Too Faced - Sugar and Spice Holiday 2014 Set - Pictures, Swatches, and Review

**All products mentioned were purchased by me. I'm not affiliated with any companies mentioned.**

First off, hi! It's been a while. I know I've said that before. Life has been happening and my blog has fallen off the priority list. I'm an all or nothing type of person. If I can't devote the time or effort needed to take decent pics and get them loaded, then I tend not to blog. Add to that the fact that this blog is mainly about makeup/tea and I also have not been buying much makeup lately. I've just come to the realization that I have more than enough eye shadow and my money is better spent elsewhere. So less buying equals less pics of swatches to be taken. My blog needs a new direction basically which I'm working on.

I've also taken to Instagram recently (user ID is @ShadowsNLeaves) - Instagram makes it easy and fun to just snap a photo and share some quick thoughts. So feel free to follow me if you are on there and interested in what I have to share/say. If you are already following me on Instagram, then you'll have seen that I recently did make some makeup purchases. Holiday time is the best time to shop for new palettes and get a lot for your money. I picked up three items: Too Faced Sugar and Spice (Ulta), Tarte Bon Voyage (Sephora), and Urban Decay Vice 3 (Ulta). I plan on doing a swatch/review post for each of these while I continue to rethink the future direction of the blog.

Anyways on to the goods. Starting with Too Faced Sugar and Spice set.

This set caught my eye when I was browsing the new holiday sets. I love Too Faced eyeshadows and loved the Few of My Favorite Things set that they did for Sephora last year. They have a similar palette this year at Sephora, but a couple of the shadows are repeats and for some reason it just didn't call to me. When checking out Ulta however, I noticed this set. 

This set is exclusive to Ulta. It contains a palette of 12 eyeshadows and comes with a mini Better than Sex Mascara. The palette and mascara come in a gold glittery makeup bag.

I don't have much to say on the Better than Sex mascara other than I really like it. It does add both volume and length when used. Only con would be that it can look a bit clumpy but as long as you pay attention when applying it, this shouldn't really be an issue.

The 12 shadows included in the palette come in a range of mattes and shimmers. There are 5 matte shades and 7 shimmers. None of the shades have chunky glitter which is a relief. I detest glitter shadows as they are prone to fall out and you know how glitter sticks to EVERYTHING. Ughh!

Shadows are as follows, left to right, M=Matte, S= Shimmer
Top Row = Coconut Cream(M), Nutmeg(S), Biscotti(S), Sugared Violet(S)
Middle Row = Champagne Truffle(S), Pink Frosting(S), Cinnamon Sugar(S), Chocolate Cake(M)
Bottom Row = Meringue(M), Clove(M), Bon Bon(S), Black Licorice(M)

Top Row

Middle Row

Bottom Row

Pros - There are a good mix of mattes and shimmers. Two of the mattes (Coconut Cream and Meringue) make excellent brow bone highlights while Chocolate Cake and Black Licorice work great to help deepen and create smokier looks. All the shimmers are great and apply nicely. The mattes that are included have great pigmentation also. There are no crazy weird shades here (I guess this could be either a pro or con depending on your preference). All the shades in this palette will get heavy use by me which increases the value of it. Speaking of value, the price is $39. I actually used a 20% off coupon on it which made it a steal. The palette is a good size, thin and travel friendly. It would fit into a medium makeup bag easily.

Cons - Not really loving the scratchiness of the glitter exterior. I'd prefer the palette and the makeup bag to be smooth similar to the patterned bag in last years sets. I do wish there were two matte crease transitional shades instead of one in the palette. I do think Clove makes a great transition for cooler looks with the palette, but it's too greyish/purple to be used in warmer looks. So if I was traveling with the palette, I would definitely include a medium tan or brown matte in addition to this palette.

