We've seen cosmetics brands collaborate with a celebrity, and we've seen collaborations with "influencers" or YouTube personalities, but the Better Together collaboration between Too Faced and Kat Von D is the first I can recall of two cosmetic brands collaborating together.
But I won't be buying.
When I first hear about this collaboration, I was so excited. As I've mentioned before, Kat Von D's Shade and Light Eye palette is one of my all-time favorites, and I also really love the Monarch palette as well as her metal crush eyeshadows. Too Faced I can sometimes be a little iffy about, but I can't deny that above all other brands, they probably excite the beauty community the most with their upcoming launches.
I couldn't wait to see what these two major players in the beauty community were going to come up with, and after seeing the packaging in the above photo, I got even more excited. While in general I'm not entirely excited by heart-shaped things, I do quite like the aesthetic of pink and black, gold and silver.
But when I saw the inside, all my excitement quickly dissipated.
As far as the actual shadows... I don't know. I guess I just feel a little bored? There certainly aren't any interesting colors here, and the color scheme on the whole doesn't feel very cohesive. I don't see the point in having three gray/black shades (two in the Kat Von D side, one in the Too Faced side), two shimmery taupe shades, and two white/cream shades. It almost feels as though the creators didn't actually collaborate with each other to think of how to make colors unique to each brand and also cohesive overall.
This palette also leans far too cool for me and my tastes. I hardly ever use gray or black shadows, and I would have no crease or transition colors here. I would therefore need to pull in another palette to get some peachy and warm tones. I also wouldn't get much use out of the red shade, and for the shades I would use, I already have several duplicates in my collection.
Another negative, and this is a pet peeve of mine, but booking at this palette, there is so much wasted space. I already wasn't a huge fan of the heart-shaped design, and this packaging is just way too bulky for the amount of shadows inside.
Apparently each side of the heart is its own palette and then they click or magnetize together to make the complete heart. Having the two parts break apart is slightly better for storage, but there is still just too much bulk.
Looking at the individual sections, this palette feels even less impressive and interesting. The entire thing just looks and feels so impractical. I have a hard time imagining that people would want to continually put the pieces of the palette together just to use it. Also, with the letters that the creators have written to each other, why is that part of the palette? It seems to be the kind of thing to be included on a card with other information that can be throw away.
It's worth mentioning that the collection comes with several other items in addition to the eyeshadow palette, including Kat Von D's Tattoo Liner and Too Faced's Better Than Sex mascara. Too Faced blushes and highlighters and Kat Von D lip products are also part of the collection.
But to me, this entire collection feels less like makeup products and more like a gimmick. Yet again--and I feel I've been saying this a lot with this season's makeup releases--the packaging is far more interesting and beautiful than the actual product. It's easily the best part here.
Based on both brands' holiday releases, where there has been much to be desired in terms of quality, I am even less interested in this collection. Better Together is being released after Christmas, so I'm not sure if it qualifies as part of the brands' holiday releases or if it is just a limited edition item. Too Faced's holiday releases are historically of inferior quality to their permanent line, and Kat Von D's holiday release this year has not had great reviews. Unfortunately, it seems the quality control issues the Kat Von D brand has been plagued with are still present. Because of this and the gimmicky nature of this release, I don't see how the quality would be equal to the best items in both brands' lines. If I had to make a guess, I would say the quality is likely to be in the "meh" range. Not the worst, but certainly not noteworthy.
This collection just feels like a heavy disappointment to me. And it also feels like a missed opportunity. Both brands are so hot right now and have so much attention on them, and I think this could have been far more exciting.
The only reason I could see in people getting this collection is if they are a huge fan of both brands and would like some of the packaging as a collector's item. Personally, I don't collect makeup just to have it. I like to love and use everything that I have. But I know there are many people who do collect makeup, and for them, this could be unique and exciting.
For other people who are interesting in sampling each brand and who were somewhat interested in the color scheme, I would recommend Too Faced's Chocolate Bon Bons palette:
And Kat Von D's Metal Crush eyeshadows:
Photo: Temptalia
I think the quality of both of these products are the best each brand has to offer, and money would be better spent toward these products than the Better Together collaboration.
The Better Together palette had a lot of promise, but it just fell flat for me, and I won't be buying.
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