Review and Swatches: Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons

Hello!

Today's review is on the Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons eyeshdaow palette, primer and mascara holiday collection. Before I go on, I feel I have to make my apologies- I'm terribly sorry to have been away for so long- I got caught up in study. Now that that's out of the way, here's the spiel: this holiday collection contains a Shadow Insurance Candlelight Eye Shadow Primer (5g), a 12 eye shadow palette (0.9g each, total 10.8g) and a Lashgasm Mascara (12mL).

Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons Collection, opened up.

Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons Collection

Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons Collection
close up of the eyeshadows

Swatches of the Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons Collection eyeshadows and eyeshadow primer.
L-R: Vanilla, Cut the Cake, Framboise, Coffee Bean, Peach Fuzz, Hot Cocoa,
Candy Rose, Lovey Dovey, Nude Beach, Cinnamon Sugar, Marzipan, Licorice Latte.
Far right: Candlelight primer, blended out at the top and applied in a line below.

Review:

• Eyeshadow Primer: 
•  I have the Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Shadow Primer and I wasn't impressed- so much so that I don't use it and didn't want to write a review on it. This is a new formulation and it is good. It's the same texture as the Urban Decay primers (kind of mousse-y) and it applies much the same. This one- Candlelight- is a pretty champagne-yellow-gold colour that can be worn on its own; as you can see in the swatch above, it's a lot lighter than Urban Decay's Greed.
• Lashgasm Mascara: 
• This is a good mascara for lengthening and defining lashes. The wand is one of those rubbery ones with little spikes and it does a great job of separating and elongating lashes. Another positive- on me, it doesn't smudge and it survives Brisbane's humidity just fine, too. It is not, however, a good mascara for volumising and thickening your lashes. The first application is very light; you need three swipes for a lash look strong enough for my liking. I have tried it as the finishing step when using other mascaras, and it's great- you get the thicker look from the other mascara and the definition and length from this one.
• Eyeshadows:  
• In terms of eyeshadows, the palette is a bit more lively (hello pink!, hello light purple!) than the Naked Palette, but still set in the same warm, neutral tones. Overall, it's a flattering, pretty and versatile palette. I have been harsh on Too Faced eye products in the past (for good reason!) but these are much, much better than what I've tried from Too Faced in the past. Their pigmentation is good (but not Urban Decay-level-great), with a primer they last 8 hours+ and they do apply smoothly. My problem with some of these eyeshadows is that they blend into one, indistinguishable colour when applied on the lid- particularly Lovey Dovey and Cinnamon Sugar and Cinnamon Sugar and Nude Beach.
• Vanilla: light ivory matte eyeshadow; the weakest pigmentation of the entire palette. It took three swipes with a sponge applicator to get the swatch shown in the photos. A bit powdery, but it's matte...
• Cut the Cake: very pretty light lavender with fine silver microglitter. It took two swipes to get the swatch, but it's a smooth, easy to blend eyeshadow.
• Framboise: dark plum frost finish shadow with fine silver microglitter. This had very good pigmentation- I only needed one swipe for the swatch. It's smooth to apply but it does have some fallout.
• Coffee Bean: dark-medium brown matte; good pigmentation (one swipe) but a bit powdery.
• Peach Fuzz: light peach with gold microglitter. This has poor pigmentation on me, which is disappointing because it's so pretty in the pan. Even over a primer, I find that no matter how much I apply, this eyeshadow doesn't build up to a strong enough colour.
• Hot Cocoa: meidum brown satin finish with an orange base and gold microglitter. This is fairly well pigmented, it's smooth and easy to apply. Applied on the lid, over a primer, I felt that I couldn't get a deep enough colour application, but I'm super picky :P
• Candy Rose: light pink with silver microglitter. This eyeshadow was a bit powdery for me and I needed two swipes to get the swatch.
• Lovey Dovey: medium bronze with good pigmentation. It's easy to apply and blends nicely.
• Nude Beach: this is a golden champagne colour with gold microglitter. Much like with Peach Fuzz, I was disappointed that it didn't match the colour intensity of the pan when applied on the eyelid. I found it difficult to build up enough colour with this eyeshadow.
• Cinnamon Sugar: metallic finish light bronze. This is well pigmented, blends smoothly and wears well.
• Marzipan: light brown matte with orange undertones. It reminds me of a mix of Naked and Buck from Urban Decay. It's pigmented and blends nicely.
• Licorice Latte: brown-black with bronze sparkle. It's a good colour, with decent pigmentation and it's easy to work with.
• Cost: This was a Christmas present for me, but I have found that it retails for USD$42. It's fairly good value for money- 10.8g of eyeshadow, and a full sized mascara and primer.

Final Verdict: B/B+
A good primer, mascara and a nice, versatile eyeshadow palette. My gripe is the pigmentation, which although much improved, could still be better.

xo
Anna