What I'm Not Buying: Too Faced Natural Love Palette

In a move that surprised absolutely no one, Too Faced has come out with another palette. And not only that, but it's a giant 30-shadow palette. Adding insult to injury, it's a palette that is filled with shadows found all throughout Too Faced's other palettes. 

And, shockingly, I won't be buying. 

(Deep breath.)

I have really, really had it with Too Faced and their bullshit. And yes, I'd say this palette is bullshit. 

This is the least-inspired, so transparently money-grabbing palette I've seen from Too Faced this year, which is really saying something since pretty much every single release they have done has been that. This palette is not only filled with colors that we have seen done twenty times over, but Too Faced is flat-out acknowledging that this palette is filled with colors already in their palettes. So that means that all the people who are diehard Too Faced lovers will be buying and gushing over shadows that they already own. And all the bloggers and YouTube personalities who will rave over it and say that you "must" have it are saying that about shadows they already own and have already told you that you "must" have. 

This is seriously getting out of control. 

But, on the positive side of all of this, this palette did not tempt me whatsoever. Not even a tiny bit. As soon as I saw it, I rolled my eyes and watched as so many people talked about how they had to have it even though they already owned all of these colors. 

So, here are the reasons I won't be buying:

There is nothing interesting whatsoever about these colors. 

In addition to several of these being repeat shadows from Too Faced's line, there is nothing interesting or new here. The palette is huge, which is the gimmick Too Faced is playing. We all know by this point that Too Faced is primarily gimmick and packaging, so in lieu of this smelling like a bakery, it's a huge palette. That drives the false sense of value. This is also a marketing ploy for people who have wanted to buy some of their other palettes but never did. Because now they are thinking they can get parts of all of those palettes in this one giant palette, and WOW! What a deal! Nope. 

These are colors that we have seen so many times over. Let me show you some examples.

Lorac Mega Pro 3:

Photo: Temptalia 

Marc Jacobs Holiday 2016:

Urban Decay Naked 3:

Lorac Pro 3:

Photo: Temptalia

Lorac Unzipped:

Photo: Temptalia

The quality is very likely to be poor

I can't remember the last time Too Faced came out with a palette where everyone was gushing over the formula. I think it might be the original Chocolate Bar. I know a lot of people (myself included) were fans of Chocolate Bon Bons, but I also know that many people thought that was their worst palette. Too Faced has released more palettes than any other brand that I know of in the last two years, and the quality has steadily declined. 

It is so blatantly obvious that Too Faced does not care to come out with a great formula or anything innovative. They care about gimmicks. In my opinion, they put the least effort possible into many of their products because they know they are at a place now that people will buy whatever they put out. Following the harsh reviews of the White Chocolate Chip and Matte Chocolate Chip palettes, the Peanut Butter and Honey palette, and all of their terrible holiday releases, one would think that Too Faced would take a break from pumping out new releases and really evaluate their formula. I haven't liked all of Kat Von D's releases and how her brand hypes her products years in advance, but I respect the fact that when her blushes received awful reviews she pulled the product from shelves. She has not rereleased blushes, but the quality of her holiday palette, Pastel Goth, and Alchemist have all been solid. 

Too Faced, however, doesn't seem to have the same respect for their customers. They keep throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. And I think that is really despicable. 

Here are some swatches of Natural Love:

Photos: A World of Beaty Blog

It looks to me like the above swatches have been swatched heavily and have been built up quite a bit. Other swatches of this palette that I have seen that have looked somewhat promising had a disclaimer that the shadows were swatched over primer (which always makes swatches look better) and were applied wet. These shadows are not promoted as wet shadows, so the fact that the bloggers had to wet the swatches to make them look semi-decent tells me that the quality is similar to the other releases that Too Faced has been coming out with—the formula that people are disappointed with. 

This palette is not a value

If you've seen my weekend posts, you would know that I am going through a singles kick right now. And this is something that I strongly encourage everyone to do. If you have a strong singles collection, or even any singles at all, spend a bit using them. The are the colors that you have picked out yourself for one reason or another. You didn't acquire them because they were a part of a palette that you liked the color scheme of and so you bought it. You went out of your way to select these shadows. And I think what you'll find using them is that it is so much more satisfying using singles than palettes because you love the colors so much more. They are all hand-selected. What I have also found is that my single shadows are way more interesting than most of everything in my palettes. I have specially been using indie shadows from Fyrinnae recently, and I have been utterly blown away by how intricate and gorgeous the shadows are. Looking at those shadows, I just can't fathom getting this huge, uninteresting, uninspired palette. And if you would not buy every single shadow in this palette individually, then this palette isn't really a value. If you went through the palette and honestly asked yourself if you had duplicate shadows already in your collection and then asked yourself if you would go out of your way to purchase all the shadows you don't already have, I think you would find that you would maybe buy a couple of shadows. Maybe. Maybe you would buy none. And if that's the case, why would you want to buy this entire thing?

