purple eyeshadow.) You can find the Chrysalis palette at Sephora and Sephora.com for $46. I do want to try more Kat Von D products, particularly the Studded Kiss lipsticks as I said before and the Everlasting Love liquid lipsticks. The new metallics coming have also caught my eye in major way!

SPOOKEHDOOM