Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder in Milk Chocolate Swatches and Review

If you recall, I previously reviewed Too Faced's original Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder and found it to be not quite the right shade of bronzer for my skintone. Luckily for those of us with lighter complexions, Too Faced very recently released a second, less deep shade of Chocolate Soleil bronzer called Milk Chocolate. I've been testing out the Milk Chocolate shade and I'm happy to say that it's a much better match for my skin than the original. Here's what it looks like:

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder in Milk Chocolate

The new Milk Chocolate shade has the same smooth, silky, chocolate-scented matte formula as the original Chocolate shade, but it's much, much lighter. It is the lightest bronzer color I own.

Too Faced Retractable Bronze-buki Brush

To apply this product, I've been using Too Faced's Bronze-buki instead of my usual flat, square Benefit brush (taken from one of their boxed powders) or my Bare Escentuals Handy Buki. Since the powder is so light I don't have to worry about precision, and the soft, flat bristles of this brush not only feel good on my skin, but do a great job of creating a natural, seamless blended look.

What I liked:

• The Milk Chocolate shade looks perfectly natural on my skintone. Since I don't usually use bronzer to look tan (I use it to add dimension to my cheekbones), this color gives me the subtle shading I need without looking like I'm wearing bronzer. When I want something a little darker, I'll go for Sun Bunny instead.
  
• It blends very well into the skin and doesn't look powdery, chalky or rough. Like I said before, very natural finish.
  
• Since it's matte it doesn't highlight my pores or any rough areas on my skin.
• So far it hasn't made me break out or caused any other skin irritation.
  
• It's chocolate scented!
• The packaging is different from the original Chocolate Soleil that I have so I can easily distinguish between the two.
• Packaging is pretty.

What I didn't like:

• This isn't something that I personally dislike about it, but it is something to take note of: It's very light. It works for me because I'm fair, but if you have medium to dark skin, this may be too light for you.
• The chocolate scent could be a little more realistic. The formula does actually contain real cocoa powder, but I still think it smells like chocolate candle more than actual chocolate.

I'm quite happy with this. It worked out much better for me than the original shade and it's a pretty unique color. It's a lot lighter than any other bronzer in my collection, which makes it easier for someone with very light skin to wear. It doesn't look orange or obvious on me, it just blends in with my skin to create a soft warmth and shading. Too Faced Sun Bunny is still my holy grail bronzer, but this is better for when I want something more subtle/less obviously bronze.

On a semi-related note, Too Faced is currently having their semi-annual vintage sale right now, so you may want to take a look to see what they have. This bronzer isn't on sale, but they do have my favorite glitter eyeliners on clearance for $6 each.

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder in Milk Chocolate retails at $29 for 0.10 oz and is available from TooFaced.com.

(This was sent for review.)

Too Faced Friends and Family Sale - 20% off Everything

Our Friends & Family Sale just started and we can't thank you enough for helping us spread the word! The sale offers 20% OFF EVERYTHING on TooFaced.com with promo code FFSPRING12 and will run from 5/10/2012 - 5/16/2012.

Wanted to pass this along in case you hadn't seen the email- Too Faced is having their Friends and Family sale right now. The 20% off code (FFSPRING12) is good for anything on the site, including clearance. My personal favorite items from Too Faced are:

Too Faced Sun Bunny Bronzer

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Anti-Crease Eyeshadow Primer

Too Faced Starry-Eyed Glitter Liquid Eyeliner

Too Faced Galaxy Glam Baked Eyeshadow in Moon Beam

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder in Chocolate Swatches and Review

I just saw that Too Faced has a new shade of Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer coming out for summer, which reminded me that I have the original shade (Chocolate) and I haven't reviewed it yet. So! Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder in Chocolate.


The outer box is extremely cute. It's pink, brown and gold, which is a very pleasing color combination, but it's also adorned with a giant chocolate chip behind the product name, which ups the cute factor exponentially.


The bronzer compact itself is just as attractive, but no cute chocolate chip on the front. The compact flips open to reveal a full mirror. Interesting thing to note: The formula contains real cocoa.


The Chocolate Soleil Bronzer in Chocolate is actually lighter than I thought it would be. It's a medium tanned brown that, unfortunately for me, has a rather warm, orangey undertone.

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer in Chocolate. No primer, natural light.

What I liked:

• The packaging. Always the packaging. Too Faced makes some of the most fun-looking product packages and this didn't disappoint.
• It's scented!! Not gonna lie, that's pretty much the entire reason I bought this. It has a chocolate scent that you can still smell for a little while after it's applied.
• The texture is very smooth and blends beautifully into the skin for a naturally sun-kissed look, not an "I'm wearing bronzer here, here and a little over here" look.
• Doesn't make me break out or give me any negative skin reaction.
• Matte formula doesn't highlight the trouble areas on my skin like shimmery bronzers can.

