Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar Palette: Review and Swatches

One of the most talked about makeup item this past month on social media was, without a doubt, Too Faced's new palette the Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar. I was lucky enough to receive both this and the original Chocolate Bar Palette, which need no introduction at this point.

I fully emerged myself into both these palettes for the past few weeks and used them pretty much exclusively.

When you first open the Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar the most amazing chocolate scent hits you. It's intoxicating. The eyeshadows are infused with cocoa which is supposed to have high antioxidant properties. The packaging is a sturdy "chocolate bar "metal case with a magnetic closure. Inside the case you have a medium mirror. The palette includes 16 shadows with two of them being much larger than the rest. The palette features a variety of matte and shimmer shades and they all fall under the neutral, chocolatey theme with he exception of one blue shade. When compared side by side it's pretty obvious the Semi Sweet Palette is a warmer version of the original.

Pigmentation and color pay off varies from shade to shade and the finish plays I huge role in the way certain colors pick up on the brush and apply. I struggled with swatching, first because it's an art I am still trying to master, secondly because finger swatching yielded very different results from brush swatches.

The matte shades performed so well when I was using my fingers but using a brush was a completely different experience. They kicked up a lot of dust and application varied tremendously depending on the brush I was using. I had the best results when using flat brushes with short bristles. The best way to work with the matte shades is to deposit the color and then gently blend it as opposed to directly trying to swipe it across the lid. Pretty typical for matte shades. A primer will definitely improve how well they adhere to the lid and the overall payoff you'll end up with as it will minimize the patchiness.
The other shades can vary in between satin finishes, metallics and some shimmers. Performance varies again, depending on the shade. The metallics perform the best, as expected while the frostiest color (Pink Sugar) yields little to no color but rather a soft sheen.
Without going into specifics for each shade I find the formulas are great. The shadows blend beautifully and this is where I notice the difference between a high end and drugstore shadows. The colors don't mutate once blended. They don't change texture or colors; they blend but stay true to the original finish and color.

TOP ROW (L-R): Licorice (black matte) Coconut Creme (matte light beige) Nougat (matte dusty pink) Truffled (matte cool brown) Hot Fudge (satin cool brown)

MIDDLE ROW (L-R): Cocoa Chili (warm brown with gold shimmer) Pink Sugar (frosty soft pink) Puddin'(matte taupe) Blueberry Swirl (frosty darkened blue) Peanut Butter (matte warm brown) Frosting (cool bronze)

BOTTOM ROW: (L-R): Rum Raisin (frosty grey taupe) Mousse (matte soft grey-brown) Caramel (gold) Bon Bon (rose gold) Butter Pecan (frosty golden beige)

In conclusion, the Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar is a decent palette. It's a great day to day palette I enjoy using. I like the variety of colors and finishes, I really enjoy the warmth of all the shades and I really like the overall formula and performance of the shadows. I like the concept of having the two most commonly used shadows in a larger format, that is pure GENIUS!

Here are a few looks I've done with the palette to give you an idea what the shadows look like in action.