Giant palettes very rarely get used

This is something that happens every holiday season. Brands come out with their holiday palettes (most of which are huge), people buy them, and then in declutter videos later that year or the next, the big palettes are always the ones to go because people never reach for them. And that is likely to be the case with this as well. It's so big and inconvenient and my guess is that it will likely not get used much after the first month of owning it. 

This is an "of the moment" palette

This is such a big point to consider. This palette was made to be of the moment, not to withstand years of use. Colourpop's entire business model of having cheap eyeshadows with little product (I'm not talking about the pressed shadows) is so that people can buy something that is trendy and not spend a ton of money on it. The products are made to be of the moment and then tossed or moved on from, which is also why they don't have a ton of product. This palette is the same, but is a whopping $59. This palette is just another thing Too Faced wants you to buy until they come out with something else. And at $59, that's insulting. 

Too Faced doesn't care about you, so why give them your money?

This is my final point, but I feel it might be the most important. Too Faced has been churning out subpar products for a very long time at this point, cranking the hype, and hoping that people who shill shit on YouTube will continue carrying them. They created hysteria with their Sweet Peach release intentionally so that people would have fear of missing out and would immediately buy all of their releases in the future—before reviews—so that they won't miss out again. It's gross, and I'm not impressed with it. I have purchased so many things from Too Faced in the past, and all I have left are five depotted shadows from Chocolate Bon Bons. Too Faced has made zero efforts to be innovative or to address their poor quality and instead churn out monthly gimmicks. This tells me that they do not care about their customers, only their customers' money. That's just not a brand that I can support. This palette is ridiculous and a transparent money grab, and I'm not buying into it. I'm not buying into any of Too Faced's bullshit. And they're not getting my money. 

Last Weeks Looks: Milani Earthly Elements, Ardency Inn, and Fyrinnae

So, first off, I haven't posted in a while. The reason for that is simple: I've been swamped with work and exhausted. My full-time job largely involves writing, so when I get home after a long week, I just don't have the brainpower to write more. Additionally, I have a severe B-12 deficiency, which causes extreme exhaustion if not properly treated. I've had a flare-up in the last week, and I just haven't had any energy. With that said, I'm still blogging!

And here are five looks I did last week.

Look 1: Milani Earthly Elements

4 on the lid, 2 and 3 blended into the crease, and 6 padded onto the outer corner. 

Look 2: Fyrinnae Meerkat

Meerkat on the lid (over Pixie Epoxy) and Kat Von D Meow and Dope blended into the crease. 

Look 3: Milani Earthly Elements 

5 on the lid, 2 blended into the crease, and 3 padded onto the outer corner and blended into the crease. 

Look 4: Fyrinnae Rapunzel Had Extensions

Rapunzel Had Extensions on the lid (over Pixie Epoxy) and Physician's Formula Classic Nudes quad blended into the crease.

Look 5: Ardency Inn Rose Gold

Rose Gold on the lid and Becca Ombre Rouge blended into the crease. 

Milani Earthly Elements

Status: Keep

This palette is new to me, so I took last week as an opportunity to use it. I have mixed thoughts on it because four shadows are really amazing and two are not so great. The biggest shade in the palette, 1, is basically glitter. That's it. The other light shade, 5, has such a light sheen to it that it looks almost like a matte shadow on my eyes. That's not a look I particularly like on myself, so I don't care for that shadow too much. The rest of the palette, however, is incredible. I don't have another shadow in my collection like 3, the matte orange. I absolutely love this shade. 2, 3, and 5 were also really pretty and were softer and easier to work with than a lot of my shadows. I wish the other two shadows in this palette were good, but on the whole, this is the first drugstore palette I've ever really liked and wanted to keep.

Fyrinnae Meerkat

Status: Keep

I really love this color. It reminds me a lot of Laura Mercier African Violet, but if African Violet was much more pigmented and beautiful. I enjoyed wearing this shadow so much. The only negative I have is that there was a lot of fallout. And not only fallout, but glitter fallout. It used to be that I would not accept that from a shadow, and I still won't accept large chunks of noticeable glitter that rain down my face, but I found the fallout to be pretty manageable. It's still worth noting, however. 

