One Week, One Palette: Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons

For the fourth week of my one week, one palette project, I decided to go with a palette that has an interesting history with me. 

The Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons palette absolutely did not appeal to me when I first saw promo pictures. In fact, it not only didn't appeal to me, but I actually thought it was a fake, joke item. The packaging was just too sickeningly sweet for me to think would be an actual makeup item targeted to grown women. 

When I saw the colors inside and noticed that they were primarily cool-toned, I was even less interested. But after seeing review after review and getting caught up in the hype, I bought it. I used it once, maybe twice, and sold it. And something happened that had never happened to me before once I had decluttered: I actually missed it. 

I started wearing pinks a lot and really loved how it flattered my skin and eye color. I kept thinking about Bon Bons, and on a particularly bad day when I was able to justify emotionally shopping (something I no longer do), I purchased this palette again. 

I used every color in the palette this week and think I actually have a really good grasp on my feelings about it. I didn't have to bring in other shadows this week, except for Make Up For Ever Pearl (my absolute favorite inner corner highlight) on a few days. 

Below are six looks I did last week:

Look 1:

Cafe Au Lait on the lid, Almond Truffle blended in the crease, Dark Truffle padded onto the outer corner, Satin Sheet on the inner corner, and Divinity on the brow bone. 

Look 2:

Sprinkles on the lid, Almond Truffle blended in the crease, Totally  Fetch padded onto the outer corner and blended into the crease, Satin Sheets on the inner corner, and Divinity on the brow bone.

Look 3:

Molasses Chip on the lid, Mocha blended into the crease, Bordeaux padded onto the outer corner and blended into the crease, Make Up For Ever Pearl on the inner corner, and Divinity on the brow bone.

Look 4:

Earl Gray on the inner and outer lid, Satin Sheets on the center of the lid, Pecan Praline and Mocha blended into the crease, Bordeaux blended to deepen the crease, Make Up For Ever Pearl on the inner corner, Divinity on the brow bone, and Black Currant on the lower lash line. 

Look 5:

Satin Sheets on the lid, Almond Truffle blended in the crease, and Cashew Chew on the brow bone.

Look 6:

Cotton Candy on the lid, Almond Truffle blended into the crease, Black Currant padded onto the outer corner, Satin Sheets on the inner corner, and Divinity on the brow bone. 

I really enjoyed using this palette last week, and that actually surprised me. Having used the Nubain 2 palette by Juvia's Place last week and getting really rich, bold looks, I thought I was going to feel really disappointed by the subtlety of the looks this palette would create. And while I did wish I had some bolder looks, I also thought the looks this palette created were really pretty. 

There was only one real dud shade for me, and I was surprised that it wasn't Black Currant. It was Cashew Chew. I've heard many people say they really like this shadow, but it was absolutely nothing on me. It gave no pigmentation on my lid or even when repeatedly swatched on my hand. I've never been one to set my primer with an eyeshadow before layering other shadows, but that's the only purpose I can see for this shade, at least on my skin tone. 

Satin Sheets and Almond Truffle are my favorite shadows in the palette. Satin Sheets has been a longtime favorite of mine, and if Too Faced would release single shadows, I probably would have just bought that one shadow and not this entire palette. I used to own Too Faced's Boudoir Eyes palette and only used Satin Sheets. I decluttered the palette because I thought it was wasteful to keep it for only one shadow, so when it was released in Bon Bons, I had missed it enough to buy the palette. 

Almond Truffle took me by surprise. I typically like warm browns or peaches to blend out the crease, but since I thought Mocha was a little darker than what I wanted, I tried Almond Truffle one day (before I sold the original palette) and fell in love with it. This is also a shadow I would have purchased if it was released as a single, and I really missed it when I didn't have the palette. 

