Zoeva Cocoa Blend Palette Review

The Zoeva Cocoa Blend eyeshadow palette has been a staple product in my eyeshadow collection for about 18 months now and I still adore it. This palette features 10 warm toned shades ranging from beige to plum to copper. There is 5 matte finishes and 5 shimmer finishes in this palette which makes it create for creating different looks with different finishes. Zoeva is also a cruelty free brand and the shades in this eyeshadow palette are enriched with vitamin E and is 100% free of parabens, mineral oils, perfume and phthalates.

The Cocoa Blend palette is obviously chocolate inspired which makes it all the more alluring for chocolate lovers and make up lovers alike. The packaging of the palette is styled to look like a luxurious chocolate box with the brown and golden themed pattern. On the inside of the palette it reads, “with superb ingredients selected with love for the taste of temptation”. The Zoeva website states the palette is “Inspired by warm truffle colors, delicate nougat shades and shimmery marzipan tones for a seductive glamour makeup look.”

The palette is thin but sturdy and made out of cardboard. It probably isn’t the most durable packaging for an eyeshadow palette, so you would need to be careful if you would be taking it out and about. The palette did come with a protective card cover that slides on and off with the same pattern as the palette itself, however since I have had this product well over a year I got rid of that a long time ago.

Bitter Start – a light beige with warm undertones and a matte finish. Soft and creamy texture, good for a base eyeshadow.

Sweeter End – a soft, shimmering lilac with gold undertones and a metallic finish. This is my favourite shade in the whole palette. The texture is so creamy and so pigmented.

Warm Notes – a rich, bright cranberry red with gold and copper undertones and a metallic finish. Another one of my favourite shades in this palette. The texture is so so creamy and pigmented with amazing colour pay off.

Subtle Blend – a medium dark brown with a golden bronze shimmer and yellow undertones. Intensely pigmented shade with a buttery consistency making it easy to blend out on the lid.

Beans Are White – a blackened brown with a matte finish. This shade is quite chalky with not good colour pay off.

Pure Ganache –  a light-medium, golden copper with orange undertones and a metallic sheen. Great colour pay off with a buttery texture making it easy to apply and blend on the eye lid.

Substitute For Love –  a medium, orange brown with warm undertones and a matte finish. Soft and silky texture, this is one of my most used shades in the palette

Freshly Toasted – a rich, deep, reddish brown with warm orange undertones and a matte finish. This shade was a little bit powdery but still had a soft, silky texture and good colour pay off.

Infusion – a blackened brown with red undertones and a gold satin  finish. A little on the chalky side but still blends well when applied on the lid

Delicate Acidity – a medium mauve with warm undertones and a pearly sheen to it. Good colour pay off.

Overall, the shimmer shades were so much more pigmented than the matte shades. The colour pay off for Warm Notes, Subtle Blend and Pure Ganache are amazing whereas with Bitter Start, Beans Are White and Infusion the formula just isn’t as good. One of my favourite things about this palette, and Zoeva palettes alike are the circle pans for the eyeshadow. It’s great you get a little bit more space to swirl your brush around compared to the thinner and more narrow rectangle shaped pans other brands go for.

This is definitely one of my favourite warm toned palettes as I don’t think any other brand has managed to capture the shades like Zoeva have. Don’t get me wrong, I still have tonnes of warm toned palettes but for shade range, quality and price Zoeva are the winners here. This is my most used palette out of the three Zoeva palettes I own (Rodeo Belle and Blanc Fusion are the other two).

I got this palette for £18 from Beauty Bay and as you can tell from this review I love this palette. I completely recommend this to anyone. The price is one of the main things that attract me to Zoeva eyeshadow palettes as it is more than half the price of the eye shadow palettes from the likes of Urban Decay and Too Faced for a product that is similar in quality.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this review.  Let me know in the comments what you think of this palette or if there are any other products from Zoeva you think I should try.

Siobhan x

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Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons Palette Review

Hiiii everyone, hope you are all well. This post is about my newest Too Faced palette which my lovely boyfriend kindly bought for me a few weeks ago. I think this palette is so cute as it is heart shaped, when he offered to buy me make up I couldn’t not pick this one.

