Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar palette

I am slowly but surely making my way through the heap of make up I took home during my US trip last summer. It was not my intention to whip it all out in one go and with my heading back to work for the new school year my time to take pictures has also been limited. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t had plenty of time to play around with some if not all of it yet. I finally got around to having enough looks to review this next beauty for you. I’m talking about the Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar eye shadow palette of course!

Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar eye shadow palette

Isn’t she a beauty?! It is the follow up to Too Faced immensely popular Chocolate Bar palette which is more cool toned with more berry and lighter brown shades. The Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar has an amazing matte warm brown (hello there, Peanut Butter) and it has the distinct chocolate smell all of the Too Faced products in this range have. I am not too big a fan of the scent, especially not when I do my make up at 6.30 AM before going to work. It’s a little too sickly sweet for me, but if you can get over that, you’re in for a real treat.

The Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar palette comes in a metal tin that looks like an actual chocolate bar. It comes packaged in a box that has a ton of information about the palette, including information on ingredients and the shades to be found inside. The palette is available from any retailer that sells Too Faced, but I got mine from Sephora. In the US this retails for $49 excluding tax.

This palette contains 16 shades that ranges from matte to highly shimmery. Most of the shades are neutral which a pop of blue in one of the shades. The shadows are infused with real cocoa powder. 14 of the eye shadows contain almost 1 gram of product. The other 2 shades contain 2.2 grams and are slightly larger than the rest.

The packaging of this palette is very sturdy. There is a large mirror and the palette is shut with a magnet. Unfortunately the magnet on my palette isn’t very strong. As I was laying out my make up one evening, I knicked one of the shades close to the opening with my finger nail as the lid popped off and my nail dug inside trying to grip the palette more strongly. So make sure you handle this carefully and don’t just hold it by the lid, like I did, as the bottom is quite heavy and the palette will easily pop open. The metal case is travel friendly though and none of these shades broke despite the fact that I hauled them halfway around the world.

The shades range from gorgeous caramels to stunning taupes, warm browns and mocca shades to deep chocolate browns, and a matte black. I picked this palette over the original Chocolate Bar palette as I felt this had some shades that I did not own yet, whereas the first one felt a little too safe. This seemed more versatile to me, with more shades I would wear and experiment with. First there is the matte warm brown of Peanut Butter which is easily my favorite shade in this palette. Rum Raisin, a stunning shimmering taupe shade, is a close second. And for the first time in my life I’m in love with a deep dark brown called Hot Fudge. Let’s have a closer look at the shades.

• Licorice: a matte black
• Cocoa Chili: a matte warm brown with golden glitter
• Rum Raisin: a shimmering taupe

• Pink Sugar: a frosty glittery pink with multi colored flecks in pink and gold
• Pudding: a matte medium cool toned brown
• Mousse: a matte soft brown shade that is also a tad cool

• Caramel: a shimmery caramel shade (the name truly says it all)
• Nougat: a matte pink toned taupe brown
• Blueberry Swirl: a shimmering dirty blue

• Bon Bon: a shimmering caramel shade, but this has more of a rose undertone to it
• Truffled: a matte warm toned medium to dark brown
• Peanut Butter: a matte orange toned medium brown

• Hot Fudge: a matte dark brown with golden flecks
• Frosting: a shimmery bronze

• Coconut Creme: a matte off white
• Butter Pecan: a shimmery champagne gold

In total I count 7 full on matte shades, 2 which have a matte base but golden flecks of glitter, 6 shimmers and 1 glitter. I like how the different textures are spread out and despite the fact that this is an overall warm toned palette, I like how you get a couple of good cool tones in the bottom left corner, including two decent mattes. I love mixing warm and cool toned shades as I have a neutral undertone myself and can get away with both.

Like I said, Peanut Butter is my favorite shade: it is a great for warming up any eye look. Nougat is my favorite blending shade: it makes for a great transition between your crease color and your highlight as it is a little darker than my own skin tone, but if you are darker than me, then this could also be a good highlight shade.

There are plenty of medium shades to build up looks with as well as at least 3 very dark shades that can turn any day time look into a smokey evening ordeal. Pink Sugar didn’t appeal to me much at first, but then I found how gorgeous this is in the inner corner and as a topper on the lid shade and I’m now in love with it.

Top: Licorice – Coconut Creme – Nougat – Truffled – Hot Fudge
Middle: Cocoa Chili – Pink Sugar – Pudding – Blueberry Swirl – Peanut Butter – Frosted
Bottom: Rum Raisin – Mousse – Caramel – Bon Bon – Butter Pecan

Swatched, the texture of these shades is amazing. All these eye shadows are intense. The only shade I think is a bit of a let down is Licorice which is not as black as it could be. Coconut Creme is so light that you can barely see it against my skin, but I like that in a highlight shade. You can clearly see the dimension of Pink Sugar in this picture too, as well as the fact that Caramel and Bon Bon are very similar. Too similar in fact, to look distinct on the eye. Let’s have a look at a few looks I created using this palette.

Look 1:
Rum Raisin (all over lid)
Peanut Butter (crease)
Nougat (blend shade)
Coconut Creme (highlight brow bone & inner corner)
Hot Fudge (liner)

Full face
On my lips: I believe it’s MAC Impassioned, but I’m not sure)

Look 2:
Bon Bon (all over lid)
Caramel (outer V)
Mousse (crease)
Nougat (blend shade)
Coconut Creme (brow bone)

Full Face
On my lips: Maybelline Matte lipstick in Vibrant Violet

Look 3:
Rum Raisin (all over lid)
Pudding (crease)
Peanut Butter (crease)
Nougat (blend shade)
Hot Fudge (outer V & lower lash line)
Blueberry Swirl (lower lash line)
Pink sugar (inner corner & pressed on lid)
Coconut creme (brow bone highlight)

Full Face
On my lips: Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Hibiscus

My favorite look? The last one of course! That pop of blue along the lash line takes the cake, as does the hint of sparkle in the inner corner. Peanut butter does a nice job warming up the crease when applied with a very light hand, whereas Hot Fudge does a good job at darkening up a look.

It is safe to say that there are a few shades in the Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar palette that I couldn’t live without (Peanut Butter & Nougat), but there are also some shades in here that you can find in almost every neutral palette. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like this palette. It is a well laid out, well thought through palette that I truly enjoy using. It is an easy, yet confident step forward from safe neutral looks and allows you to add a little bit more creativity and interest in your looks. This is a great palette for those of you who are looking to take their neutral looks to the next level.

Would go for the Semi-Sweet like me, or would you prefer the original Chocolate Bar palette?