Colors that took me by surprise were Mocha and Bordeaux. I absolutely loved these colors in the crease, but I feel like they would only work well with Molasses Chip. I was most shocked by Black Currant. I actually like this shade! Too Faced is known for doing purples really poorly, so I figured this would be an absolute dud. It wasn't great—don't get me wrong—but it wasn't as awful as I was expecting. It worked fine on the lid and I think worked well with Cotton Candy, but I really loved it on the lower lash line. It gave off a gorgeous purple color with gold highlights, and it looked lovely as a little "pop" on the lash line. 

My favorite looks this week were probably look 2 and look 6, but I also really liked look 3. Actually, I liked all the looks I did this week, but those were my standout favorites. I feel like you have to embrace the pinks in order to really like Bon Bons, because otherwise, the palette is pretty boring, uninspiring, and doesn't really make sense. 

I've heard a lot of complaints that this palette has poor pigmentation. I don't have the same experience with them. From Too Faced, I have owned and decluttered the Chocolate Bar, Boudoir Eyes, and Natural Matte palettes, and have kept Chocolate Bon Bons and Peanut Butter and Jelly. From my experience, Bon Bons and PB&J have the best pigmentation from the brand. 

With that said, however, I think there are several shades (too many) that would probably only work (or at least work best) on lighter skin tones. I really love the shade Sprinkles because it gives a subtle pink gold sheen, but I can see this color potentially not working for darker skin tones. I can see the same happening with Cotton Candy, Cafe Au Lait, and Almond Truffle. 

Had I not challenged myself to use this palette all week and to use every shadow in the palette, I think I might have eventually decluttered this palette (again). It took me a while to try wearing pink on my eyes and to have the creativity to figure out what to pair with pink to make the looks more flattering. Had I not embraced the pinks, I probably would have been keeping this palette solely for Almond Truffle, Satin Sheets, and Molasses Chip. And that absolutely would not been worth it to me. But now I really love most shades in the palette and like all colors for the exception of Cashew Chew. 

I know I mention this every week, but I am going to again. Using this palette all week and using color combinations that I have never tried really helped curb any desire to buy new stuff. What I used to do before engaging in this project was to pull out a palette and do the one look I knew how to do and knew would look good. And then the next day I would pull out another palette and do the same thing. I thought I was doing something good because I was getting use out of all of my palettes, but I didn't really know any of my palettes. And that's the freaking point of a palette in general! You're supposed to be able to create several looks and have fun with it! Using a palette just for one or two looks is crazy. And discovering the versatility of my palettes has really been enlightening for me. And it makes me really not want to buy any more. 

Why You Should NOT Buy the Too Faced Sweet Peach Palette

... Or care if you haven't been able to get your hands on it.

If you have found my blog that talks about the over-saturation of the beauty market and rampant, unnecessary consumerism, you must be a person who likes makeup. Welcome.

Too Faced's Sweet Peach palette was the cherry on top of everything that I personally feel is wrong with the beauty industry right now, and it inspired me to start this blog, to encourage other people to be more sensible with their purchase choices and to step away from mindless hype.

Why was the Sweet Peach palette so coveted? It wasn't, really. And that is where Too Faced was smart with their bottom line in mind but crappy when it comes to customer service and satisfaction.

Too Faced is just one company in a long line that has released "teaser" images of upcoming products to create hype and a "need" for a palette. It's no different than a teaser movie trailer before the official trailer. It's marketing--anything to help their profit.

People loved the idea of a peach palette. They speculated for weeks on what it would look like and started drooling over these imaginary shades of complex peach. An entire palette of warm, peachy shades, people thought. So many variations of tone and depth and PEACH.

It then came as a major shock and disappointment to many when the official photos of the palette were released, and lo and behold, there were two peach shades. Two. In an eighteen-pan palette. How? people asked. How is this the peach palette we've all been drooling over? 

