Kat Von D Saint and Sinner Eyeshadow Palette for Holiday 2017

I wasn't going to buy this.

I resisted the first few times I spotted a beat-up tester in-store.

But when I had a F&F coupon to use and saw a pristine tester, something about the colors sucked me in. Ironically, I'd just watched Jen Luvs Reviews' wrap-up of the palette and thought I was doing the right thing by passing.

But these colors, they drew me in.  And I had a stack of brand-new palettes to play with- guess which was the first to get photographed, pans untouched so I could start playing? You guessed it.

Say hello to the Kat Von D Saint & Sinner Eyeshadow Palette ($62, Sephora and KatVonD.com), the brand's offering for Holiday 2017. In the tradition of the past several years (Mi Vida Loca, Metal/Matte), it's visually stunning.

Like all other products, Kat Von D did all of the artwork for this herself.

I know I should roll my eyes at the cross-promotion with the fragrances, but I don't care. It's beautiful and that's all I care about. I've read/watched information regarding the inspiration for the palette. It should be clear that this is a stained glass window- and there's a heavy influence of Catholicism in the shade names (hi, vestment, rosary, chalice?)

The packaging is quite unique- the doors open up to give two small mirrors.

Let's dig into this beauty. There are 12 Saint and 12 Sinner shades. I'll be honest, when it came to drawing me in- I'm a Sinner. Each pan contains 0.04oz/1g of product. That means the palette contains 24g of product, and we have a price per gram of $2.58- making it a good value for Sephora.

Saint Shades (descriptions from the Sephora product page)

Absolution (ivory with gold super-glimmer), Worship (pearlescent eggplant), Immaculate (pearlescent olive)

Chalice (metallic antique bronze), Sacred Heart (pearlescent coral), Amen (matte cream)

Sanctuary (pearlescent nude coffee), Heaven (metallic silver), Crucifix (matte deep chocolate)

Cathedral (gunmetal with silvery blue glitter), Rosary (metallic garnet), Baptism (matte pale pink)

Sinner Shades:


Rapture (rosy pink with pink super-glimmer), Sabbath (matte jet black), Ashes (taupe with gold glitter)

Martyr (matte toffee brown), Devil (matte pumpkin orange), Revelation (brown with gold glitter)

Vestment (Shimmery maroon with blue-green shift), Ministry (metallic cobalt), Exodus (chartreuse with gold glitter)

Exorcism (matte deep purple), Relic (metallic fool's gold), Stigmata (metallic scarlet)

A quick note on the shades- I own the matte Shade & Light Eye, all four Shade & Light Quads, the Interstellar Palette, Pastel Goth, and Metal/Matte. I don't own any palettes before Interstellar, nor do I own the Shade & Light Eye Glimmer palette. I feel like I have a good representative sample of Kat Von D's palettes, and there are no shade repeats (aside from black, obviously).

I noticed some interesting flaking of some of the wetter metallics- take a look:

I don't mind, but I wanted to make sure to point it out in case that bothers you.

Overall, I have two major critiques of this palette. First, it's not a standalone palette. If you purchase this, know that you'll need to have a neutral palette with you to make a full look. I actually have pulled two different Kat Von D palettes- Metal/Matte and Shade & Light Eye. That's not a huge problem for me, but I know it's non-negotiable for some people.

The second critique has to do with the palette and how it's laid out. This is a piece of art. It's not intuitive, nor is it easy to just slap a couple of colors together and make a nice look. As much as it's a critique, I enjoy being challenged.

Let's talk about the looks that I tried and my experience with the palette. Just so you know, when I do a post in this format, I write my experiences as I go. Please keep in mind that I tested more looks after this, but forgot to photograph. Sorry, I was running low on coffee!

Look #1- obviously, this was a weekend.

Shades from this palette used: Vestment (all over the lid, patted on with MAC 228 over Too Faced Glitter Glue), Absolution (inner corner highlight), Martyr (crease, outer V), devil (crease, V- a little closer to the eye), Crucifix (cut the lid with it, outer V)

Other shades used: Metal/Matte Bone, Suede

OhEmGee. Vestment was one of the reasons why I bought the palette, so I wanted to put it on my eyes ASAP. Yes, this is very dramatic but it's awesome. I have Eyelure Rose lashes on my eyes, for the record.


Look #2- Back to Work.

Shades from the palette used: Ashes (lid), Crucifix (outer V), tiny bit of Martyr (blended out), Absolution (inner corner, then realized it was a mistake!)

Other shades used: Metal/Matte Bone, Shade & Light Samael or Latinus (not sure how this corresponds)

Ashes was one of the shades that really intrigued me so I wanted to try it all over the lid. Kat Von D nailed this. The gold glitter shows up on the eye, but it's totally work-appropriate. Unfortunately my lighting situation (I get ready pre-dawn) doesn't allow for that to shine through in these photos, but you've gotta trust me)

I did four other looks but forgot to photograph. Fail.

Clearly, I've given this a good test.

To me, this palette is 100% worth the price. I look forward to using the few shades that I haven't yet. This is my favorite palette I've tried in awhile- even more than Lila!