Kat Von D released two stunning butterfly themed eyeshadow palettes this year. As the title of the post might possibly have given away, today I’m gushing writing about the Monarch palette (if you want to read my thoughts on the Chrysalis palette you can find that on my Tumblr page).

From the Sephora website:

What it is:
An alluring, warm-toned eyeshadow palette with a stunning composition of colors—three large base shades and nine transformative accent hues—for a spectrum of stunning eye looks.

What it does:
From delicate to daring, experience a rebirth of color and explore endless eye looks with the Monarch Eyeshadow Palette. Featuring warm-toned shades in an ingenious arrangement that gives you the biggest basics and the most accent hues, now you’ll have the freedom to create your heart out without running out of the go-to colors. Relish in the luxurious texture of triple-milled powder, which picks up instantly and lays down with a one-sweep, full-coverage application. The patented Power Last™, long-wearing formula gives you buildable, from dawn-to-dusk drama, while an infusion of antioxidants including rose extract and vitamins A, C, and E all work to keep your eyelids hydrated and protected.

This set contains:
– 3 x 0.095 oz Eye Shadow in Entomology (matte cream), Telepathy (pearl gold), Tiny Death (glitter cream)
– 3 x 0.095 oz Eye Shadow in Wrath (deep pearl orange), Papilio (pearl chocolate), Summerfly (glitter gold), Killing Jar (pearl copper), Delaney (pearl silver), Vanish (matte taupe), Disintegration (pearl brown), Shadow Box (matte chocolate), Deadhead (matte black)

What it is formulated WITHOUT:
– Parabens
– Sulfates
– Phthalates

What else you need to know:
Inspired by the metamorphosis of the butterfly, Kat created this palette to give you endless ways to transform your eyes every day. The palette is decorated with original artwork derived from her love of butterflies—a symbol of rebirth and renewal. Follow Kat’s tutorials for tips and inspiration.

On to my favorite part: Swatches! Yay!

I’m including swatches in different lighting because I really feel that some of these shades are very multi dimensional. In particular the shades Telepathy, Papillo, Killing Jar and Disintegration.

Shadow Characteristics:

Entomology- a matte yellow based cream shade (this is my favorite type of base eyeshadow/brow bone highlight shade)

Telepathy- shimmery beige? Taupe? Silvery beige? This shade is beautiful but clearly defies my attempts at description.

Tiny Death- matte cream shade with very fine glitters. This shade isn’t particularly pigmented but the glitter is pretty and subtle and doesn’t fall all over your face like most of KVD matte/glitter shades.

Wrath- now you know I’m gonna love this right? I mean, it’s orange. It’s burnt orange. Ugh so divine. This one does fade a bit more than the other shadows.

Papillo- a warm deep brown with purple tones and a slightly gold shimmer. Really pretty.

Summerfly- shimmery gold. This shade’s texture when applied actually really resembles a butterflies wing.

Killing Jar- shimmery pale almost dirty pink with gold shimmer.

Delaney- shimmery warm pewter. This makes a really good one shadow look.

Vanish- matte cool light brown.

Disintegration- (I can not for the life of me spell that word correctly) this is a really interesting shade that I probably can’t describe but I’m going to give it a shot anyway. It does apply darker than it appears in the pan. I would say it’s a deep khaki olive brown shade. That’s a helpful description if ever I saw one.

Shadow Box- matte deep brown.

Deadhead- matte black.

It should be noted that with the exception of Tiny Death, none of these shadows have chunks of glitter or shimmer. The shimmer shades are almost a satin finish.

Now for my super extra professional eye looks. HAHAHA!

In case it wasn’t apparent, I think this is a fantastic palette. It might even be my favorite palette which is saying something because I have a few shadow palettes 😐

I experience minimal fading within the first four hours of wear and some minor creasing after about 6 hours. Neither of these issues is very noticeable or severe and both are negated if the shadows are worn over a base.

If you were waffling on purchasing this, then this post is a sign. This palette is GOOD.

On a side note, Thing Cat says that butterflies are delicious and fun to chase so she approves of the name of this palette. She also approves of pets. And snuggles. That is all.