Easy FOTD for Work Featuring the Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Quad in Plum

The $26 Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Quad in Plum is really helping me get out the door in the morning. I love eyeshadow quads and palettes and definitely think they’re more convenient than trying to pull together different single eyeshadows to create a look, but there’s always a balance between having a palette that has enough variety to do a lot of different makeup looks (like the Minnie Mouse X Sephora one), and one that has a more edited selection of colors tailored to just one or two looks.

With four coordinating shades and a matte purple vibe, the $26 Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Quad in Plum is more of the latter.

For my makeup today I used the quad’s four shadows in the way the note on the packaging suggests, but you could also use the darker shades all over (rather than only in the crease) and create a much smokier eye.

The whole point of these Kat Von D quads, and Plum is one of four, is that the four shades all go together, making it easier to do a few simple eye looks. In this case, the colors are purples and plums, and this is supposed to be the best of the four quads for people with green eyes (there’s also a Sage quad for brown eyes, Rust for blue eyes, and Smoke for all eye colors).

These purples are pretty neutral, which makes the quad quite versatile, in my opinion, but based on the pics I saw online, I expected the shades to be cooler toned.

That lid color, in particular, is a bit warmer than I thought. In these pictures, the darkest color looks like a warm reddish plum, but it’s definitely more like a neutral/cool-toned purplish plum color.

On the back of the quad, there’s a little diagram showing how to use the colors (just suggestions, of course). The peach/pink color is for the lid, the brownish color is to define the eyes, the cool purple is to contour, and the very light lavender is to highlight.

The shadows themselves are pigmented and very easy to blend, but they’re also quite powdery. I have to constantly tap my brush as I apply them to get rid of the excess product, but when I do so, I don’t really get much fallout. But I can definitely see that if I were to go directly from the shadows to my eyes, I WOULD have lots of fallout. So these can be pretty messy if you aren’t careful.

Just something to note.

Overall, I think this is a super convenient quad. It’s sturdy, has a nice mirror, and the colors are easy to blend. And I like these colors much more than I thought I would! I’m normally drawn to very warm colors, and cool-toned colors make me a little nervous sometimes because I’m worried they’ll wash me out or make me look ashy, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by these.

I think all of the shades are wearable for my skin tone, although I do have to use the lightest shade (the one on the far right) sparingly.

When I swatched that lightest color, I knew there would be no way I was going to be putting it on my brow bone. So I used it in the inner corners of my eye instead!

Normally, if I put something in the inner corner of my eye, I’ll use a shimmery shade, but it’s nice to be able to change things up sometimes and use a matte shade instead.

What a great quad for work! Because the eyeshadows are all matte, it’s a subtle look, but they colors are still vibrant enough that you won’t be washed out (but not so bright that they’re distracting).

It’s so nice when I’m getting ready for work to have everything confined to one quad so that I’m not rummaging through my makeup looking for the right crease color. For work days, it’s a no-brainer.

The eyeshadows are also really smooth (as far as mattes go). Just be mindful of the potential for fallout. Other than that, I think this is a stellar quad. 

Oh, and the $29 Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Brush shown above is meant to help you streamline your eyeshadow routine. One end is a pencil brush, which I love for smudging eyeshadow into my lower lash line.  The other end is a small, soft domed brush, but I like my crease brushes a bit more tapered… That being said, I think it’s meant to be a hybrid shape between a flatter brush for lids and a tapered brush for blending the crease (note: I may be a little picky about my brushes).

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of my makeup:

Dior Diorskin Nude BB Creme in 4 mixed with 2 drops of The Body Shop Shade Adjusting Drops in Lightening (reviewed in this post) // Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Dark Brown // Maybelline Great Lash Clear Mascara (on brows) // Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara // MAC Cosmetics Blush in Blushbaby (also one of Karen’s favorite blushes!) // Benefit Stay Don’t Stray Eyeshadow Primer in Medium/Deep (one of my favorite eyeshadow primers) // Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette (Dim Light to set foundation) // Glo Minerals Cream Glaze Crayon in Heirloom (also featured in this post).

Do you own any of the Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye palettes? What’s your favorite one?

Also, what’s your go-to work makeup look? On the weekends, I’m always so inspired to try new makeup looks, but during the week? Well, it’s all I can do to just get my hair together.