Hi, lovelies! 💛 I hope you’re having a great Saturday! Over the last few months, I’ve had my eye on quite a few makeup and beauty products. Usually, I’ll stick to my longtime faves. However, I’ve been super curious about best selling makeup brands like Too Faced, Essence, and ColourPop!
I’ve only tried one ColourPop product (Element of Surprise palette), but have heard a lot about their highlighters and lipsticks. Since starting my blogging journey, I’ve also stumbled upon several reviews about Essence and Too Faced products. Throughout the last month or so, I tested out best selling makeup products that I’ve been curious about and it was such a fun little adventure! 💗
Trying Best Selling Makeup Brands
Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette
Adorable Packaging + Everyday Glam Palette
So, I’ve never bought anything from Too Faced before, but I just had to try out the original Chocolate Bar palette. After reading so many great reviews, I finally visited Ulta and splurged! The Chocolate Bar palette costs $49 and comes in the most adorable packaging. It looks like an actual chocolate bar with pink wrapping! How cute!
My favorite color combo has always been pink, cream, and brown, so I instantly loved the idea of this palette. I was also on the lookout for a perfect “everyday glam” palette, especially for workdays and going out on an average day. I couldn’t wait to get home and try out all the shades!
Chocolate Bar Shades
The palette includes six standard mattes, three mattes with fine glitter, one pearl with fine glitter shade, and six metallic shades. The shades that intrigued me most were “Marzipan” (metallic rose gold), “Creme Brulee” (metallic gold), and “Candied Violet” (sparkly plum). As soon as I opened up the palette, I noticed the chocolatey scent (Alejandro told me it smelled like Cocoa Puffs).
When I first swatched the shades, they seemed a little inconsistent. I thought the metallic shades were a lot more pigmented, but I was disappointed in some of the matte shades, particularly “Strawberry Bon Bon” and “White Chocolate.” It took a few tries for the colors to start showing up.
Quite a few shades were stunning and applied easily, especially “Salted Caramel,” “Creme Brulee,” “Marzipan” and “Hazelnut.”
In terms of fallout, I was impressed with the palette’s quality! There wasn’t much fallout underneath my eyes or whenever I patted my makeup brush. The shades are super practical for everyday wear and you can create so many pretty makeup looks with this adorable palette.
Makeup Look
The Chocolate Bar palette also comes with a “How To Glamour Guide,” which features three makeup look tutorials. I’m new to experimenting with eyeshadow, so their “how to” guide was helpful! I chose “Semi-Sweet,” which is a combination of “Salted Caramel,” “Strawberry Bon Bon,” and “Candied Violet!”
It took me almost an hour to finish this look, but I did it! I received so many sweet comments about my makeup during work and felt beautiful that day!
ColourPop Highlighter and Lipstick
Super Shock Highlighter in Lunch Money
The real MVP of this post! ColourPop’s Super Shock highlighter is absolutely gorgeous! Even better, it’s only $8. Some highlighters I’ve tried in the past end up looking too glittery, but this one gives you more of a dewey and natural glow. Aside from Wet n Wild’s MegaGlo highlighter, “Lunch Money” is a must have. It’s creamy and can be applied with your finger — no brush needed!
Lux Lipstick in On Display
Holy pigment! This lipstick is BOLD and I love that. I haven’t worn a bright red lipstick in a while, but I adore the way “On Display” looks in photos and real life. The day I took this photo, I only wore the lippie with mascara…and that was a look!
My only issue is that as soon as I applied it, the lipstick kept getting on my teeth (cringe). That was a drawback for me, but eventually it dried down to a soft matte and lasted throughout the day. I really want to try out other shades like “Angel City” and “Scorpio Moon” *already on my way to Ulta*
Essence Satin Blush and Nail Polish
Satin Touch Blush
Out of all the products in my beauty haul, I was the most excited about Essence products. After hearing about their mascaras, nail polish, blush, and eyeshadows, I knew I needed to try out this brand! After browsing through some of their products, I picked up their Satin Touch blush and nail polish.
Satin Touch blush in “Satin Coral” was pigmented, which I loved. On me personally though, it was quite peachy and harsh. Also, the blush felt a bit chalky. Maybe I’d prefer “Satin Love” more? Hmm…next haul perhaps?
Nail Polish
I’m absolutely living for Essence’s nail polish, especially their “Out of Space Stories” variety! Anything space related gets a “yes” from me. But I watch Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and space documentaries on YouTube for fun so…
Their “The Gel Nail Polish” line is also amazing. Totally up there with O.P.I nail polish for me! The nail polish dries quickly and it just takes one or two coats to get that finished look.
The only flaw is that the polish doesn’t last as long as O.P.I’s, maybe a couple of days tops without chipping. For under three dollars though, Essence’s nail polish is a steal!
