Kat Von D’s new True Romance eyeshadow palette, “Mi Vida Loca” ($34 at Sephora), features a bright rainbow of eight shadows that look intimidating, but are much more wearable than you might think. They shadows are velvety soft, highly pigmented and very blendable, just like the shadows in Poetica and Saint. Mi Vida Loca also comes with a Autograph Pencil (eyeliner) in Wonderchild, a sparkling bright blue.
The packaging
Like her other newer palettes, this one’s in the form of a black cigarette tin with roses, and the words “Mi Vida Loca” splashed across the top in soft rainbow hues colors.
The shadows
My first thought on seeing these in person was, “Whoa, colors!” But this palette makes them work in a way few manage, because the colors aren’t neon – they’re bright, but soft. And none of them are overly shimmery. I feel like a lot of thought and artistic knowledge was put into this palette, because each color works so well in the finish it’s been given. And no glitter. Not even a hint of it.
While these colors are so pigmented that just a little on your brush will go on very boldly, you can apply them very lightly – just get a tiny amount on your brush and blend, blend, blend to create a lighter version of the deeper colors in this palette.
Swatches
Sephora lists the color names and descriptions differently than the palette itself. My names come from the back of the palette.
Swan Song is an iridescent pearl – a white with hints of pinkness. It makes a terrific highlight color for the inner corner or browbone, but it’s also gorgeous on the lid. You can also blend it over a deeper color to lighten it.
Marya is a pearlized light pink. This one could also be used as a highlight, but works great on the lid as well. It’s a similar tone and shimmer to Mac’s Naked Lunch, only much pinker.
No Regrets is a fuschia with just a hint of shimmer and enough of a blue base that it doesn’t make my eyes look tired or like I’ve just been crying, even if I used it on my lid. It’s bold, but soft.
Drama For Yo Mama is a deep blue based purple with just a hint of shimmer – even less shimmer than No Regrets. I thought at first this one was a matte – that’s how slight the shimmer is.
Mad Max is a matte sky blue. I cannot believe this color works, because, you know, look at it. It’s so far from any color that naturally occurs on the human body. I apply it very lightly in the crease, and it somehow blends with my skintone to look good. I wear it more boldly on the lid or crease, and as long as you surround it with other colors, it works surprisingly well.
Dublin is a very slightly shimmery green. It’s a light, bright spring sort of green, and it’s very influenced by the colors you put next to it: Sparklehorse (yellow) will make it look more lime or chartreuse, while Max Max makes it look a deeper green.
Sparklehorse is a shimmery goldenrod. Like many of these colors, it looked so much better on my skin than I ever would have imagined from seeing it in the pan.
Altruism is a shimmery pale yellow, another color that’s suitable for highlighting but also good on the lid.
Wonderchild, the autograph liner, is a shimmery bright blue with a slightly purple base. I did one swatch heavy and thick, and the other thin and lighter. It wears very well for me, even in the waterline.
The bottom line
This is a really fun palette, and every single shadow in it performs really well in terms of wear time, bold pigmentation, blendability and color payoff.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
thank you for this review and the excellent swatches. I know bright colors will be popular for spring and I appreciate your tip that these colors are very wearable when blended out. I bought it today online
Yay, you’ll enjoy it so much!