Overall I really like this palette. It almost seems as if the Boudoir palette and the Natural Eyes palette were somewhat combined here. I see myself getting a lot of use out of all the colors. Have you purchased any of the Too Faced holiday sets? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette - Pictures, Swatches, and Review

**All products mentioned were purchased by me. I'm not affiliated with any companies mentioned.**

I know it's been ages since my last post. Life and work have been hectic. I've been thinking about making a conscious effort to get back into blogging. I've decided to start by sharing some of my current favorites. One of them that has been in constant rotation for me for the past six months (yep, I'm always grabbing this cause it's just that good), is the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette.

Now, when this first came out back in winter I thought, "I really don't need another neutral palette. I've got all the Naked Palettes. What could this palette really offer?" Well, this palette blows the Naked Palettes out of the water in my opinion. You get a very versatile mix of mattes and metallics/shimmers. I think every possible shade of matte brown you could need is in this palette. There are two awesome transition colors (milk chocolate and salted caramel) and two darker colors that you can use to deepen the outer v or line with (semi sweet and triple fudge). And the metallic shades are just gorgeous, no fall out and glide on like butter. If you like do warm neutral eye makeup looks, this palette is a must have in my opinion. Now, on to the pics/swatches.

The tin is really cute. Looks like a big chocolate bar palette. I know they've slimmed out the case a bit more recently so it's not as thick as it was originally which could allow it to be somewhat more travel friendly. The only downside to the packaging is that the shadow names are on a plastic slip sheet that sits over the shadows and is removable. It really would have been nice to have the shade names printed below each shadow. I think maybe they thought it would be more like a box of chocolates with the slip sheet (you know how you buy those boxes of chocolates and they have the sheet telling you what is in each one?), but it gets to be a nuisance to have to hold on to it in order to know what the shade names are called.

Shade names are as follows, left to right:

Top row = Gilded Ganache, White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Black Forest Truffle, Triple Fudge

Middle row = Salted Caramel, Marzipan (LOVE!), Semi Sweet, Strawberry Bon Bon (probably the most disappointing of the lot), Candied Violet, Amaretto

Bottom row = Hazelnut, Creme Brulee, Haute Chocolate, Cherry Cordial, Champagne Truffle

Ooo I forgot to mention, the shadows smell like cocoa powder. Yes, really you open this palette and you are greeted with the scent of a cup of warm cocoa. I'm sure there is someone out there that is nauseated by this, but I'm not a chocolate fanatic and even I think this smells delicious. Anyways, on to the swatches.

First up, the left side of the palette:

Top row, left to right = Gilden Ganache, Salted Caramel, Hazelnut, White Chocolate

Bottom row, left to right = Marzipan, Creme Brulee, Semi Sweet, Haute Chocolate

Some closeups - first top row, then bottom row

This side of the palette is my most used side. I absolutely love the shade Marzipan. Its a gorgeous pinky peachy champagne shade. I liken this shade to Stila Kitten but soooo much better. For some reason, Stila Kitten just never looked right on me, tended to wash me out. This Marzipan shade though is just gorgeous. If I could buy a large pan of this one, I would. Creme Brulee also makes a fantastic lid shade, such a gorgeous gold. I also adore the Hazelnut color in the crease. Just warms everything up and looks fantastic. 

Now on to the right side of the palette:

Top row, left to right = Milk Chocolate, Stawberry Bon Bon, Cherry Cordial, Black Forest Truffle

Bottom row, left to right = Candied Violet, Triple Fudge, Amaretto, Champagne Truffle

Some closeups - first top row, then bottom row

The shades I tend to have used the most on this side of the palette are Milk Chocolate as a crease transition shade, and Amaretto to warm up the crease. I think Strawberry Bon Bon is the most disappointing shade in the palette. It took a while to build it up to the color you see above in the photo. This side of the palette also has two colors that have glitter in them (Black Forest Truffle and Candied Violet). I'm not sure if fallout is an issue on these as I haven't really used them that much. 