The  palette is encased in a baby pink, thin metal compact patterned with hearts. Too Faced went all out with hearts in this palette as the shadows on the inside fit the same heart shaped pattern as the lid. This uber pink palette is a total dream for girly girls and make up lovers alike, I was sold on this palette already by packaging. Inside the palette there is a decent sized mirror too which is good. Upon opening the palette you are met with the delectable smell of chocolate as the shadow formula is infused with anti-oxidant rich cocoa powder.

I absolutely loved my original Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette so was delighted to get this one. This palette is dominated by nude, neutral shades with an overall pink theme. There are a few pops of colour bright shades in this palette too. I really like the pink tone to this palette. The shadowsdo seem a bit out of place at first as they are so bright and pink however they are so easy to incorporate into looks. Let’s look at some swatches and go into better detail about each individual eyeshadow shade.

 

Almond Truffle – muted, muave toned taupe with cool undertones and a matte finish. This shade is ideal for a transition shade in the crease. This is smooth to apply and easy to blend.

Satin Sheets – pale, creamy pink with a strong golden shimmer and a frosted finish. This shade isn’t original to the Bon Bons palette and has popped up in Too Faced palettes before. It’s perfect for an inner corner and brow bone highlight.

Sprinkles – light-medium pink with yellow undertones and a soft golden shimmer finish. It’s a much darker pink than Satin Sheets with a less metallic and shimmery finish. The texture was a little on the powdery side but still had good colour pay-off.

Molasses Chip – rich copper/bronze shade with a metallic bronze sheen. This shade is very pigmented and a buttery texture when applied. This is one of the most wearable and best performing shades in the palette.

Malted – deep chocolate brown with warm, yellow undertones and a satin matte finish. This shade has good colour pay off and a smooth, buttery texture.

Cashew Chew – a muted, light pinky beige with warm undertones. This is one of my favourite shades in the palette, it’s good as a base shadow.

Cotton Candy – lightly brighted, light-medium pink with cool blue and silver undertones throughout. It has good pigmentation and a soft, blendable texture which didn’t kick up too much powder.

Cafe Au Lait – bright, light brown with a silver to golden shimmer. It applies smooth, the texture is buttery and creamy with little to no colour kick up.

Bordeaux – deep, dark reddish-brown with warm undertones and a matte finish. This shade has a silky smooth texture. This shade is ideal for deepening up colours in a look or to put lightly into the crease.

Mocha – medium brown with warm orange undertones and a matte finish. This is already one of my most used shades in this palette and one of my favourites. This shade has excellent colour pay-off.

Blackcurrant – dark, plum-purple shade with a golden shimmer throughout and a frosted finish. This shade is a lot lighter on skin than in the pan however when applied on top of other shadows it shows up really well.

Dark Truffle – deep, dark brown with warm undertones and a golden shimmer throughout. This shade is highly pigmented with an intense colour pay-off.

Pecan Praline – light brown taupe with subtle warm undertones and a matte finish. Similar shade to Cashew Chew but this is more cool toned. This is a good base shade or also good used when blending out a shadow.

Totally Fetch – a bright, deep fuchsia pink with cool undertones and a shimmery finish. This is the most out there colour in the palette and it’s fitting that the brightest pink would have to be named with a Mean Girls reference.

Earl Grey – deep teal shade with a silver shimmer. I’m not a huge fan on blue eyeshadow so this isn’t a shade I would wear, but it could create a good teal smokey eye. This shade is a little dusty.

Divinity – very light beige with slight warm undertones and a matte finish. One of the most pigmented shades in the palette. This is another good base shadow.

Overall, Too Faced created another very high quality eye shadow palette and I am very happy to add this one to my collection. The colour scheme of this palette is a bit iffy for me. I have mentioned I do enjoy the pink theme but it’s just not for me, so there is at least three maybe four shades I won’t wear which is a shame. However, if you enjoy incorporating bright pinks into your looks then this is a great palette for you. If you’re like me and not 100% there on the bright pinks, then it’s great that there is still so many looks to create using this without them.

The main question is whether this palette is worth buying, the answer is yes. The Too Faced palettes combine two of many peoples favourite things, chocolate and make up. What’s better? My favourite shades are Molasses Chip, Cashew Chew, Cafe Au Lait and Blackcurrant.

I hope you all enjoyed reading my review on this palette, I would love to hear feedback in the comments. If you’ve tried this palette or interested in buying it, I would love to hear your thoughts on it!

Siobhan x