Fyrinnae Rapunzel Had Extensions

Status: Favorite 

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned this shadow in another post. I did not have Pixie Epoxy at the time, and I was a little disappointed with how this shadow looked on me. As soon as I bought Pixie Epoxy and it arrived, however, I knew I had to try it again. And man, do I love this shadow. 

For comparison, this is Rapunzel Had Extensions without Pixie Epoxy, worn over primer:

And this is it with Pixie Epoxy:

I don't know how much of a difference you can tell in pictures, but in person, the difference was huge. This is seriously one of the prettiest eyeshadows I have ever used. And again, every time I wear a Fyrinnae eyeshadow, I wonder why people fall all over themselves trying to get the latest Too Faced or Tarte or Urban Decay release. There is just no companion in terms of color dimension and uniqueness. 

Ardency Inn Rose Gold

Status: Favorite 

I bought this shadow months ago after I heard someone refer to it as "Laura Mercier African Violet, except better." And it's interesting because, as I've said, Meerkat reminded me of that shadow. Rose Gold, however, doesn't remind me of African Violet whatsoever. But it is an incredibly pretty shadow. This one shadow let me get rid of my Lorac Unzipped palette a while ago. I didn't need anything in there when I had this one fantastic shadow. 

Last week, despite it being challenging personally, was really great for makeup. I typically have one or two favorite looks of the week while liking the rest, but honestly, all but look 3 were favorites of mine. And, I'm happy to report that I wore all of these looks to work! I still don't feel comfortable wearing super dark or wild colors, but I have to say that I'm branching out quite a bit at work. More of the women in the office have started wearing (minimal) makeup, and I just don't care anymore about wearing only very light washes of neutral color. I figure if some people in the office who are at the same level as me can wear jeans and sneakers to work, I can wear "bold" eyeshadow. 

What I Did Buy: Colourpop Pressed Powder Shadows

A little over a month ago, I made a post about why I no longer buy from Colourpop. And in that post, I said that no matter the hype, I would not buy from the brand again. 

My reasoning for not wanting to buy from the brand was because I didn't like cream products and felt the ones from Colourpop dried out exceptionally fast. I also truly loathed their ultra matte liquid lipsticks and didn't care for the regular lipsticks. With this selection of products, I had no desire to purchase from them again. 

But then Colourpop came out with pressed powder shadows, and I thought that was interesting. I had no intention of purchasing any until I saw swatches on Temptalia's blog. The swatches looked good, which was a little surprising to me. More than that, there were a few colors that were pretty and looked unique to my collection. 

So, I decided to buy four of them. 

From left: Come and Get it, Stay Golden, Silver Lining, and Making Moves

I really love this color combination. Come and Get it (which was the main shadow I wanted to buy) is one of the prettiest shadows I have seen. And that's saying a lot because I own a ton of shadow. 

Here is the eye look I created with all four shadows:

Come and Get It on the lid, Making Moves blended into the crease, Silver Lining blended above Making Moves, and Stay Golden padded onto the outer corner. Silver Lining and Stay Golden on the lower lash line. 

This eye look was one of the prettiest I've done in a long time. The shadows all applied incredibly well, had great pigment, and blended easily. However, these shadows faded somewhat, which is the first time I've noticed that happen with shadows. 

Because of the fading, I'm a bit torn on these shadows. I think they applied beautifully, but they didn't stay with that intensity throughout the day. I will certainly keep and continue to use these four, but I can't say that I would be clamoring to go out and buy more. For the basic shades in this collection, I would instead recommend Makeup Geek or MAC shadows. With that said, Colourpop releases new shades all the time, so I'm not fully closing the door on ever getting more. If they release some shades that I am very drawn to and don't have duplicates for in my collection (unlikely), I may consider buying more. 

As a side note, I really hate the quad/palette packaging that came free with the purchase of four shadows. It is so bulky and takes up a ton of space for just four shadows. I ended up doing a pretty big purge of my singles in various palettes and created a new Z-palette filled with the shadows I kept. The Colourpop shadows ended up in there. 

I wouldn't recommend these shadows for a day-long makeup look that goes into the night. But for $5 each, I could see a customer getting some of the more unique shades for night looks. Do I think they are up there with my favorite shadows in terms of quality? No. But they were quite a bit better than I expected them to be. 

What I'm Not Buying: Lancome Blush La Rose

Lancome has released a "highlighter" that's in the shape of a rose and housed in a very thin, cheap cardboard.

And—shockingly—I won't be buying.