What I didn't like:

• The color doesn't work for me. Even applied lightly, it still looks orange on my skin. Very sad about that.
• It's pretty expensive for a bronzer, $29. I got mine during a sale, otherwise I would have hesitated to buy a bronzer at that price without trying it first.
• It doesn't smell like real chocolate, but it doesn't smell bad. Maybe like chocolate scented candle. I still like it.

Too Faced's Caribbean in a Compact bronzer in Sun Bunny has been my holy grail/favorite bronzer ever since the first time I used it in 2005 (wow, seven years using it and I still love it), and I was hoping this would be a scented, matte version of that. The formula is fantastic, it applies and blends so seamlessly and it lasts all day. Sadly, it's just not the right color for me. Maybe the new Milk Chocolate shade will be more neutral? I kinda want to try it, I'm such a sucker for anything scented. Especially since the Too Faced scented bronzer smells better than the old Bourjois and Hard Candy scented bronzers I have. Maybe I'll have to go swatch it when it hits Sephora!

I got my Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder from TooFaced.com. It retails at $29 for 10g / .35 oz of product.

Neutral eye look featuring Too Faced Better Than False Lashes

I mentioned in my previous post (the review of the Too Faced Better Than False Lashes system) that I have better results when I use my own mascara with the fibers, so I thought I'd take a picture using the Too Faced fibers with the Tarte mascara I'm currently using:


Here's what I used:

Benefit Cabana Glama
Peach Fizz on lid, Bronze Buzz on outer lid, Cocoa Pizzazz in crease and on lower lashline
(all over Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Greed)


Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes!
One coat of mascara, followed by two coats of fibers, then two coats of mascara on top of the fibers to seal them.


Too Faced Better Than False Lashes Nylon Lash Extension System Step Two: Nylon Lash Fibers
Two coats of fibers sandwiched between layers of the Tarte mascara.

Like I mentioned before, the fibers give a lot of extra length, but I think they work better with a wetter mascara because the one that comes in the kit is too dry to get a very good coat of it on the lashes and over the fibers. Plus, a less dry mascara helps the fibers cling better and gives a little volume boost, too. I updated my Too Faced review to include a picture of my lashes with the Tarte/Too Faced combo, but just thought I'd do a separate post just in case anyone else was curious to see how it looked.

Too Faced Better Than False Lashes Nylon Lash Extension System Review

Here's the lastest in mascara by Too Faced. It's a two-piece Nylon Lash Extension System consisting of a Mascara Activator and Sealer and a small tube of Nylon Lash Enhancing Fibers (the extensions). That sounds rather complicated, but it really isn't. It's very easy to use.


The front flap of the box lifts open to reveal the products, presented beautifully in a black velvet tray. Underneath the front flap, a detailed set of instructions. Flip the box over to see a little more information on the product and a list of ingredients.


The golden tube contains step one and three of the process, the Activating Mascara Top & Base Coat. The smaller, white tube contains the Flexistrech™ Nylon Lash Fibers.


The Activating Mascara Base & Top Coat is a black mascara and comes with a thin, stiff-bristled mascara wand. Very good at separating and defining the individual lashes. This seems to be a tubing mascara, like the original Too Faced Lash Injection. It has a stretchy texture when dry, and comes off in little stringy strands instead of melting when warm water and pressure are applied.


The Flexistrech™ Nylon Lash Fibers are little loose strands of nylon fiber. They're very thin, light and wispy, almost like a tube full of spiderwebs. The applicator is a tight spool brush.

Go ahead... click for a closeup of the fibers. See the little fuzzy strands all wrapped around the wand?

Now, the way this works is a little different from what you might be used to, but is actually incredibly simple. The fibers are not suspended in a wet primer, like Urban Decay Eyelash Primer Potion, they're loose and dry inside the tube. They can't stick on their own, so they need something to stick to, and that would be step one, the Activating Mascara Base & Top Coat. If you've ever used something like Magic Lash, this is exactly like applying that, to give you an idea of what's involved.

Quick run-through of the directions:

1. On clean, bare lashes, apply 1-2 coats of the Activating Mascara.
   
2. Using the spool brush like you'd use a mascara wand, apply 1-2 coats of the nylon fibers directly over the wet mascara. Focus more fibers where you want more volume. Just on the ends for length, all over for volume, as much or as little as you'd like.
3. Apply a final coat or two of the Activating Mascara to seal the fibers and stretch them out to add length.
4. You can repeat the second and third steps for even more length and volume if you'd like, but keep a lash comb handy just in case.
   

So, does it work? Have a look!

For reference, this is how my lashes look naturally. No mascara, no lash curler.

