Sparkled Beauty

I resisted Kat Von D Innerstellar eyeshadow palette when it first came out but failed when Sephora brought out the Innerstellar eye & lip set.

A set with all full sized items, and they all are the ones I wanted to try. Guess we can't miss it again, especially during the VIB sale, can we? :)

This set comes with the Innerstellar palette, a Lightning liner and 2 lip products, neatly packed in a sturdy black ziploc-style bag. Add in a blush and you are set for colour face makeup for a short trip or a weekend away.

A closer look at the Innerstellar palette, with matte and shimmery cool toned shades (3x0.08oz + 9x0.04oz, totalling 0.6oz of eyeshadows, reg. $55).

Despite rave reviews on YT and blogs, this palette gives me a mixed feeling. Some shades I fall in love at first swatch, and some fall a little short.

The first 3 shades in the first quad are a little lighter in pigmentation - Gravitron (described as a soft iridescent pink), Night Crawler (matte dusty beige), Dios (silvery gray iridescence).

Lunacy (rich pearlized purple) is, one of the best performed purples I have tried, despite the slightly firmer texture. It does not need much building up at all.

The second quad is a great one, with Vast (pearlized taupe, an easy all-over-lid shade), Astrological (pale lilac sheen, a little sheer when blended), Darkstar (purplish pewter, very very pigmented) and Orion (matte chocolate brown, great for the crease).

The last quad has Lycan (matte cream, the brow bone shade), 2 metallic shades - 3am (metallic champagne) and Moonshine (metallic silver), and Killing Moon (matte black, great pigmentation but slightly firmer to the touch, harder to blend).

I love all the dark and metallic shades in this palette, plus the 2 purples. They blend easily and stay on through the day with a primer. The more neutral shades could be more pigmented and slightly less powdery, but overall, the Innerstellar palette is nice to have.

The accompanying product, also for the eyes, is the Lightning liner in Poe (metallic purple with violet shimmer, 0.04oz, reg. $25).

Among different lines of eyeliners at Kat Von D, the Lightnings are supposed to be metallic liquid eyeliners with a brush tip.

The design includes a stopper that sits between the tube and the cap, to be removed the first time you use the liner to allow the cap to close tightly onto the tube. Then turn the dial to dispense the product onto the tip - one click for a thin line and more clicks if you want a bold line.

This is both a pro and con to the product. Yes you get fresh ink every time you go apply your eyeliner, but the amount is harder to control with clicks. One side of the brush might get more product than the other. The metallic sheen is undeniably beautiful though.

The Everlasting liquid lipstick (0.22 oz, reg. $24) would probably need no introduction at all, but it is worth noting that the tube is narrow and long, hence the wand is also very long, slightly awkward to maneuver.

Armageddon (described as a carnation pink) does not seem to be a colour from the existing core line, might be exclusive to this set, I can't say for sure.

The Studded Kiss lipstick line (0.1oz, reg. $26) is quite new to me. Packaging is very cool, feels sturdy too.

The colour they choose for the set is Wonderchilde (an iridescent neon lilac) is interesting. It looks bold and dark in the tube but applies slightly sheer (but buildable), and get this, duochrome-y. It looks pink in one angle and purple in another. I love it!

On my medium skin tone, Wonderchilde actually looks more flattering than Armageddon, which is a little too blue toned. On a flip side though, the lipstick cannot beat the liquid lipstick in terms of wear time. Neither of them is a work safe colour either :)

Think you saw these swatches before? Yes, they were the testing product for The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous cleansing butter I showed you last week. That could illustrate lasting power - the liner held on the longest while the lipstick came off easily.

This Innerstellar eye & set is LE, online only, VIB and VIB Rouge exclusive [lots of restrictions there], $85 ($128 value). Great for those of us who are collectors :)