Too Faced Chocolate Bar Eyeshadow Palette: Review and Swatches

A recent release from Too Faced Cosmetics, the Chocolate Bar Eye Shadow Palette has been causing quite a stir among the beauty community of late. It's beautiful neutral theme, enticing scent and clever yet functional packaging seem to be ticking a lot of beauty lover's boxes!

I purchased mine from Tarazz around a month ago, and am thoroughly enjoying it. It is now available to purchase in-store and online in Australia from Mecca Cosmetica, and Kit Cosmetics.

In all honesty, it didn't take a great deal of contemplation as to whether I would purchase this palette. As soon as I saw some reviews and tutorials on You Tube, and read some blogger reviews, I knew that I would love it.

Yes...it smells delightful.

Too Faced state that the shadows are made with 100% natural cocoa powder, enriched with 16 antioxidants...honestly, I really don't have an opinion either way regarding the efficacy or stability of said antioxidants in my eyeshadow. I prefer to rely on good quality serums and eye creams for that. If they do happen to have a sprinkling then all well and good. It was the beautiful shades and variety of finishes that drew me in...

Perhaps worth a mention is that I am yet to own an Urban Decay Naked palette...I know...I'm a little bit more than late on that bandwagon. I know that a lot of people may wonder whether or not to purchase this if they already have the Naked palettes, particularly Naked 1 and Naked 2. I'm afraid I can't really help you with that one, however, I do know of quite a few beauty lovers who have taken the plunge with this palette, and I am yet to hear of anyone being disappointed.

Swatches below are photographed in indirect, natural light.

TOP ROW
L-R Gilded Ganache, White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Black Forrest Truffle, Triple Fudge.

MIDDLE ROW
L-R Salted Caramel, Marzipan, Semi-Sweet, Strawberry Bon Bon, Candied Violet, Amaretto.

BOTTOM ROW
L-R Hazelnut, Creme Brulee, Haute Chocolate, Cherry Cordial, Champagne Truffle.

BOTTOM ROW
Order as above, photographed in direct sunlight.

Almost all of the shadows in this palette are soft, easy to blend and have good colour pay off. Triple Fudge is a little sheer, however this allows you to build up the colour to your desired depth, rather handy for a beginner like me who is still finding her feet when it comes to adding depth to the crease or outer corner of the eye.

Both Milk Chocolate and Salted Caramel are beautiful mid-toned crease/blending out shades. Both matte, but creamy and so easy to blend. Love.

Strawberry Bon Bon, and Candied Violet are a little less than impressive to swatch. Strawberry Bon Bon is quite powdery, and Candied Violet doesn't pack the punch of intense pigment that I was hoping for. Patting this on over a cream base seems to help, though on its own it tends to blend out into more of a grey tone on my eyes.

Marzipan and Creme Brulee have been my most reached for lid shades... just beautiful. Amaretto is absolutely stunning as a one shadow wonder, as are both Hazelnut and Haute Chocolate.

The palette has two larger sized highlighting shades, White Chocolate (matte) and Champagne Truffle (shimmer). I find myself reaching for White Chocolate as my brow bone highlight, it is the perfect shade of pale cream. Champagne Truffle is very reflective, and is lovely in the inner corner, or tapped onto the centre of the lid to catch the light and brighten any eye look.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this palette. I am really enjoying it, and the gorgeous scent of cocoa just adds to the experience of experimenting with the different shades and creating your own looks.

Another benefit of owning a popular palette like the Too Faced Chocolate Bar, is the amount of tutorials you can find on You Tube. You will never be short of inspiration, and I always learn something new...because that's what it's all about after all!!


Have you taken the plunge and purchased this palette? What are your favourite shade combinations? I would love to hear from you in the comments below!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lou xo

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ELF Baked Eyeshadows: Photos,Swatches and Review

Last week us Aussies had some exciting news...elf ( eyes-lips-face ) cosmetics are now being sold in Kmart! Hooray! Whilst I have come across the odd little stand here and there, it is really nice to finally be able to look at, touch and feel products first hand, and to be able to take them home the same day!

 I haven't had a chance to check out my local store, so I am not sure exactly which products they are stocking, however I thought I would share some thoughts and swatches of three of the baked eyeshadow shades that I own. I purchased these from the Australian website, here for $8.00 AU each.

One of the features of baked products is that you can use them wet or dry, depending on the depth of colour, or finish that you are after.

Elf Baked Eyeshadow - "Burnt Plum"

This is a beautiful plummy-brown shimmer, perfect for adding depth to the outer corner/crease. Excellent pigmentation and colour pay off.

Elf Baked Eyeshadow - "Pixie"

A very pretty warm peachy-pink with gold shimmer, and could double as a blush/highlight. Nicely pigmented, though not as smooth on application as Burnt Plum.

Elf Baked Eyeshadow - "Toasted"

A stunning golden bronze that boarders on a metallic finish, the softest and smoothest of the shades I own, highly pigmented...gorgeous! It works perfectly as an "all over the lid" shade, blend up into the crease, and you're done.

L-R  Burnt Plum,  Pixie,  Toasted

Swatched in natural light

L-R   Burnt Plum,  Pixie,  Toasted

Top row-wet
Bottom row-dry

As you can see from the photo above, using these shadows wet really enhances both the depth of colour, and the finish. I am particularly taken with Burnt Plum and Toasted...