So overall, I think I've used this palette way more than any of my Naked palettes. I like the ratio of mattes to metallics that this palette provides. While the earlier edition of the palette was a little bulkier, I think with the newer slim design could make this an excellent palette for travel because you really have everything you need to create multiple solid eye looks. You don't need to tote along additional mattes to make it work. If you're on the fence thinking that you have enough neutral shadows, I'd say you should definitely give this a second look. It's honestly my most used palette for the past six months. 

Do you own the chocolate bar palette? If not, are you still considering it? Let me know down in the comments below. 

Too Faced Be Merry and Bright Set - Photos and Swatches

**All products mentioned were purchased by me. I'm not affiliated with any companies mentioned.**

So, I've been trying to be better about working within a budget lately, and I wanted to share with you some of the palettes and kits that I've picked up from the holiday collections that are out. The first kit that I picked up is the Too Faced Be Merry and Bright Set from Ulta. This is an Ulta exclusive set and it retails for $45.00.

The kit comes with 2 palettes divided into warmer (Merry) and a cooler (Bright) colors. The palettes are very slim and sleek which make them great for any travel that you might be doing. The kit also comes with a full size Lash Injection mascara which I have not yet tried. All of the products come inside a zippered pouch that has one side clear and the other side the pink/gold chevron print that Too Faced is doing in a lot of their holiday sets.

Below are pictures of the Merry palette. This is easily my favorite of the two palettes because the colors are just so wearable. The shadows are all creamy and have great pigmentation. I also like that this palette includes a bronzer. The other palette includes a highlight and a blush. I always include a bronzer in my face routine and only sometimes will reach for a highlighter so I'm glad the kit was set up this way.

A close-up of the palette shades.

Swatches of the shades:

• Top Row - Spice Bronzer, Egg Nog (a creamy white satin shade), Very Merry (awesome metallic goldish green) and Buttered Rum (a metallic light bronze gold)
• Bottom Row - Peachy Keen blush, Bubbly (peach with gold), Brown Sugar (metallic medium bronzey brown), and Chocolate Moon (might as well be black with gold sparkle)

Below are pictures of the Bright palette. This palette does have some really nice shades in it as well. The pink and teal shades are super pigmented. Truthfully, I have no idea what to do with that pink shadow. It kind of scares me a little. But the other colors in the palette are gorgeous.

A close-up of the palette shades.

Swatches of the shades:

• Top Row - Inner Light Highlighter, Wish (a cooler sand metallic), Bright Eyes (crazy bright cool pink) and Sequin (Bright metallic teal)
• Bottom Row - Lollipop blush, Marshmallow (a light metallic pink), Mauvelous (a champagne metallic), and Starry Night (black with silver sparkles)

All in all, I really like this set. I think I've decided to pass on the Sephora exclusive All of my Favorite Things palette even though it is loaded with neutrals which are my favorite as I get the most use out of them. I'm really happy Too Faced is dialing back the packaging somewhat on the kits this season. In previous years, the palettes always came in giant boxes and tins which I know I would never reach for and were definitely not travel friendly. I like that this kit breaks apart into two normal sized palettes that can easily fit into a makeup bag if you are travelling. I also feel like you are getting a nice mix of products with the 12 shadows, 2 blushes, bronzer, highlight, and mascara. 

Have you tried any of the Too Faced Holiday sets or palettes? Let me know what you got and your thoughts on them in the comments. 

Too Faced Boudoir Eyes Palette - Swatches and Picture

**All products mentioned were purchased by me. I'm not affiliated with any companies mentioned.**

Well, I finally caved and bought the Too Faced Boudoir Eyes Palette this week. I've passed this palette a number of times in Ulta and always was debating it but decided to pass. Since nothing new has come out recently that I've been crazy for and since the weather will be turning cooler soon (which means my skin will be getting cooler toned again), I finally decided to spring for this.

