The latest eyeshadow palette from Kat Von D Beauty--Serpentina--has been teased for months. I have to say, this marketing strategy is exceptionally unappealing to me, and I won't be purchasing.
I mentioned this in my post about the Too Faced Sweet Peach palette, but I find it exhausting when brands talk about their upcoming projects months in advance and tease customers with filtered images just to drum up hype.
I get that cosmetics is a business and that engaging in this kind of marketing is clearly in the best interest of the company, but that's why it is so important to be an informed consumer and ignore the hype.
I don't have the best relationship with Kat Von D as a brand. I find that they often have quality control issues (the Shade + Light blushes that were pulled from shelves and the three different batches of Lolita liquid lipstick are just two examples) and are frequently out of stock in most Sephora stores. I have never seen another brand at Sephora with as many stock issues as Kat Von D.
As far as products, I own the Monarch palette. I really loved it when I first bought it because some of the colors are astounding, but the more I used it, the more I hated having to deal with the immense fallout and glitter that would rain down my face. I also bought the Shade + Light eyeshadow palette, but found it very difficult to work with. The colors had so much intense pigmentation that I found they were difficult to blend out and look nice. I much preferred the performance of my Viseart Neutral Mattes palette, so I returned the Shade + Light. I also own the Metal Crush eyeshadow in Thunderstruck, and really love the uniqueness.
I can therefore say that while I like Thunderstruck, the KVD Beauty eyeshadow formula is not my favorite. However, I think KVD Beauty always has a really interesting shade selection, and when Serpentina was first teased, I was a little intrigued.
That all went away, however, when the first "official" image of the palette was released and it had a black and white filter over it.
This is just annoying. I honestly don't see the point in it, other than to get people to go crazy over hype wondering what it will look like. I saw this filtered photo and was so disgusted by this new trend of marketing that I decided that unless the palette was so perfect, so me, so everything I've always wanted but somehow didn't have, I would be passing on it.
Some of you may say it's silly to pass on an item over its marketing, but it is important to me to not support brands that feed off and promote the hype and fear of missing out mentality.
Anastasia Beverly Hills recently released the Modern Renaissance palette, which I personally believe is the best release of the season (review coming soon). The company released the first mention and image of the palette the day before it was available for purchase. That, in my opinion, is an appropriate way to do marketing. The palette is also extremely high quality, and reviews have all been positive. Because of its quality, the palette is selling extremely well, and the brand didn't need to rely on hype and craze.
It's worth mentioning, however, that the ABH palette is permanent while the Serpentina palette is limited edition. Created hype is so much more significant when the palette is limited edition. With the hype in place, hoards of people will likely buy this palette immediately, having been teased about it for so long, sites will crash, and the hype marketing will have worked. That also is not for me.
When actual images of Serpentina were released, the colors were indeed beautiful, but again an easy pass for me. I simply don't wear such intense purple, green, blue, or red shades on my eyes. This also is not a complete palette, though it doesn't seem like it's trying to be one. There are no transition shades, crease colors, or highlight shades.
It is worth noting that this palette would look incredible on people of color, and it would have been nice to see some darker transition and highlight shades to make a complete palette.
I think Serpentina would probably be a welcome and refreshing addition to a lot of people's collections who like color and jewel tones and don't mind pulling other palettes or shadows in to make a complete look. Personally, I don't have a ton of use for it, and the marketing was a major turn-off, so I won't be purchasing.
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