Personally, natural cosmetics are the Crudités at a dinner party; you know they are good for you, but the presentation (packaging) and the taste (performance) leaves something to be desired. There is no denying the rise in demand for more naturally based beauty products; however, the majority of those cosmetics are underwhelming to say the least–that is until, Kjaer Weis Divine and Magnetic Eyeshadows ($45 USD for compact and shadow/ 1.2g) came into my life. These two little darlings not only changed the way I perceived natural cosmetics, but their performance and outstanding presentation could easily rival their chemically derived competitors. According to KW website:
Kjær Weis is a visionary and forward thinking cosmetics line created by Danish-born, New York-based makeup artist Kirsten Kjær Weis. It’s a brand that recognizes health and beauty equally.
“Ultimately what I wanted to achieve was an alternative that fused beautiful color, texture and design with organic non-harmful formulas. I think it’s the way forward.”
The Pros to Kjaer Weis Divine and Magnetic Eyeshadows:
- Divine is a gorgeous deep gray that applies sheerly, but easily builds up to the deepest hue (as seen in the swatches).
- Magnetic is a golden brown color which is quite pigmented from the get-go. It makes an amazing all over lid color and melds beautifully in the crease for added depth and dimension.
- Soft satin finish is quite flattering on all skins.
- Smooth texture applies like butter and instantly binds to the skin.
- No color fallout–YAY!
- When worn over a primer (Nars), both colors lasted 12 hours without any fading.
- All KW products can be purchased in refillable form to be placed in a palette of one’s choosing.
- Their “refillable system” is a cost-effective way to save on the overall expense and unnecessary packaging.
- Extraordinary hefty metal magnetic compact swivels open (full circle). The white KW enameled logo is unique amongst any brand.
- NO artificial ingredients, such as petroleum, parabens, artificial coloring and fragrance, petrochemical emulsifiers.
- “A minimum 70% of the [ingredients] comes from organic farming.”
- Some of the ingredients include: “Bamboo: Rich in natural silicone, extremely important in the synthesis of collagen in the connective tissue.
Honeysuckle Extract: Antibacterial, nature’s own preservative.
Gardenia Florida Extract: Antioxidant.” - NOT tested on animals.
- Made in Italy.
The Cons to Kjaer Weis Divine and Magnetic Eyeshadows:
- Despite the amazing packaging, the single compact format is not the most practical for travel–I would have preferred a quad compact offering instead.
- Compact is a fingerprint magnet. For the price, a soft cleaning cloth/pouch could have been included.
- Due to the soft nature of the formula, powder kick-up is inevitable. Do not press your brush too firmly in the pan.
- Not readily available in many retail locations.
- Refill costs $25-27 and compact is sold separately for $18. I purchased one compact pre-filled with Divine and one refillable pan with Magnetic. For everyday use, both colors are stored in my MAC palette.
Ms. Weis hired famed creative designer extraordinaire Marc Atlan (read more here), to conceptualize the brand’s distinctive metal packaging and branding. Mr. Atlan’s clients include: David Beckham, Cartier, Dior, YSL Beauty, Helmut Lang, H&M, etc.. It goes without saying, the hefty price-tag, is due in large part to the aesthetic casing that has become synonymous with higher-end cosmetics. This is not your ordinary everyday eyeshadow compact, but a piece of art 🙂
The weighty top cover, swivels open to reveal a mirror-like surface underneath. The highly polished chrome finish does work nicely in a pinch, but the resulting reflection is a bit hazy.
Amongst all Kjaer Weis organic products, her eyeshadows are not *Certified Organic, rather they are classified as *Certified Natural. According to KW, some mineral ingredients are grown in areas that are unsupervised (aka: the wild) and therefore, cannot comply to strict organic regulations. KW website conveniently discloses, in complete detail, all of the ingredients used in all the products; giving the consumer complete autonomy to make their own judgements/decisions (here).
Personally, I was taken aback to see just how small my little Divine pan compared to other mainstream brands. However, I do see the brilliance in using such small pans–they fit in any palette, utilizing minimum space.
For the above photo, Divine was applied all over the lid with Magnetic in the crease and under the lower lash line.
For the above photos, Magnetic was placed all over the lid and lower lash line, with Divine used in the outer “v” and slightly in the crease. As a side note, I did pair Giorgio Armani 9 Gold with Magnetic and the results were AMAZING!! A look to be shown at another time. 🙂
Kjaer Weis Cosmetics are sold online at kjaerweis.com, beautybar.com (where I purchased mine), net-a-porter.com, spiritbeautylounge.com, and beautylish.com.
THE VERDICT: If makeup could talk what would it say?
Makeup would tell you Kjaer Weis Divine and Magnetic eyeshadows are simply divine 🙂 I know a rather obvious description, but a more appropriate word could not have been used. This is definitely a line that has spared no expense and every detail, down to the faux leather outer box, is simply exquisite. Am I hooked? Oh yeah..needless to say, the glistening inner corner and cheek highlighter, in the photos, is none other than KW Radiance Highlighter; however, we will save that story for another day 🙂 Until next time, be well, stay safe and be happy.
-Maria
*Ifmakeupcouldtalk.com is not affiliated with any brands mentioned, all products were purchased by me. *Compensation is not given for any reviews. *Click on each photo to enlarge. *Click on the rose highlighted words to take you to a direct link to each product. *All opinions are my own and based on my experiences. *All photos are property of Ifmakeupcouldtalk.com unless otherwise noted.