There are six shades in the baked eyeshadow range available on elf's Australian website. The other shades available are  "Enchanted" "Bark" and "Dusk".

I have a few other single eyeshadows and a couple of blushes from elf''s Studio line, do let me know if you would like to see some swatches.

Do let me know your favourite elf products in the comments section, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lou xo

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TARTE: CC MATTE be MATTEnificent Palette, Photos, Swatches and Review

As soon as a I saw a picture of this palette, I just knew in my 'makeup heart' that I would love to own one of my own. The lovely Zoe from Zoeblogsbeauty posted a picture of this palette on Instagram, and whilst we were chatting ( and drooling) she let me know about Tarazz, an online site that purchases and ships Tarte (and many other brands), to Australia on your behalf from Sephora. 

And so my journey began...

This is my first experience with Tarte products, after hearing so much about them on You Tube and reading many blogs. It was always one of those unattainable brands, being very difficult to source in Australia. Such difficulties typically result in one wanting something even more!! Am I right?

The CC Matte 'be MATTEnificent' palette from Tarte is also my first all matte eyeshadow palette.

Yes...she is lovely.

I am by no means an eyeshadow officianado, however I have some photos, swatches and thoughts to share with you, and also a little bit about my shopping experience with Tarazz.

An extensive and detailed review of this palette can be found on Temptalia's website, which you can find here

Oh My....stunning packaging

In collaboration with Hollyannaeree, there are two "look" ideas included to follow.
A double ended brush comes with the palette. The shorter flatter shader brush packs colour on nicely, while the small precise blending end is quite stiff, and picks up the perfect amount of colour to slowly build up and blend the crease and defining shades.

Swatched in natural light no primer.

Far Left  'elevated'  blush
Top Row L-R 'sand out from the crow'  'peach for the stars'  'two plums up'
Bottom Row L-R  'pink outside the box'  'rose to the occasion'  'view from the taupe'

Left - 'dream in chocolate' 

Right - 'don't stand black' 

I have been using 'dream in chocolate'  as my go to liner...it is stunning. I push it into my upper lash line with a small, stiff angled brush. It beautifully lines your lashes for more subtle definition. I have put away my liquid liner. Both these shades are soft and creamy, and very nicely pigmented.

The Beauty Vine's Ramble

I can safely say that I have used this palette every day since she arrived. Now this may be partially due to the fact that it is my first all matte palette, and that it is new. Having said that, I find it perfect for an every day natural eye look, which is primarily what I do on the daily.

Packaging

The packaging, apart from being sooooo pretty, is strong, sturdy and luxurious.
 It has a lovely full size mirror, and a nice quality double ended brush included which I have used and enjoy.


Texture

All of the eyeshadows are definitely matte, however in my humble opinion I believe when you apply the blush to the cheeks a tiny little sheen appears.

All shades are beautifully soft, and feel like silk to touch. If you are heavy handed with your brush you will kick up a lot of product. I just gently press my brush into the pan.

With the exception of the two liner shades and 'view from the taupe', they are quite powdery, however the pigment glides over the skin so beautifully. Definitely not one to fluff your brush about in like you're mixing up a batch of pikelets. Just be gentle.


On The Lids

I have tested the shadows both with and without a primer.

Without Primer : I found the colour payoff to be very good on my light/medium skin tone and the shadows lasted about 8 hours without fading or creasing on my oily eyelids.

With Primer :  I am currently using Bare Minerals Prime Time eyeshadow primer, and put these shadows to the test for a ten hour night shift delivering babies. And the end of my shift, close to 12 hours after application I had a tiny bit of creasing in the inner half of my lid...otherwise it still looked beautiful. The addition of primer improved the depth and colour payoff considerably, and would likely be a necessary step for you if you have a deeper skin tone.

I have only used the blush in elevated a couple of times. Tarte blushes have such a lot of hype around them, I was just so excited about owning one! Elevated is a new shade in the range of amazonian clay blushes.
In the swatch above I really had to work to build up the colour. It is a beautiful universal shade, though I was a little over excited building up the colour one day, and found it to look a little muddy on my cheeks. Now this is likely to be user error, but I need to do a little more playing with this one. If you have a medium to deeper skin tone I am not confident that it would be enough for you?


My Current Fav Combo

'sand out from the crowd'  all over the lid up to the brow bone
'rose to the ocassion'  in the crease and blend just above the crease
'dream in chocolate' to line the upper lash line
'pink outside the box' inner corner and brow highlight


Shopping with Tarazz

My shopping experience with Tarazz was very positive. I have nothing negative to say.

Have a browse here

Tarazz markets itself as an online shopping mall, and that is a great way of describing it.

You can shop for women and mens apparel, homewares, luggage, children's toys and of course beauty.
You are purchasing from the actual stores, with Tarazz as your middle man.


From pressing the 'confirm payment' button ( *heart rate rises*) to the palette arriving on my doorstep from the US was 9 days in total. Nice.

I received three emails during that time informing me of each stage of my order. I knew where my order was, and its next destination.

It was well wrapped in bubble wrap and packaged securely, and arrived in perfect condition.

I paid $48.13 AU for the palette, and $15.00 for shipping.
$63.13 in total, which I believe is great value for 8 good sized eyeshadows, and a great sized blush, all wrapped up in a beautiful palette.

This is Limited Edition!!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a question below in the comments section, or just tell me all of your favourite Tarte products!

Blessings,

Lou xo

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