Thoughts and a Little Swatch: Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipsticks

For the last several weeks there has been much buzz about Kat Von D’s new lipstick line at Sephora. This line appears to replace her previous lipstick line and includes some of the shades from her previous collections. There are 30 shades according to the Sephora website.  They all come in very attractive black studded tubes and cost a bit steep $21.

There have been mixed reviews online and it seems to depend completely on the shade. I’ve heard some are wonderfully pigmented, others are sheer, some are drying and tug, others are smooth etc. I decided to check this out for myself at Sephora. Keep in mind though, my opinions are based solely on looking and feeling the lipsticks in the tubes and swatching on my arm. I did not apply to my lips, nor did I try every color.

My opinions are as followed starting from near my palm:

Wolvesmouth (metallic berry): fairly opaque but very dry; tugging

Bauhau5 (matte deep raspberry): opaque but also very dry and stiff

Lullaby (sparkling iridescent magenta violet) : a bit dry and gritty, but full color. Not bad

A go-go (matte neon orange): creamy, smooth, opaque. A great one!

Coven (matte lavender): dry, stiff, chalky. Avoid.

Wonderchilde (iridescent neon lilac): a bit more sheer than lullaby but soother, creamier, etc. I really like this one!

Poe (Shimmer Navy): opaque, creamy, applied well

LUV (not pictured, matte rich violet): creamy, opaque, very good color!

Overall, I’m not too impressed with the formula for the prices they are charging. If Nyx, Wet n’ Wild, Revlon, etc. can all charge $6, $2, and $9 respectively for a well formulated product, I’d hope it would be great for $21! The color selection though, is interesting and pretty unique. The colors I’d most want to get would be Wonderchile which is more sheer than I’d like but very pretty and creamy, and LUV which is very smooth for a matte considering how dry and stiff most of the mattes seem to be. But, considering the price and that I haven’t tried them on the lips I don’t see myself buying any soon.