Many people, myself included, decided to pass on the palette. For me, the idea of an entire peach palette was absolutely appealing to me. I didn't don't need another eyeshadow palette, but the idea I created in my head of what this palette could be seemed genuinely unique. In such an oversaturated market, a unique product could be worth picking up. When I saw the official images, however, it was just like any other neutral palette. There were two peach colors. That was it. Not entirely surprising when you think of profitable palettes, but disappointing nonetheless.

Too Faced, however, made a crucial marketing decision--create hysteria by having a limited quantity of palettes.

This is purely my own personal opinion, but I don't think Too Faced had any intentions of having the Sweet Peach palette actually be limited edition. If so, it wouldn't be in the larger size that their most popular product--the Chocolate Bar--is in. I think it was always intended to be a permanent item, but they wanted to have the hottest, most sought-after product of the season. So they didn't manufacture very many of them.

When the palette launched, the bloggers went to purchase it, as well as the few people who genuinely wanted it despite its lack of peachiness. And then all hell broke loose. Because there was such limited quantities, stock ran out immediately. (This seems to be a tactic Too Faced borrowed from many popular social media brands.) The site crashed. (Another seemingly borrowed tactic.)

Now, as anyone involved in the beauty community understands far too well, once you can't get a makeup item because everyone else wanted it, you immediately HAVE TO HAVE IT. So then Ulta online got the palette, and their site crashed as hoards of people tried to get it. Then Sephora. Then stores got the palette in stock, but their quantities were laughable--fifteen to twenty per store--and the sales associates were purchasing them first.

And there you have it. A palette that disappointed most people became the hottest product of the season. Simply because people had a fear of missing out. Even when reviews started coming out, and people said, "This isn't that great," people didn't care. They wanted to get their hands on the two peach shades in a neutral palette and smell the artificial peach scent. Because obviously makeup should smell like peach candy (sarcasm).

I didn't fall into the trap. I have enough eyeshadow palettes of incredible quality that I didn't need one of mediocre quality with nothing special about it except an artificial peach scent. Nothing about the palette appealed to me except the hysteria around it. I'll admit for a moment there, I honestly wondered if there was something I was missing. How are so many people losing their minds over an uninteresting neutral palette? Should I buy it just to find out?

NO. I shouldn't. And neither should you.

I get that many people get annoyed with product releases that fail to live up to their expectations. Another neutral palette? people say. But we have SO many of these. Where is something interesting? But here's the deal: the vast majority of consumers aren't like me--or us. They don't have a hoard of makeup and just want to play with the newest thing. Most people have one eyeshadow palette--maybe two. And they are more likely to buy something neutral and versatile. They will need a matte highlight shade, transition colors, and a matte black. So while those of us who have ten or more palettes likely have ten or more matte black shadows, the person who buys only one palette will only have one matte black, and they will probably want that shade. So, yeah. A lot of these neutral palettes are "boring" and "repetitive" and everyone's favorite description: "dupable." But that's because it's what the normal consumer wants.

So I get why Too Faced made a natural palette. But if it truly was meant to be limited edition, and if they're going to call it "Sweet Peach," it shouldn't be marketed to the normal consumer. It should be marketed toward the people who have and love too much makeup and are excited by themed releases. It should be made up of peach shades! But, if the plan was for it to be permanent all along, it makes sense to make it marketable to the vast majority of people. And then, if enough hysteria surrounded it, when it returns, they can claim it is makeup's number-one selling palette.

So, why shouldn't you buy it? If you really love it and want it, of course go for it. But if you're struggling with what to do, don't. It's just another neutral palette that smells weird and has two low performing peach shades in it. If you already have any Chocolate Bar palette, you probably already have most of the shadows. Throw in one or two peach eyeshadows (or even blushes!) from your collection, and there you have the Sweet Peach palette.

It's nothing special, and it certainly isn't worth the hysteria that Too Faced created. Businesses are after one thing: your money. But as consumers, we should be smart about what we buy and where we give that money. I fully expect to see this palette turn up in people's "Products I Regret Buying" videos or declutter piles in a short time after the hype has died down.