This "highlighter" is a whopping and unforgivable $60 for 1.6 grams. To put that into perspective, a Becca highlighter has 8 grams for $38.

I think Graveyardgirl on YouTube said it best in that this "highlighter" is a "suggestion of product."

I'm sorry, but this product is really, really dumb. And the fact that it seems to be sold out everywhere and is the hot product of the moment tells me how bad consumerism has gotten. Because, folks, this product may be the biggest ripoff I have seen in the makeup world.

This product is basically a cheap fake rose, like this:

Lightly dusted in shimmery powder, put in a cheap cardboard cup, and slapped with a $60 price tag. 

And if you're wondering how in the hell this is even a thing, it is because Lancome is desperately trying to be Les Merveilleuses de Ladurée, a brand that sells the Rose Petal Blush:

This blush is about $140, and it is made up of silk petals infused with blush:

It is very clearly a "functional" vanity decoration, and, indeed, it is elegant and beautiful:

Is this a product that I want? No, but I can see how it might be fun and special for some people and completely worth the high price tag.

But this?

No. 

In Graveyardgirl's review, you can see just how cheap the product is made. And the thing is, unlike the Rose Petal Blush, nothing about the Blush La Rose looks special or pretty. 

It actually looks like the physical manifestation of a ripoff. 

If you want a highlighter, buy literally any other one and it will be a better value and higher quality than this. Hell, the packaging will even be higher quality. 

If you want a special pretty rose thing that kind of seems like makeup, splurge to get the Rose Petal Blush, or, even better, watch one of the several do-it-yourself videos that show how you can create something like this at home for around $5. 

This product is just Lancome seeing how far they can lower the bar while still raising hype. To say this product is a waste of money isn't even a strong enough way to convey that sentiment. This product is gross in every way, and I won't be buying. 

One Week, One Palette: Zoeva Cocoa Blend

For the eighth week of my one week, one palette project, I chose to use one of my favorite staple, workhorse palettes: Zoeva Cocoa Blend.

This is an interesting palette for me because it's close to what I would consider to be a "perfect" neutral palette for warm skin tones, but it is also so neutral that it is easily replicated and gets forgotten about in my collection. 

Most people consider the Too Faced Chocolate Bar or Urban Decay Naked to be their ultimate or all-time favorite neutral palette, but for me and my specific skin tone, it's the Cocoa Blend. But, since it is so neutral, I was really hoping that by the end of the week I could come to terms with the fact that I already own these colors in my collection and be able to declutter it. 

Top, from left: Bitter Start, Sweeter End, Warm Notes, Subtle Blend, and Beans Are White

Bottom, from left: Pure Ganache, Substitute For Love, Freshly Toasted, Infusion, and Delicate Acidity

I used every color in this palette last week, and for the exception of Make Up For Ever Pearl—which I used on the inner corner ever day—I did not need to bring in any additional shadows. 

Below are six looks I did last week.

Look 1:

Base: MAC Paint Pot in Painterly

Pure Ganache on the first half of the lid, Warm notes on the second half of the lid, Substitute For Love and Freshly Toasted blended into the crease, and Bitter Start on the brow bone.

Look 2:

Primer: Milani Eyeshadow Primer

Pure Ganache on the lid, Substitute For Love and Freshly Toasted blended into the crease, Infusion padded onto the outer corner, and Bitter Start on the brow bone. 

Look 3:

Primer: NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

Subtle Blend on the lid, Freshly Toasted blended into the crease, Warm Notes blended into the crease over Freshly Toasted, and Bitter Start on the brow bone. 

Look 4:

Primer: NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

Delicate Acidity on the lid, Substitute For Love and Freshly Toasted blended into the crease, Beans Are White padded onto the outer corner, and Bitter Start on the brow bone. 

Look 5:

Primer: NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

Sweeter End on the lid, Substitute For Love and Freshly Toasted blended into the crease, Subtle Blend padded onto the outer corner, and Bitter Start on the brow bone.

Look 6:

Primer: NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

Warm Notes on the lid, Freshly Toasted blended into the crease, Infusion padded onto the outer corner, and Bitter Start on the brow bone. 

The reason I included the bases/primers I used this week is because I used MAC Painterly on the first day and I absolutely hated the way the shadows looked. I was convinced that I was going to declutter the palette after using it the first day, and I didn't even want to continue using it for the rest of the week because I really thought I wasn't going to enjoy it. When applied over Painterly, I felt the pigmentation was lacking and the shadows were very difficult to blend. This was unexpected for me since I remembered really loving the shadows and being incredibly impressed with them. As I mentioned in my last one week, one palette post, I had run out of my favorite primer, the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, and knew I needed to repurchase it. Once I started using that primer, the shadows were gorgeous and exactly as I remembered them. And then it occurred to me that I had only ever used these shadows with the NARS primer. 

