Kat's eyes

Kat Von D can certainly make an entrance. If the oversized sunglasses and outrageously fringed shoulder bag didn’t tip me off to the tattoo artist’s arrival, then the mass of ink certainly would have confirmed it.

Von D, who stars in TLC’s L.A. Ink (a spinoff of Miami Ink, which she appeared on for two seasons), was in Toronto recently to promote her Kat Von D makeup collection, which she created with cosmetics mecca Sephora. The latest additions are the glittery Lightning Lip Glosses ($20) and matte/shimmer Rock ’n’ Roll Eyeshadow Duos ($22). The line launched in June with lipsticks, eyeliners, eye shadows and a set of brushes ideal for applying the colours in the eye palettes: “Ludwig” with its “camo” neutrals, and “Beethoven” with “gnarlier” shades like “Speed Blue” (a dark metallic) and “Galeano,” a shimmery plum anointed with Von D’s mother’s maiden name ($38 each, sephora.com).

A jump to cosmetics isn’t entirely surprising coming from someone with a reputation for inking photo-realistic portraits (check them out at katvond.net), something the 26-year-old says has helped with her understanding of makeup. “I understand gradations and how you can change one little contour on a face. It’s almost like an optical illusion.”  It was the portraits of glamour girls like Jayne Mansfield and Rita Hayworth that also influenced her own cat-eyes-and-red-lips look.

With her signature look and big TV presence, it’s no wonder Von D was approached by Sephora about a cosmetics line. The owner of West Hollywood’s High Voltage Tattoo thought the idea was a good fit because her inbox was filled with fan emails asking about the makeup she was wearing. “It just made sense,” she says. “I met with Sephora in San Francisco and they were just really down to earth.  It wasn’t this corporate ‘We’re going to make you marketable.’ They totally got me and they let me be part of the entire creative process, which I’m a stickler about.”

Indeed, if you think this is just another celebrity rubber stamp, consider that it was Von D herself who designed the goth rose packaging and went “on the hunt down” for the perfect red lipstick, sorting through 120 options to choose the four pinup shades ($20) you see on the shelves. “The only thing I didn’t do was the chemistry,” she says of the six-month development process.  She did, however, do some experimenting after failing to find inspiration on the market. “I’d be like, Man, this purple would be rad if it had some opalescence,” she says. “Then I started mixing a bunch of my own pigments.”

Still, without cosmetics cred, Von D says she was wary about what people would think about the line. “I would read some of the blogs and [they would say], ‘Oh yeah, she has cool style, but is it actually good?’” she recalls. On top of her work with Sephora, she’s been taking makeup artistry workshops and picking up tips “just from hanging out with drag queens and people who are really into the art form of putting on makeup.” The hard work has paid off — the line is selling out across Canada, but the credibility is where she gets satisfaction. “I read what people say about it and makeup artists are into it; they’re actually using it, so the proof is in the pudding.”