Gonna find out if you were naughty or nice; the Saint + Sinner eyeshadow palette, by Kat Von D...

"Honor the two sides in all of us with the ultimate collection of eyeshadows inspired by the kaleidoscopic stained glass windows of Old World Gothic cathedrals. Kat Von D’s holiday collection celebrates the return of her beloved, bestselling Saint + Sinner fragrance collection."

I started stalking the Debenhams site after they released the The Shade + Light Glimmer eye contour palette early and without warning, so when the Saint + Sinner palette dropped a fortnight ago, I instantly placed my order.

So now I've had nearly two weeks to play with the palette, my review for my only limited-edition-for-Christmas makeup purchase is here.

The Saint half

The Sinner half

I'll start the review the same way that I started last year's Kat Von D Christmas palette [MetalMatte] review; by saying that the Saint & Sinner palette is more expensive compared to her non-festive eyeshadow palettes, but you are getting more shadows then is usually included in those palettes; here you are getting twenty four shades in matte, metallic, duo-chrome and glittery 'topcoat' formulas - and the shadow pans that are the same size as the non-base pans in the Shade + Light palette, so you definitely aren't being ripped off. 

Heck, my whole review is practically the same as it was for last year and I can't pick a favourite between them; the shades come in a nice mix of neutral, slightly muted tones, darker vampies .and bold shade ranges, so there is something for every comfort level, every season and every occasion. You can open both the more sedate shade range in the 'Saint' side and the more vibrant 'Sinner' side separately - but don't think that Saint is safe and Sinner is loud, as you can bold and toned down neutral looks from both sides, not counting highlight shades which only the Saint half has [see my '(not so) Saintly' & '(dialed down) Sinner' demos].

The whole 'displaying one side at a time' palette design option is a good thing to have when you first get this palette, as opening the palette all in one is overwhelming; so many pretty shades and finishes, all screaming loudly to be worn RIGHT NOW. It is hard to know where to start as the placement does seem a bit random at first. After a few uses you do get used to it as the whole 'stained glass' style of colour placement becomes less mystifying, and the different sides AND individual shades can be happily mixed and matched [see 'Mixing it up'].

Kat Von D palettes are very consistent in terms of quality, so again, I'm just repeating the same thing over and over; the pigmentation on everything I've worn so far is awesome, and the shadow formula is very soft and buttery - and I'm not someone who usually bothers with primer. To date I haven't had any issues with fading, creasing or transfer. When I dip my brush into the shadows they do have some kick-up to them, but they aren't patchy and apply with only a little [if any] fallout and blend really well, so I generally don't feel that counting this as a negative in my reviews is really necessary as long as the ease of use and performance isn't affected - just tapping excess off your brushes solves the problem. All highly pigmented shadows tend to be softer.

The only slight issue I have had so far is the same as it is with the Shade + Light Glimmer palette; the topcoat shades [Absolution and Rapture] have sheer bases and contain lots of micro-glitter, so they feel a bit gritty and have some fallout, so you may want to use glitter glue with them. The shades are formulated to be sheer & highly glittery and they do perform well once applied, so I don't mean to make a big deal about it. I find that using a finger for application really helps reduce fallout.

You can buy the Saint + Sinner palette from Debenhams for £52, here.