Sparkled Beauty

Another great holiday makeup masterpiece, this is Too Faced A Few of My Favorite Things, a 28-piece Sephora-exclusive holiday set for eyes, face, cheeks and lips. The packaging - pink and gold chevron pattern on both the palette and the clutch - just kills it.

First off, the palette houses 20 eyeshadows, 1.2oz each. A mix of finishes (shimmery, gliterry, matte) and colours (lots of neutral and some bold shades).

Also a mix of textures - some shades (Snowflakes, Honey Honey, etc.) crumble if you press the brush harder than you need but gives the most beautiful colour payoff, some are harder and do not give much pigmentation even with layering (Ooh La Orchid, Taffy), and some get on the brush very well but disappear on the lid upon application (Evergreen).

Notes on the glitters:
- Moon on their Wings (second from the right, first row) is one of the best glitter shades to add that extra pop to midlids without affecting the colours underneath it
- Party Time (second from the right, last row), similarly, works well as a glitter top coat for the lids, as its base colour does not show up well on its own.

Here are the closeup and swatches, first row, from L-R: Snowflakes, Whiskers on Kittens, Chocolate Milk (matte), Moon on their Wings and Dark Chocolate (matte).

Chocolate Milk would be a good transition colour on fairer skin toned ladies. On me, Woolen Mittens (third row,below) works a little better. Dark Chocolate is pigmented, great to darken the crease.

Second row: Cream Colored Ponies (matte), Honey Honey, Busch de Noel, Evergreen and Blue Satin Sashes (matte).
Naturally, Cream Colored Ponies is the brow bone highlight shade in the palette. Busch de Noel has a light duochrome effect going on. Blue Satin Sashes shows up lighter than it looks in the pan.

Third row: Coquet, Taffy, Crisp Apple Strudel, Woolen Mittens (matte) and Soiree (matte).

Coquet is a surprise as it looks pink in the pan but shows up as a gold. Crisp Apple Strudel is duochrome looking but subtle. Soiree satisfies that crave for dark burgundy/ purple crave I am having.

Last row: Tinsel, Bluff, Ooh La Orchid (matte), Party Time and Pure Glam (matte).

Bluff is another duochrome looking shade, I wish the lilac sheen showed up a bit more on the lids. Like mentioned above, Ohh La Orchid is not what it looks like in the pan. Purple is still the hardest eyeshadow colour to get it right.

Here are the 2 blushes in Raindrops on Roses, Melt into Spring (matte) and 2 bronzers in Chocolate Soleil (matte), Sun Bunny (2 shades in one), 0.28oz each. I have nothing to complain about with these. They are more pigmented on, so go in with a light hand.

Because of product placement, there is no mirror in this palette. The How-to Glamour guide, I don't particularly find it useful. And it takes up space too, would love to have a mirror in its place.

Swatches - the blushes in the left pic, bronzers and Bee Sting (featured below) in the right pic.

There are two items that also come inside the clutch but are separate from the palette.

The Lip Injection Color Bomb! moisture plumping lip tint in Bee Sting (0.1oz, full size) does tingle quite a bit but not crazily uncomfortable to me. Vitamins A, C and E plus mango butter in the formula make the product pleasant to use. The colour, however, does not show up on me :(

And lastly, the Better Than Sex mascara in Carbon Black, 0.17oz (deluxe size vs. 0.27oz full size). Meant to be a volumizing mascara with smudge proof and long wearing ability, I do like it. The hourglass shaped brush and quite stiff bristles take a bit of practice, for me. One coat is all you need, don't go for two :)

All in all, I am happy with this set, as it offers options for the colour makeup I need for my face. The compact palette is good for travel. The eyeshadows could be more consistent, quality wise, but there are enough great shades to make up for the bad ones.

The set retails $64 (values $496) at Sephora, Limited Edition. Here are 3 of the FOTDs I did with the set. Check them out! :)