Here's how they look with one coat of the Activating Mascara as a base, two coats of fibers, plus one more coat of Activating Mascara to seal it. If you look closely at the second picture, you can actually see some of the mascara-covered fibers. Kinda neat, eh?

Edited to add: Here's the result I get using normal mascara (in this case, it's Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes) and the Too Faced fibers. One coat of mascara, two coats of fibers, and then two coats of mascara to seal them. Pretty good length, right? I certainly think so.

What I liked:

• Beautiful packaging. Clear instructions.
  
• The fibers give crazy length and a little volume.
• The system is very easy to use.
• Defines and separates my lashes.
• The fibers can be used with any mascara. You don't have to use the Activating Mascara if you don't want to.
• When I used the fibers with a normal, non-tubing mascara, it gave me an almost scary amount of length. Like... almost touching my eyebrows long lashes.
  
• Like Magic Lash, the more you use a mascara over the fibers, the more fibers will get mixed in and you'll end up with a tube of fiber mascara. Bonus!
• The amount of fibers seems small (0.02 oz), but that's really a ton of product since you use so little of it each time. The fibers will last you ages after the mascara runs out.
• I didn't experience any flaking or smudging.
• It doesn't run or melt when you get it wet and you don't need makeup remover to remove it. It slides off easily with only warm water and pressure.
  

What I didn't like:

• The Activating Mascara is very, very dry. I found it hard to get enough of it onto my lashes to make the fibers stick, or enough to cover the fibers completely. When I have a really dry mascara like this, I mix a few drops of Visine into the tube to thin out the formula a bit. But, you can use any mascara you want with the fibers, the Activating Mascara is not required for them to work. I actually get better results when I don't use the Activating Mascara.
  
• The fibers irritate my eyes. Whenever I use a fiber mascara/primer or a loose lash fiber (like Magic Lash), I can always feel them. It seems like some get stuck near the lash line and tickle my eye all day. It's especially irritating when I'm wearing contacts.
• The duo is pretty expensive at $35. On the upside, the tube of fibers will last a long time after the mascara runs out, so you'll still be getting use out of it for months afterward.
• When used as directed, it didn't give me a false lash look. It gave me a natural, fluttery, light lash look with wispy length. I usually want tons and tons of volume out of my mascaras, but this mostly extended my lashes without adding much volume. Could be due to the tubing mascara formula of the activator, tubing mascaras always give me length with little volume.
  

The set really does extend my lashes quite a lot, but I didn't see the 98% increase in volume stated on the packaging. I think the fibers are really cool and are an excellent tool for effortlessly lengthening your lashes in a believable way. The system is really easy to use, it's not complicated, confusing or messy. Definitely easier than applying false lashes, but doesn't quite give the same dramatic results as fakes do. I'll have to play around with this some more and possibly thin out the Activating Mascara to see if I can build that false lash volume I crave using just these two products. Hopefully they'll sell the two pieces individually at some point, that way you can buy just the fibers (which are amazing and totally worth getting if you crave long lashes) and use your own mascara.

The Too Faced Better Than False Lashes Nylon Lash Extension System is currently a Sephora exclusive. It's $35 for the set and is not limited edition.

(This was sent for review.)

Too Faced Glamour Dust Glitter Pigment Swatches and Review

I've been wanting these Too Faced Glamour Dusts forever. The only thing that made me hesitate to buy them was the $17.00 price tag, but when they had that 25% off Groundhog Day sale, I took that as my sign to finally snag them. I picked up all four shades: Blue Angel, Glampire, Nude Beam and Pink Fire.

The packaging on these is extremely nice. This is just the outer box, but there are so many little details in the design that make it look so much nicer than just disposable cardboard. I'm rather fond of the holographic label on the top flap.


The jars themselves are equally nice. They're heavy, thick glass and have very glossy black lids with the Too Faced logo and a decorative border printed in reflective gold. The colors are clearly labelled, and even the design of the label is nice. I have to take a couple points off because somehow my Blue Angel label has fallen off already. Inside the jar is a peel-off plastic safety seal (not pictured) that covers the sifter inserts to prevent spillage during shipping.


Too Faced Glamour Dust in Blue Angel is a softly blue-toned translucent opalescent loose glitter. It has a tiny bit of fine silver particulate mixed throughout, but I don't find that this shows up at all when applied.


Too Faced Glamour Dust in Glampire is a very red-toned brown / maroon shimmer base with chunky, reflective teal/blue duochrome shimmer flakes. Reminds me very much of something like MAC Blue Brown pigment, but more glittery than shimmery.



Too Faced Glamour Dust in Nude Beam is a light pink champagne shimmer base with very chunky iridescent silvery-white based shimmer flakes.



Too Faced Glamour Dust in Pink Fire is a very light silvered pink shimmer base with smaller, but still chunky, reflective iridescent violet and pink shimmer flakes.

