Purchase - Kevyn Aucoin The Essential Eye Shadow Palette No. 2. Love at first sight.

image from kevynaucoin.com

If Kevyn Aucoin was such a great makeup artist why didn’t he have more taupe eyeshadow in his cosmetic line! OK. I’m just kidding. He was truly a great artist. My favorite book of his is “Making Faces” I love his out of the box thinking. He truly was revolutionary. It is sad that he is gone now, but at least his techniques and cosmetic line still live on. Obviously being dead puts a damper on creative control, but I think the Kevyn Aucoin line has really stayed within the boundaries of Mr. Aucoin’s vision and plan.

Once of his better known products is his Sensual Skin enhancer. It’s a foundation/concealer/contour all in one…depending on the colors you choose. It’s unique and works well for what it is. One of his less lauded items is The Essential Eye Shadow Palette. I’m not sure why they don’t get more buzz, they truly are superb. The Kevyn Aucoin line has six of these five shadow palettes. I have wanted The Essential Eye Shadow Palette number 2 for ages. (psst. It has a taupe shadow in it) it’s one of the best neutral palettes out there. The palette consists of five, soft, creamy shades. A matte black, a satin grey taupe, a shimmery light beige, a frosty white and a satin medium beige. It is housed in the signature deep red Kevyn Aucoin compact with an ample mirror and 2 applicators.

How much for this little gem? $55 USD
Whoa! That’s a lot! Yes it is. But this is taupe we are talking about ladies. How can you put a price on taupe?!

Huh?
What’s that?
No more than $26 for taupe?
Well, yeah I see your point.
OK. But this also has 4 other shades besides the taupe so it’s OK right?
Right?
Would it make you feel better if I told you I got this gem for a STEAL on evilbay? Yes. I paid $12.99 for this palette and $4 shipping. A Grand total of $16.99 and this baby was mine all mine.
You are probably still not feeling better but I am.

I took pictures as soon as I got it, but it took me a while to do an eye of the day (EOTD) with it. I do have a gazillion taupe eyeshadows, and while all of my EOTDs may look alike after a while I see a difference and it’s my opinion about what goes on my eyes that counts.

The shadows are all very lovely, and creamy. Not too soft and not too powdery. The pigmentation is wonderful…even on the lightest beige color it still shows up nicely. The wear is very nice and seems not to crease (but I wear an eye base, so I can’t say for sure). I love the finish of this shadow. It’s not too sparkly not too frosty. I think the matte black helps with that and the satin finish of the taupe and medium beige help too. There are many different eye looks one could achieve with this palette. From a single wash of color, to all five shades used to highlight contour and emphasize. It really is a nice one to have. I like the color combinations too. The taupe is sort of a cool color but when applied with the medium beige it really does change. The colors can be layered without becoming chalky which can make for some pretty blended shades. I haven’t tried using the black shadow wet but I have a feeling it will give a nice smoky look. We will see.

So here are the swatches and my EOTD. I used all the shades. Medium beige all over lid, Taupe in the crease black in the outer V and to line, Light beige on inner eye and white to highlight.
sorry this picture is blurry. My camera is acting kinda wonky..but this was the only partial side view picture I had. At least the lack of focus diffuses my wrinkles.

Do you need this palette? Well if you can find one on evilbay go for it. Or if you are seriously lacking in a good and portable nude/neutral eye palette go for it. If you have a zillion taupes, beiges and other neutral shadows, you can skip it, but you might want to check out the Kevyn Aucoin single eyeshadows just for fun.
You can find all Kevyn Aucoin products on http://www.kevynaucoin.com/