I discovered how to remove my eye bags by color correcting and layering with contour makeup during my darkest period in late 2018/ early 2019 when I lost someone I love very dearly in my life. During those months, I had no vigor to groom myself, let alone shopping for makeup. It wasn’t until I had to go for an important meeting that I felt the necessity to conceal the then puffiest under eyes to date from all the endless crying. My concealers had to choose this time to run out of; and there it was this Kat Von D Shade + Light Creme Contour Palette laying in front of me like, “do you need help?” I didn’t really know what I was doing then, all that mattered at that point was to go for anything that would match the skin tone and how to reduce those puffy under eye bags and dark circles of mine. So I took to experimenting with the contour palette not for sculpting my face but my under eyes.

How To Get Rid of Eye Bags by Layering Contour Makeup Technique

If you watch the video below, you’d be able to tell that I was using a mix of color correcting and layering techniques. The first part of reducing the appearance of puffiness by color correcting the dark circles and the difference in the color tones of my under eyes. Then I followed by layering the different shades to further get rid of the puffy eye bags by evening out the skin tone of the area under my eyes, sometimes layer on layer and sometimes pressing on two shades at the same time so as to match with the rest of the skin around the eyes.

 

 

The video above shows how I mix and match the shades to get the natural coverage that removes my eye bags and dark circles.

The technique that I’ve demonstrated involved a lot of layering. Crème products work best with fingers as they are gentle and agile enough to be able to layer and bind the pigments as and where you’d like them to. Finger layering technique also introduces more dimensions to create something you’d want to look more natural like your skin tone. Brushing is more for if you were to cast a flawless veil over, such as with foundation makeup; but this isn’t the essence of contour makeup. Contour makeup is about creating depths.

Kat Von D Shade + Light Refillable Crème Contour Makeup Palette Review

The art of eye contouring may or may not have been revolutionized by Ms Von D herself. I remember how smart she made her Shade and Light Eye Contour Quad to be; I had the best experience of using it because the shades compacted into one portable case (so you wouldn’t need to think of which shades would go better together) not only saves you time but comes with this detailed easy tutorial sheet that helps you get the job done even if you used to struggle with eye makeup before.

Packaging

The Kat Von D Shade + Light Cream Contour Palette comes in 6 sizeable pans of shaping, sculpting and shading tones, 3 of which are smaller in sizes at 3.5 grams (0.12 oz), and the other bigger 3 are 6 grams (0.21 oz) each. The casing with Kat Von D cosmetics are usually quite solid as with this one – the heavily embossed, stark black goth-looking one with a generous mirror -you don’t need me to go on.

Shades/ Colors/ Tones

The top smaller pans contain a neutral skin-toned medium-fair shade, a cool toned pale yellow, and a warm deep beige. The bottom bigger pans are all browns, ranging from a warm taupe, to a more olive based medium brown to a neutral cocoa.

I read that these shades could turn one’s face ‘muddy’, but really, the warmer contour palettes that are always out there could easily turn one into an oompa loompa too. All I’m saying is, Kat Von D isn’t new to understanding skin tones and colors. She has included cools, neutrals and warms in each of the highlighting and shading groups. Those who find them muddy most likely didn’t understand their own skin tone or facial silhouette enough to be able to optimize the shades in bringing the best out of them.

Kat Von D’s Shade and Light powder contour palette has been a constant go-to for many, for its buildability, natural finish and long-lasting nature among the many good reasons to own one. To me, the cream version to that OG lives up to all those good reviews as well, although I do not own the powder contour palette to be able to say which is better. Reviewers who have used both, in general, prefer her powder version. Now, if you happen to be using more powder makeup and especially have gotten used to using powders and in doing so have developed the skill to work with powder makeup better, it is likely that you would prefer powder to cream contour makeup. And not necessarily to do with the more inferior medium in this case, it has to do with your familiarity and skills with a particular different medium.

I’m just gonna put it out there that Kat Von D is no stranger to creating incredible cream products – if she can make liquid lipsticks stay, and lock down cream concealers and foundations, why wouldn’t her cream contour makeup work?

Verdict:

Below is how I’ve managed to just “sculpt” my jaw lines, nose bridge, temples, forehead and chin by using the shades from the Kat Von D Shade + Light Creme Contour palette. This contour palette is really that easy to use. My face in the ‘after’ photo does look a lot slimmer and I wasn’t even using a brush but my fingers to blend. I assure you my faces in both pictures are of the same width and size (you can measure them if you want). No filter, no tricks. From a round face to an oval….are you kidding me?

As I said, I took to this Shade + Light Crème Contour Palette to conceal my under eyes in place of concealers, and I found it to be so easy to work with. The formula is soft, creamy yet stays put and doesn’t cake up when dried, which makes it the perfect, and a safe enough formula for delicate skin areas like my under eye areas. Sure it creases a little, but nothing powders cannot set, as with any other cream concealers.

What is better from using this Kat Von D Shade and Light crème contour palette than your typical cream concealers is that because you can mix from the shades to achieve the perfect shade of coverage to match your skin tone, this one versatile palette beats the number of cream concealer sticks you’d need to buy to match your skin as it darkens or lightens from time to time. It’s like packing 6 concealer shades in one. You don’t need me to educate you on the economy of scale for these shades versus only one shade of any cream concealer or concealer stick.

For facial contouring, as seen in the photos above, I’ve got no issue with sculpting my face with this cream palette. With a variant of well balanced cool, warm and neutral shades, and a pliable formula, the rest is really up to your artistry and knowing what you’re made of. 

Where to Buy Kat Von D Shade and Light Crème Contour Palette

The Kat Von D Shade + Light Crème Contour Palette is refillable and retails at SGD$73.00 (now having 40% off) at Singapore Sephora stores.

Sign up for free on V-MORE shopping site here for more rebates on top of merchant’s discounts.

Read More: How to power up your self-care routine

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