the Kat Von D Monarch palette

If you’ve been reading for a while you may remember that I’ve been looking for a sepia eyeshadow, and was for a while considering the Kat Von D Ladybird palette, though in the end I had too many reservations and didn’t go for it. I’m so glad I didn’t, as Kat Von D released two new palettes this month with new colors and formulas, one warm, one cool. Guess which one I liked more?

IMG_2737the warm one

I picked up the Monarch palette, which wasn’t even on the shelves yet in Sephora last week but they sold it to me anyway. The colors were, are, irresistible to me. This is what I wanted the Urban Decay Naked palette (which I don’t have (or want) in any incarnation) to be. Taupe, beige, bronze, gold, champagne, brown, russet…everything I like best, and with lovely, buttery textures.

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See that shade on the left?? Are you seeing??

This already has great reviews online, and it deserves them. I haven’t had much time to play around with it yet but I’ve been swatching and musing, and I am pleased. I have some reservations about the top right base shade, which has some oversized glitter, but this is the only negative to report so far. This should be on shelves officially in the next couple of weeks, so if you’re near a Sephora (this is a Sephora exclusive), I urge you to check it out. The other palette is nice, too, with blues and stuff, but, you know. This one is better.

I’ve been making a lot of decisions based primarily on color lately, and color seems to be playing an increasingly significant role in my vision generally (in all types of choices). Somehow color is jumping out at me more, seems more important, more powerful and more poignant than it has been in the past. It’s always hard to tell if I am imagining these things. Still, it does seem I am struck down (smitten, really) more often by some singing color these days. I am the same, perhaps, only more so.

on the lips: this badass Givenchy lipstick

Allow me to introduce you to some of the most badass lipstick packaging around (yet still sleek, not studded within an inch of its structural integrity). Givenchy’s Le Rouge line has a gorgeous formula and this packaging, while not gold, is perhaps the next best thing: leather.

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Well, faux leather. Look at it! Extremely satisfying to interact with this packaging.

Sam from Pixiwoo was wearing and recommended this shade, Fuschia Irrésistable, in a video about favorite products and it went straight to the wishlist. It’s similar in color to NARS Funny Face (a semi-matte) but brighter and with a relatively glossy finish.

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Mmmhmm. Yes. We need that.

It’s light, pigmented, intensely creamy, packed with skincare benefits; it has all the strengths of the latest generation of lipsticks. This kind of creamy-yet-weightless formula is easier and easier to come by these days. Estee Lauder’s new Pure Color Envy line is incredibly creamy, too, and Urban Decay’s Revolution line. Japonesque, YSL, Tom Ford… I don’t care that it is Givenchy—in fact I don’t know a lot about Givenchy—but that many of the designer brands are coming through with stellar formulas cannot be denied.

Finally (over a year later!) picked it up in a recent Sephora promo. You know, because. It is beautiful. If you are wondering how I could possibly need any more lipstick, I am sorry to be the one to tell you: you may be in danger of missing the point entirely.