Kat Von D The Alchemist Holographic Palette

Monday, September 18, 2017

I bought the Kat Von D The Alchemist Holographic Palette months and months ago, during the spring Sephora sale after waffling over it for quite a while. I just couldn't decide if this was something that I really needed or not. It really has taken me half a year to familiarize myself with the colors, even now the palette feels really new and still presents a challenge every time I pull it out.

This triangular palette comes with four shades that look off white in the palette. They're not holographic the way I think of holographic (like concentrated rainbows) but more like interfering shades, a duochrome without a base color. The palette reminds me of this Sebastian Trucco Angelface Shadow Palette and also of Femme Fatale Gemstone Collection shadows, but pressed.

I also re did swatches four or five times, never quite satisfied with how these shadows/highlighters photographed. I feel like they look a lot more powdery on camera than they are in person, and not nearly as colorful as they actually are. The texture is pretty good, slightly dusty, but a lot of that disappears when used over an eyeshadow primer or sticky base.

Left to right: Pink Opal, Amethyst, Saphyre. Top stripe is glitter adhesive, the second is primer and the bottom is a black base.

Swatches in the shade.

While I think the colors are interesting and highly transformative, I struggled with pairing the shades. I had the most success with using matte colors in the crease and close to the lash line, then using a dab of glitter adhesive to fix The Alchemist shadows over it like a topcoat. You can use this palette as for highlight but as ludicrous as it sounds, I don't want to use up the palette that quickly on my cheeks. I read a few reviews where the user hit pan on a shade within a month when applying it daily as a highlight. I did however, quite like the looks of a duochrome-y highlight, so as an alternative I purchased some NYX Duochromatic Highlighters to play around with, a review for another time.

Emerald over a dark brown base, warm tan transition.

Saphyre over a rusty red/brown base.

Emerald again. Maroon base, warm orange transition.

As far as Kat Von D and other mid level beauty brands go, this palette doesn't feel as good of a value as other palettes. $32 for four pans (26mm if I'm not mistaken, standard size) doesn't work out to be as comfortable of a price/shadow as KVD Metal Matte, Pastel Goth, Monarch etc.

I'm happy with my decision to purchase this because over time it's proven to be something that I'll reach for again and again. I don't feel like I've even scratched the tip of this palette's potential. I've used these shades over dark bases, but I also want to explore light opalescent looks. I like that I still haven't grown tired of playing with these interfering shades, usually the newness falls away inside a month. Thumbs up, no regrets.

Kat Von D The Alchemist Hologrpahic Palette can be purchased directly from the KVD website or from Sephora online.

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