When Kat Von D Beauty announced its Lolita Vault — and entire collection of products based on the brand's best-selling lipstick shade of all time — long-term fans practically lost their minds.
The collection — which consists of an eight-shade eye shadow palette, an Ink Well eyeliner, and a Glimmer Veil liquid lipstick — just hit Sephora in stores and online. Kat Von D Beauty sent me the entire collection to try for myself, and it turns out I haven't been wearing this shade nearly enough.
Readers, let me introduce to you some of my new go-to products.
Given that I'm really into monochromatic pink makeup — and all-pink everything, honestly — I found it hardly surprising that Kat Von D's Lolita capsule collection is one of my favorites of the year.
Unfortunately this velvet vault box is just for press — you'll have to buy each item separately — but that doesn't make the collection's hand-drawn packaging any less exciting.
The collection consists of three staple products, the first being the new Lolita Ink Well eyeliner shade ($20, Kat Von D Beauty).
The second is a new shade of Glimmer Veil ($22, Sephora), Kat Von D Beauty's glitter-packed liquid lipsticks that can be worn by themselves or on top of other lipsticks.
But the main event is obviously the Lolita eye shadow palette ($39, Kat Von D Beauty). These products are all limited-edition and are selling out quickly, keep in mind.
Compared to other recent Kat Von D Beauty palettes, Lolita is extremely petite, which makes it less expensive and better suited for holiday travel.
If you remember buying any of Kat Von D Beauty's early True Romance eye shadow palettes, Lolita is about that size. It's simple and compact.
If matte eye shadow is your bag, Lolita's perfect for you. Each dusty rose shade is discernible from the next and has a velvet-like texture that produces very little fallout. These swatches took a couple passes with a finger to reach max opacity.
My favorite shades that I've been wearing over and over again are Con Amor, Lolita (obviously), and Recuerdos.
Note that this palette's formula swatches a little more sheer than it appears in promotional shots, but that's OK! Hear me out.
Honestly, finger swatches have extremely little to do with the actual performance of an eye shadow, unless you only use your fingers to apply eye shadow. In which case, how the heck are you blending?
Anyway, because these shadows are ultra-matte, they require a lot more blending than your average eye shadow. The slightly sheer nature of these shadows prevents you from getting patches of pigment stuck where you don't want them.
That being said, eye shadow novices and beginners would find Lolita a breeze to use. Oh, and these shadows also make stunning blushes when applied carefully, as you'll see below.
The Lolita Glimmer Veil liquid lipstick, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. She THICC.
Having had experience with more than a few shades in the Glimmer Veil line, I knew right off the bat that this lipstick would become a must-have for me.
When applied by itself, Lolita Glimmer Veil reaches full opacity with little effort.
The sheer amount of sparkle is hard to capture on camera, but trust me, it's there.
This isn't even full opacity Glimmer Veil. For this shot, I applied Lolita Everlasting Lip Liner ($18, Kat Von D Beauty) all over my lips and dusted on a small amount of Glimmer Veil on top with a fluffy eye brush.
That night, it lasted through two long walks in the rain with no umbrella and multiple drinks. No straws.
My absolute favorite piece in the Lolita collection, however, is the Ink Well eyeliner. Hands down.
The thing about Ink Well is that it's not for eyeliner beginners at all. Its brush demands accuracy, and its watery formula does not budge without a lot of oil-based cleanser once it takes a few seconds to dry down.
But if you consider yourself to be a master of the cat eye like I do, you'll find a new best friend in Ink Well. I am telling you, NOTHING will disrupt this liner. In fact, it's actually kind of hard to get off.
Lolita's muted pink is also truly a rare find in the liquid eyeliner world, and it always feels nice to know you'll stick out of the crowd just a little.
I became a massive fan of monochromatic makeup in 2018, and this collection sings directly to my heart because of that. Even when I'm not wearing the eye shadow on my eyes, I can wear one or two shades as a blush to pull everything together, as I demonstrate in the shot above.
All in all?
Each item in this collection matches perfectly with the others. Though beginners might have issues with Ink Well, both the Lolita palette and Glimmer Veil lipstick make perfect experimental entry-level purchases. However, anyone generally acquainted with Kat Von D Beauty formulas might find this a refreshing departure from their bold, all-black beauty lineups.