I don't think Painterly is a bad primer, and I don't think the NARS primer is markedly better than most primers with most shadows. The Milani Eyeshadow Primer worked beautifully with the Cocoa Blend shadows, and I couldn't really tell a difference between that primer and the one from NARS. This may be a case of Zoeva shadows not playing well Painterly. 

Once I transitioned to the different primers, I quickly remembered why I loved this palette so much. It really is close to being the perfect neutral palette for me. I say "close to" perfect because the two black shades—Beans Are White and Infusion—perform essentially the same, and I think one of those shades should have been substituted for a cooler-toned milk chocolate brown shade. I would have also substituted Sweeter End for a more intense shimmer that could be worn on the inner corner. 

My favorite shadows in this palette are absolutely Substitute For Love and Freshly Toasted. They are gorgeous shadows that work beautifully with my skin tone. I would say they could potentially be some of my favorite shadows in my entire collection. Bitter Start is also one of my all-time favorite shadows for the brow bone. Pure Ganache, Warm Notes, and Subtle Blend are also favorites of mine. 

But—and here's the rub—these colors are not that unique. Substitute For Love reminds me a lot of Too Faced's Peanut Butter. Freshly Toasted reminds me of Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear. Pure Ganache is very similar to MAC's Amber Lights; Warm Notes is similar to MAC's Cranberry; and Subtle Blend is similar to several shadows I have from Morphe. Bitter Start is similar to shades in the Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye palette and a shade in the Viseart Neutral Matte palette. 

I enjoyed Sweeter End and have used it before (not last week) as a mixing shade for other colors, and really enjoyed it for that purpose. But I also enjoyed it last week as a subtle but pretty lid shade. Delicate Acidity was pretty and looked better in person than it did in the photo. I don't always love purples against my skin because of the cooler tones, but I received several compliments on the day I wore Delicate Acidity because it gave a pretty smoky effect. Beans Are White and Infusion were fine. I actually really loved the look of black paired with gold, which was surprisingly something I had never tried before, and it's something I would love to do again. 

So what do I do when I genuinely love six shadows in this palette and enjoy the other four but have duplicates for the six shadows that I love? If I decluttered this palette, would I miss it? For me, this is the kind of palette where I don't think to pull it out regularly because there is nothing flashy about it. Or when I pull it out, I would likely do a very basic look. But then when forced to use it for an entire week, I loved it! I was creative with it and did looks that I had never done before. I've thought about depotting some of the shadows and mixing them with some of my favorite singles, but then I could also see myself depotting all but one of the black shadows. And if that's the case, I might as well hang onto the entire thing as is. 

My favorite looks last week were definitely look 3 and 2, but I really enjoyed every look except for look 1. And I would probably have loved look 1 had it not been for the base I used. They certainly aren't as exciting as some of the looks I've done with my more colorful palettes, but I found them really pretty nonetheless. 

I have to say that I am really impressed with Zoeva. I purchased this palette online and paid over $15 for shipping to the US. Even with the high international shipping fee, this palette was still around $35. For ten shadows of this quality, I find that incredible. Sure, the packaging doesn't feel as expensive as some of the thicker cardboard or plastic cases, and it doesn't have a mirror, but the look of the packaging is really elegant, and I am happy with it overall. And I am thrilled to see a brand put more concern and cost into the product than into the packaging and yet still have the packaging look nice. Zoeva does it right!

I honestly don't know if I would miss this palette if I decluttered it because I have so many duplicate shades in my collection. But there is something to be said sometimes about having all those "perfect" shades together in one palette. If I were to curate my own palette (if I had no other shadows), it would look very similar to Cocoa Blend with the exceptions I've noted above. I think this palette is a much better buy than the Too Faced Chocolate Bar or Urban Decay Naked palette or any other warm neutral palette. I really enjoyed using Cocoa Blend all week, and the only reason I'm excited to move on to another palette is because I'm craving a bit of variety. With that said, using Cocoa Blend exclusively for a week also showed me how versatile a simple neutral palette can be, which is helpful when feeling bored with a palette or collection of shadows. For the moment, I'm not going to declutter or depot this palette, and I will revisit it after the completion of this round of one week, one palette. I have so many palettes that this round won't be complete for a while, but as of right now, I think if I do anything, it is more likely that I would depot some of it than declutter.