Hey everyone!
This post was very delayed and by that I mean this palette came out in Christmas of 2015 and I'm only writing it about now...
Why, you ask?
I just didn't get much use out of it until recently but I still wanted to share my thoughts with you guys.
Too Faced is known for their impeccable shadows. I have a few other Too Faced palettes that I adore and use all the time. So naturally when I saw this come out at Christmas, despite all the mixed reviews on it I thought hey why not? and went ahead and purchased it as a gift to myself. Being a Holiday Release this was limited edition and a Sephora exclusive and it retailed for $75 CAD which I don't think is outrageous as you get a considerable amount of product in the palette itself as well as three deluxe sized samples, including a "Better Than Sex" mascara, "Melted Peony" liquified lipstick and the Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer.
The only Too Faced products I had tried before this palette previously were other eye shadow palettes so I really enjoyed getting the sample products as a way to test some other products from the brand. This may be the unpopular opinion but I hated the Better Than Sex Mascara the brush was almost bigger than my eye itself and I found it hard to scrape all the excess off of it which left me with extremely clumpy and goopy lashes, I don't understand they hype around that product at all. The liquid lipstick I adored although I think for a holiday palette though they could have chosen a more winter appropriate shade. Melted Peony to me is not a color I'd rock in the snow but I have been getting lots of use out of it this summer. I've been using a primer from Coastal Scents so I only used the Shadow Insurance once but I was blown away by how vibrant it made the shadows and there was not even the tiniest bit of creasing either after eight hours!
On to the actual palette...
Too Faced aced the outer packaging on this, love the little box its housed in and the decoration including the Sephora bag and Too faced Chocolate bar palette! As with all Too Faced products I've come across the packaging on this is super cute! My only gripe with the packaging is that the palette is in a cardboard case and instead of using the side with no products for a mirror they decided to just use it as decoration. There is more than enough space for a mirror and decoration I just don't understand why they didn't utilizie it better, I mean this could have been a perfect travel palette if a mirror was included.
Including the larger pans there are 18 eye shadows, 2 blushes, a highlight and a bronzer. A large quantity of product but is the quality there?
{left to right: White Christmas, Satin Sheets and Vintage Lace}
White Christmas: Very powdery with little pigmentation. You really have to build this one up for any color payoff.
Satin Sheets: This shadow is included in the Too Faced Boudoir palette which I also own. The lighting in this shot makes it look very white but it's not. It's a very sheer slightly shimmery pale pink champagne color. The swatch didn't do this color justice I really love this shade, no it's not pigmented but the shimmer really makes it an eye catching shade.
Vintage Lace: A yellow toned base shade. It's quite powdery but the pigment is pretty good.
{left to right - Delightful, Moon On Their Wings, Cobblestone, City Lights & Dreamlight}
Delightful: Pale pink, lots of shimmer. This one took a lot to build up but felt very buttery to the touch and had little to no fall out. Makes a great highlighting shade!
Moon On Their Wings: Shimmer finish, light gold. Again a very buttery shade but not a lot of pigment just a lot of shimmer.
Cobblestone: Gorgeous, gorgeous matte crease shade. I love this color, I've been using this almost daily as my go to. It's buttery and blends beautifully! It's highly pigmented though so be sure to not use too much too quickly.
City Lights: Another perfect matte shade. I used this on my crease today and is perfect just like Cobblestone. The mattes in this palette are amazing. I honestly wish Too Faced would sell singles because I would buy this and Cobblestone over and over again!
Dreamlight: This shade looks almost matte in the swatch but it does have a slight hint of shimmer to it. Very pigmented and little fallout.
{left to right - String of Lights, Yule Log, Wish List, Arc De Triomphe, Belle Femme}
String of Lights: This is one of the worst shades of all. Patchy, zero pigmentation. This swatch took about 15 layers. This was just a complete waste in my opinion.
Yule Log: This looks black but I assure you it's not. In the pan it's a dark brown with flecks of gold shimmer throughout which look non existent above. This was patchy and i feel like you really had to push to get it to transfer to the skin.
Wish List: My favorite in the palette. A marvelous gold and I'm a sucker for a golds. Pigmented, buttery and blendable. Perfect gold in my eyes.
Arc De Triomphe: A shimmery rose gold. I used this as an inner highlight today and on the eyes it definitely leans more golden. This one had quite a bit of fallout but is a very pretty shade and is easily buildable for more pigment.
Belle Femme: A dark brown matte. This one was a tad more patchy then the other two matte shades but is still a great matte. Great for darkening the crease.
{left to right: Stiletto, Eiffel. Midnight in Paris, Champs Elysees, Party Dress}
Stiletto: A matte extremely patchy black. For a black I was expecting a much deeper shade than what I got. Not impressed.
Eiffel: A shimmery forest green. I love this color just wish it was a tad more pigmented because its so beautiful. Again was very patchy.
Midnight in Paris: A blue glitter. I say glitter instead of shimmer because even in the swatch you can see CHUNKS of glitter. There are more chunks of glitter than there is eye shadow which is not what I was expecting when looking in the pan. This is right up there with String Of Lights as the worst shade in the palette.
Champs Elysees: A purple shimmer shade. I used this wet on my eyes today and it looked terrific when I first applied it. It was vibrant and glittery but after not even a couple of hours it had almost completely vanished. I might try using a different primer next time to see how it holds up.
Party Dress: A pink shimmer. This one again like Midnight In Paris has some larger chunks of glitter but overall it's not terrible. Good pigment albeit a little patchy.
There's a great range of shades in this palette with three very well done mattes and a few shimmer shades that I really liked. Most of the eye shadows were nothing special though but the super glittery shades do look much better when used wet.
{swatched wet}
Midnight in Paris even used wet is still patchy and chunky. This honestly was such a horrible shade it's almost unusable. Eiffel has much more pigment when applied wet and looks stunning!
The Face Products
{left to right: Stardust, Skyline, Flush and Sun Bunny}
Stardust: Very pigmented coral/pink blush. This applied like a dream and is super blendable.
Skyline: Classic barbie pink, easy to use too much product with this one as its extremely pigmented. I'm very fair so have to be very careful when using this one.
Flush: Light golden champagne. I didn't really like this highlight. It' much more subtle and I like a very in your face highlight but if you're one for subtlety this may be up your alley. Has very little shimmer but still adds a lovely glow to the skin.
Sun Bunny: This feels just like butter and is so pigmented. Being fair skinned this was too orange for me and made me look very muddy but I do think it's a lovely color and for darker skinned folks would look amazing!
I don't regret buying this palette but I understand the mixed reviews. It's disappointing when there are a few amazing shades in a palette and the rest are just mediocre especially when splashing out more than fifty dollars on one item.
Did anyone else get this? Thoughts?
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Bri