Too Faced Chocolate Bar eyeshadow palette

Better late than never, that’s when I thought when I finally purchased the Too Faced Chocolate Bar eyeshadow palette. The last Too Faced Chocolate palette that was still missing from my makeup collection. I already owned the Semi-Sweet, Chocolate Bon Bons and Sweet Peach palettes. I never bought this one, because it appealed to me the least. I mainly got it to round off the collection and because it is one of the most hyped up palettes in recent times. What do I think now that I have been using it for some weeks? 

Too Faced Chocolate Bar eyeshadow palette

Too Faced eyeshadow palettes of this size retail for $49 a piece from Sephora or the Too Faced website. The brand has been branching out though: they recently opened a stand alone store in Covent Garden in London and there are apparently plans to introduce the brand to The Netherlands. With that being said, let’s have a closer look at one of Too Faced’s classics.

The Packaging

The packaging is cute, but not overly cute as Too Faced can sometimes do. It looks like a chocolate bar and that’s what you get. The palette smells of cocoa which I am not too keen on as I find it a bit strong, but I have gotten used to it over time. What I like most about the packaging though is the outer box! It looks like a box in which you would buy macarons or luxury chocolate and I like that cute detail. Such a shame the actual palette looks a little drab compared to the outer box.

The Palette

The palette itself is very much neutral toned. It is a mix of warm and cool toned shadows, but none are too outspoken in either direction. There are 6 mattes. The remainder of the 16 shades all contain some level of shimmer. Some are a matte with glitter that disappears when applied to the eye though and there are no glitter shades. To me, there are a lot of mid toned and dark shades in the palette: there are only 5 that I would count as being light and brightening and that brings me to why I was reluctant to buy this eyeshadow palette.

The Shades

The left side of the palette contains most of the warm toned shades. There are three matte shades on this side and those are great staples to have. Salted Caramel is a great transition and Semi-sweet is a tad dark for me, but it could be a great crease shade if you have a medium to dark skin tone.

Marzipan and Crème Brulee are the only two shades in the palette that work for me as an all over lid shade (I like to go with a brightening shimmer shade all over the lid), while Hazelnut, Haute Chocolate and Gilded Ganache are great allrounder shades. Haute Chocolate is a very great shade to wear all over the lid and it is my favorite shade in the palette.

The right side of the palette is more cool toned. There are a few plums and purples. Three shades are matte and the rest is shimmery. Cherry Cordial looks like a matte at first, but contains a chunky glitter that disappears once applied. I like the plums in this palette: Amaretto is my second favorite shade of the palette.

Milk Chocolate is another great basic crease shade for fair skinned people, while Strawberry Bon Bon is a very nice, brightening shade for the inner corner or the brow bone. Candied Violet was surprisingly nice in its use. It didn’t go on as sheer as I had expected. Triple Fudge and Black Forest Truffle are great shades for deepening up a look. Finally, Champagne Truffle is one of the best inner corner highlights I have ever found.

The Swatches

Gilded Ganache – White Chocolate – Milk Chocolate – Black Forest Truffle – Triple Fudge – Salted Caramel – Marzipan – Semi-sweet
Strawberry Bon Bon – Candied Violet – Amaretto – Hazelnut – Crème Brulee – Haute Chocolate – Cherry Cordial – Champagne Truffle

As you can tell from the swatches some of the shades in the palette look a little samey samey on my skin tone. It’s a problem I have with many darker shades of eye shadow. Because of a darker base color, the color in the pan does not translate to my skin, let alone when I blend it onto my eye.

What I cannot deny however is the quality of this palette. That is outstanding. The colors are nicely saturated, the blendability is on point and these colors stay looking vibrant and saturated throughout the day when worn on the eye. This is definitely one of the better formulas Too Faced has created: each shade feels buttery, even the mattes and each shade is equal to another. There are no duds.

The Application

Look 1:
Lid | Crème Brulee
Crease | Hazelnut
Outer V | Semi-sweet
Lower lash line | Haute Chocolate
Brow bone | White Chocolate
Inner corner | Champagne Truffle

For the first look, I went with a golden eye look. This was the look I wore on Christmas Day and I think this was perfect for that. I really liked how this look came out, but it’s something I could have done with many other palettes, so this wasn’t anything special to me, even though I like the outcome. I also had difficulty keeping this look fresh and not too dramatic.

Look 2:
Lid | Marzipan
Crease | Milk Chocolate
Liner | Triple Fudge
Lower lash line | Amaretto
Inner corner | Strawberry Bon Bon

For New Year’s Day I wore a bold lip, so I decided to make a very basic eye look. Again, nothing special going on here, but I do like the look I created. It has something soft focus about it. This is one of those looks that is perfect for everyday. And I think that’s the appeal for many people with this palette. It gives you all the basic matte browns you might possibly need and then a couple of great pops to deepen up or add some interest to an overall look.

Look 3:
First part of the lid | Candied Violet
Red of lid | Black Forest Truffle
Gilded Ganache | Lower Lash Line
Cherry Cordial | Crease
Marizpan | Inner Corner
White Chocolate | Brow Bone

For the final look with the palette, I decided to work in most of the plums in the palette. I always try to use each shade in the palette when I create looks for a review and this is a good demonstration of the overall feel I have of this palette after using it for a while. It’s dark, it’s smokey and that is the overall look I think this palette achieves best.

The Conclusion

I am glad I now own the Too Faced Chocolate Bar eyeshadow palette. It is nothing groundbreaking to me, but it is a good basic to have. I will definitely reach for this more often for sure, but it is not the must have that everyone makes it out to be in my opinion. If you don’t own many palettes yet, this may be a good start, but if you already own quite a few neutral palettes, then this doesn’t add anything new or exciting.

What is your favorite neutral eyeshadow palette?