What I'm Not Buying: Too Faced Glitter Bomb

I honestly don't even know if this can be considered Too Faced's "newest" release because I frankly cannot (and don't want to) keep up with their insane release schedule. Nonetheless, Glitter Bomb is a fairly new Too Faced release. 

And I won't be buying. 

I'm sure if you look through my anti-haul blog posts, the majority are likely to be about Too Faced palettes. And that's because Too Faced has been cranking out releases like crazy. And with each new release, the packaging and gimmick has increased and the quality has seriously declined. 

Too Faced was never my favorite brand, but there was a period of time where I would get really excited to see what they would come out with next, and I usually thought their releases were pretty good. Now, Too Faced is easily one of my least favorite brands. I own 5 depotted shadows from the Chocolate Bon Bons palette, and that's it. And based on the way they have been going, it doesn't look like I will be buying anything from them anytime soon. 

To be completely honest, when Glitter Bomb was announced, I just didn't even care. I knew I was't going to buy it, and it didn't even tempt me a little bit. And what's funny about that is that the concept of it should excite me. If you've read any of posts about my recent weekly and weekend looks, you'll know that I have been absolutely crazy for indie shadows, especially those that pack a metallic or glitter punch. I absolutely loathe glitter fallout, which is a constant concern with glitter shadows, but still. The very idea of a glitter-fused palette should excite me. But from Too Faced, it doesn't. 

Let's look at the palette:

The way this palette is supposed to work is that you apply either the white or black base shadows on the ends of the palette and then apply the glitter on top. I would also image that the Too Faced Glitter Glue would be required for these shadows to work, but a small sample of it is not included with the palette. (I just looked on the Sephora site, and, as expected, Sephora recommends using this palette with Too Faced Glitter Glue.)

I think the shadow colors are pretty, but to be completely honest, the most exciting thing to me about this palette is the packaging: 

And you better believe that Too Faced knows this as well. I normally find Too Faced packaging a little too kitschy and juvenile for me, but my inner girly girl cannot help but love the Las Vegas marquis nature of this packaging. But this is what Too Faced does. They think about what kind of packaging will lure people in, and they put all their efforts into that. And for the life of me I will never understand why they don't instead apply all that work into the formula and making sure that the product is incredible. 

The thing that really doesn't work for me about this palette is the general concept. This is a $45 palette, which is already not cheap, and it still requires a glitter glue or primer at least to make it work. On Reddit, I discovered a post by a user (makemeup_makeup) who swatched all but one of these shadows without primer or either of the base shadows. You can read that post here. These are those swatches:

(The blue swatch in the middle was swatched over the white base.)

As you can see, on their own, without one of the bases or a primer or glitter glue, these swatches are pretty mediocre. And, here's the thing. I have seen swatches of this palette over glitter glue and over bases. I've seen unrealistic swatches where the product is packed on to make it look as good as humanly possible. And even then, they look just okay. Just like normal shadows that I don't have to apply over a base and use with a sticky primer. And so, I guess I just don't really understand why I would pay $45 for the palette, pay an additional $20 for glitter glue, have to work with base colors and glitter top coats, all to achieve a look that I can get by applying one Makeup Geek foiled shadow. Or achieve a look that is less exquisite than something I can get with an indie shadow. 

The colors in this palette remind me a lot of the Urban Decay Afterdark palette:

As well as the Urban Decay Moondust palette:

And even the new Viseart Theory palettes in Amethyst:

And Nuance:

I do not own any of the above palettes, but they were each something that intrigued me for a while and are items I considered purchasing. And the reason I didn't purchase any of them is because I already have something suitable in my collection. In my anti-haul post on the Urban Decay Afterdark palette, I went through every single shadow in that palette and showed an exact (or close) duplicate that I had in my own collection. I just have all of these colors elsewhere in my collection, and I can guarantee that they are better quality than those in the Glitter Bomb palette. 

In terms of palettes in my collection, the only thing I have with a similar color scheme is the Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts palette:

And even then, I have an entire post about how I was able to find exact duplicate shadows for every single shade in that palette:

In all honesty, I think the concept of Glitter Bomb is nothing more than the latest gimmick from Too Faced. They have run the gamut for food-themed palettes with corresponding scents, are milking the Sweet Peach palette into an entire collection, and now are taking the approach inspired by the Kat Von D Alchemist palette and Pat McGrath Labs eyeshadow kits that looks should have many layers in the application process. And Kat Von D and Pat McGrath Labs, in my opinion, did it much better. 

The main appeal I can see for Glitter Bomb, especially when you consider other options available, is just to get the latest thing from Too Faced. And for me personally, that's no where near good enough to shell out $45 and add yet another palette to my collection. This palette is nothing new (Moondust is essentially the same concept), and it is just the next product in the line of disposable releases from Too Faced. I highly doubt anyone will be talking about this palette a month from now, and by then, Too Faced is guaranteed to have released several more items anyway. This palette (and every other palette) is disposable to Too Faced, so I don't see why it would be anything other for consumers. I don't think this is a great quality product, I think there are better and cheaper alternatives, and I won't be buying.