It really is a gorgeous cool toned palette. There are 3 matte shades (In the Buff, Fuzzy Handcuffs, and Garter Belt). The rest are either shimmery or glittery. My favorite shades are Sugar Walls, Voulez Vous, Satin Sheets, and French Tickler. I can think of a lot of possible combos using this palette and can't wait to give it a spin. 

Some swatches are below. Admittedly, I've taken better swatches. These were all swatched on bare skin and it's a bit cloudy out today so I'm not getting the natural lighting as well as I usually can for photos. I figured I'd share these anyway though. They are in the same order as in the palette. 

 From left to right, top to bottom: In the Buff, Fuzzy Handcuffs, Voulez Vous, Satin Sheets, Sugar Walls, Garter Belt, Birthday Suit, Lap Dance, and French Tickler.

I think I'll be getting a lot of use out of this palette as the weather starts to get cooler. The three shades on the right of the palette will work well to get a nice cool toned smoky look. Have you picked up this palette or not? Let me know your thoughts.

Too Faced Summer Eyes Palette - Photos and Swatches

I recently picked up a few new beauty items and I thought that I would share one of them with you today. I picked up the new Too Faced Summer Eyes palette. I never purchased the one they had out last year, but from what I recall it had a similar color scheme so if you purchased that one, you may not need to get this one.

After the long winter we have had I'm seriously looking forward to spring and warmer weather in general. This packaging really makes me think of the spring and summer with the floral and water patterns. The compact itself is the newer style palette that Too Faced has been putting out. It's similar in style to the Budoir Eyes palette in that the case is metal. I find it to be rather compact and would be easy to travel with.

Now on to the shadows

There are 9 shadows in the palette. True to form for the Too Faced palette layout, 3 of the shadows are in a larger size (2.0 grams), and six are smaller (0.9 grams). The colors are from top to bottom, left to right:

Day Look - Seashell, Plumeria, and Cocoa Beach

Classic Look - Peach Fuzz, Coral Crush, and Chocolate Sun

Fashion Look - Sunbeam, Mermaid, and Toasted Coconut

Next: swatches and finishes. These shades were swatched in the order they are in the palette. I applied some light facial moisturizer to my hand followed by a thin layer of Urban Decay's Primer Potion in Eden. Then I swatched the shadows.  Click for a closer view.

As you can see the majority of the shadows in the palette have some form of shimmer or sheen to them. I don't consider this surprising since summer looks tend to incorporate more shimmer overall. I also think the level of shimmer is pretty standard for Too Faced palettes.

Color thoughts:

Seashell - Pretty much the only shade that comes close to being a matte shade in the palette. This is a great shade and has wonderful pigmentation as you can see in the swatches. Out of the three larger colors in the palette, I believe this is the one I'll use most since I tend to like to combine different finishes of eyeshadows in my eye looks.

Peach Fuzz and Sunbeam - Both of these give more of a shimmer wash than actually providing color payoff. They really are very similar except Sunbeam is more of a yellow based shimmer highlight and Peach Fuzz gives more of a peachy skin toned highlight. These actually could probably double as highlighters on the face.  

Plumeria - Frosty medium pink shade. Great payoff.

Coral Crush - Shimmery golden coral. Great payoff again.

Mermaid - So pretty. Gorgeous deep teal green with shimmer. Makes me think of the ocean.

Cocoa Beach - A taupey cool brown shade with a bit of a purpleish sheen. Definitely was made to be paired with Plumeria.

Chocolate Sun - The darkest of the browns. Deep dark chocolate with gold shimmer.

Toasted Coconut - The warmest brown. A medium brown with a golden sheen.

Overall, I'm happy with the palette. I picked mine up at Ulta for $36 and received a 0.5 oz deluxe sample of Primed and Poreless due to the promotion they were running which was a nice perk. Looking forward to trying that out. This palette currently is not available at Sephora.

(ETA - I actually double checked and a lot of the colors are repeats of last years palette with a few substitutions. So if you have that palette, you definitely will not need this one.)

**All items were purchased by me. I'm not affiliated with any companies mentioned.**