These are all extremely pretty in the jar, but don't show up quite the same when applied because they don't stick to the skin very well on their own:

Swatched heavily, no base, natural light and flash. Blue Angel, Glampire, Nude Beam, Pink Fire.

When swatched or applied over a sticky base, they do stick very well, but the glitter in them changes:
Swatched over a layer of Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, natural light and flash. Blue Angel, Glampire, Nude Beam and Pink Fire.

When used wet or over a sticky base, the glittery particles all clump together and make a chunky, shiny, less-glittery foil like effect. I haven't quite figured out the best way to apply these, but Too Faced recommends their Shadow Insurance Glitter Glue as a base for these. If you apply them wet, you can brush them a little after they've dried to bring back some of the sparkle and take away a little of the clumped-together look, but it still doesn't look like it does in the jar.

So far, the easiest one for me to use has been Blue Angel, since it's essentially just loose glitter:

This was:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance Lemon Drop
NYX White Eyeshadow Base (lid only)
Sugarpill Tako on lid
Ben Nye Amethyst in crease
Tiny bit of Make Up For Ever #92 in crease to darken it
Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil in Clash on lower lashline
Stila Jewel Eyeshadow in Aquamarine over Clash
Too Faced Glamour Dust in Blue Angel on lid, applied over a dab of Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
Physicians Formula Eye Booster Eyeliner in Black
Stila Jewel Eyeshadow in Opal on browbone

A glitter base like Pixie Epoxy is a must for Blue Angel. It doesn't really work that well wet, and it won't stick for very long on its own. A sticky base will also help prevent glitter fallout, so it's good to have one on hand just for that purpose alone. And since the glitter never shows up in normal pictures, I took one in the dark to show how gorgeous it looks:

The colors in Blue Angel shift a lot, from blue to pink to gold. It looks so much better in real life, it really is an attractive looking glitter.


Even though I think Blue Angel is gorgeous and I like it a lot, it is still just a loose glitter. Opal-style loose glitters aren't hard to come by, and most don't cost $17 like Blue Angel. I had this Wet n Wild Mega Sparkle Loose Confetti in White Icing sitting out on my vanity and I thought it looked pretty similar. It lacks the strong blue undertone of the Too Faced, but they look very close when they're applied.


The new Glamour Dusts also remind me of the old Too Faced Afterglow powders. On the left is Lust, on the right is Betrayal. They aren't exact duplicates, but they have a similar sheer shimmer base / chunky silvery glitter flakes formula. That, and the Afterglow jars contain twice as much product.

What I liked:

• Extremely nice packaging. The jars look shiny and glamorous and the outer packaging looks fantastic with gold and hologram accents.
• All of the colors are really pretty. Especially Glampire.
  
• The jars have internal sifters that work quite well. They're not so tight that it's hard to dispense the product, but not so loose that you accidentally dump out half the jar.
• They look amazing in the jar, they're fun just to look at.
• They're very sparkly.
• They add a sheer veil of sparkle when dabbed over your usual eyeshadow.
• Too Faced shipped my order very quickly, included really good deluxe samples and packed everything securely in pretty pink crinkle paper.
  

What I didn't like:

• They're hard to use. I still haven't quite figured out the best way to use these and get the sparkly end result I want.
• When used wet or over a sticky base, the glittery pieces clump together and look strange and a little wrinkly and ugly on the lids.
• When used without a base, they don't stick. If patted on with some pressure, you can get a sheer veil of it to stay, but not with the sparkle and intensity I wanted from these.
• Lots of fallout.
• The jars only contain 2.8 grams of product and cost $17. MAC's new tiny pigment jars (including Reflects Glitters) contain 4.5 grams for only $3 more.
• Blue Angel is basically just loose glitter.
  

I really love how these look in the jar, and when I swatch them on the back of my hand, I'm mesmerized. I just haven't figured out how to translate that look onto my eyelids. I don't like the way they clump when wet or used over a sticky base, but they don't want to stick otherwise. I like them enough to keep them, but I'm glad I got them on sale, because I don't know if I'd pay the full $17 each again. Looks like I'll have to pick up that Too Faced Glitter Glue now; all the reviews on their website say it's perfect for using with the Glamour Dusts.

If you're looking for the fine and delicate yet crazy sparkly effect that these have in the jar, I'd recommend checking out the Make Up For Ever Diamond Powders. They're stupidly expensive for how much product you get ($24 for just under 2 grams), but they actually stick on their own and are intensely sparkly. They don't clump when used over a sticky base, either. My personal favorite is the #2 White Gold shade. For years it's been my go-to product for instantly adding delicate but intense sparkle to my eye looks and I've yet to find anything I like quite as much as that.

The Too Faced Glamour Dusts are available at Ulta and on Too Faced's website, $17 each.