With the exception of the Urban Decay Naked Palettes this palette has to be one of the most hyped and talked about in the blogging world. It combines many girls two favourite things: chocolate and eyeshadow. How could that not be a bestseller?
The Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette contains 16 eyeshadows, with varying finishes. The first thing that you will notice when you open this palette is the smell. To me it smells like really sweet chocolate, something along the lines of Milka or anything Kinder. The eyeshadows are infused with cocoa powder which not only makes this palette smell delicious but has somewhat of a special quality to it. The tin packaging feels fairly robust and protective, but the closing is only magnetised rather than a click which is slightly unsatisfying.
When it comes to the eyeshadows themselves, the formula is stunning. Beginning with the left half of the palette, pictured below, there are three matte shades and 5 shimmers. Gilded Ganache is a deep blackened brown with a golden shimmer running throughout. White Chocolate is a creamy beige which is perfect for highlighting. Salted Caramel is a warm mid-toned brown, the perfect warm transition shade for your crease. Marzipan is a champagne shade with a gorgeous metallic finish. Semi-Sweet is another great crease shade – a neutral medium slightly darker brown. Hazelnut is a shimmery bronze which really catches the light. Creme Brulee is a metallic true gold and finally Haute Chocolate is a shimmery cooler taupe-brown.
The right hand side of the palette has a lot more of the colourful shades. Milk Chocolate is another great transition shade, but it is much more neutral than Salted Caramel. Black Forest Truffle is a deep plum with silver and gold shimmer – I actually found this one to not be as pigmented as some of the other shades. Triple Fudge is the darkest shade in the palette, but it is a deep cool brown which is a softer alternative to black. Strawberry Bon Bon is a matte baby pink shade, which can be really pretty when used as a lid shade. Candied Violet is an indigo shade with pink and silver glitter – this was another shade that ran a little sheerer but it is pretty to layer over a base due to the amount of glitter. Amaretto is a really metallic bronzey-burgandy shade. Cherry Cordial is a matte red-toned brown with tiny (almost unnoticeable) flecks of silver glitter. The final shade in the palette is Champagne Truffle which is the other larger highlight shade – a gorgeous metallic pearl.
Overall, I think this palette performs really well. There are a few slightly worse shades, namely Black Forest Truffle and Candied Violet, but they can be built up for higher opacity, or as I mentioned above, they can be intensified by wearing them over an eyeshadow base. I don’t think that the layout is the best that I’ve seen in a palette – the shades that are next to each other aren’t necessarily the best colour combinations in the palette. If it’s overwhelming, then it is useful to look at the palette as having two separate halves, like it was separated in this post as then you have a more neutral side vs. a more colourful side.
Despite the negative aspects I managed to find, I really do love this palette. For the most part, the shadows are buttery and extremely pigmented. It’s also nice to see a neutral palette that has a few unique shades thrown in – it encourages us neutral lovers to experiment a little and get out of our comfort zones. Have you tried this palette? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
–RachelElizabeth