I had a blast trying out new makeup and would love to do this again in the future! Are there any makeup or beauty products you’d like for me to try out? Also, what are some beauty products you’ve bought recently? Any best selling makeup brands you’d recommend? x
Have a great rest of your weekend, lovelies!! 💕
I am LOVING the shade of that lipstick, and the highlighter looks gorgeous! The Chocolate Bar looks pretty too, although I admit the colours aren’t for me! I loooove reading your reviews! Hope you’re well girl! xx
Thanks so much, Francesca!! 💓Omg, it’s been a minute since I’ve worn a bright shade of red. I want to start wearing brighter shades more often again now! 😊And I’m kinda all over the place with eyeshadow looks lol I love neutrals, warm tones, pastels, and a classic smokey eye hehe!!
So glad you liked the review!! Hope you’re having a fantastic week and doing well, love!! x
I’ve wanted that original chocolate bar palette for a long time! That’s too bad about the mattes being inconsistent, I’m glad you were able to make it work for you though.
I need to try those super shock highlighters one day, they sound amazing.
I had the same problem with the Lux Lipsticks! They always transfer/smudge on me and get on my teeth. I guess I just need to be more patient while waiting for them to dry down. That shade is gorgeous on you!
I haven’t tried Essence nail polish yet, I don’t know why when it’s so affordable. I should get on that lol
Great post Nunzia, I hope you’re loving all your new makeup goodies! xx
Same!! I kept hearing about the palette and wanted to try it out after reading great reviews! I’m so curious to see how their other palettes compare in terms of consistency and pigment, especially their Sweet Peach and Chocolate Gold palette.
The Super Shock highlighters are absolutely wonderful! I like that they’re a little more natural and creamy rather than too glittery and powdery. Would def recommend!
Lux Lipsticks smudged for you too?! So weird, I thought I was the only one!! Hadn’t heard too much about the lipstick smudging but it was a bit annoying for me. They’re so pigmented and pretty though! I’ll just have to deal with the smudging I guess haha! Already want to go to Ulta and pick out a few more shades 😂
Essence nail polish is great, they have so many varieties to choose from too!
Glad you liked the post, Cleia! Hope you’re having a wonderful week! 💗x
I haven’t tried either of those but I’ve only heard good things about them!
I hate glittery highlights so they sound like they’re right up my alley 🙂
They did yes! And I have one of the satin shades and one of the mattes and they both smudged, the satin smudged more though. I have the shade LA lady 🤔 They’re great aside from that though!
Thank you I hope you have a great weekend too!
Your photos look amazing as always and the lippy suits you so well – I wish I could pull off such a bold colour!! xx
Aww, thank you so much, Chloe!! 💗I think this color would totally suit you though, it’d look super pretty! I was seriously so impressed with how pigmented their lipsticks are. I want to try ColourPop’s other lipstick varieties now! hehe! x
The lippie looks great on you! I’ve been curious to try some Colourpop products too!
Thank you so much, hon! They have some great products, especially for such an affordable price! I wanna try out more of their lipsticks and new zodiac palette! x
I’ve seen that zodiac palette! It’s beautiful! <3
This was such a good blog post!! I agree with the chocolate bar palette shades not being that pigmented, but I still love the palette! Z
Thanks so much, Rebecca!! 💛 I totally get what you mean! Even though the shades aren’t as pigmented as I would have hoped, the colors are perfect for everyday, and the concept of the palette is adorable! Curious to check out other Too Faced products now and see how they compare! x
That pink polish is so pretty! The Chocolate Bar looks like such a lovely palette and the fact it smells of chocolate is even better, enjoy creating looks with it! That red lip colour looks absolutely stunning on you ❤
Omg, Chanelle, Essence has so many gorgeous options for nail polish! I’ve never heard of their products before this year, but they’re super affordable and fun! Also, the Chocolate Bar palette’s concept is so cute, with the chocolatey scent and its pretty pink packaging. 💞
Thanks, darling!! I hadn’t worn bright red lipstick in so long! I wanna try out more colors now!! Hehe! x
Bet you can create a variety of looks with that palette! They’d pair well with a red lip too.
Great products
I definitely found a couple of new go-to’s, especially the ColourPop highlighter!! x
ColourPop products are a favorite of mine!
Such lovely products! They look beautiful on you too. Xx
Aww, thanks, hon!! You’re so sweet!! x
Oh that lipstick looks gorgeous on you! 😍 The Chocolate Bar palette looks really pretty and I was really tempted to buy it until I swatched it in store, I was really disappointed in the mattes too. Glad you were able to make it work though, maybe I should give it another go. 😊
Thank you so much, Hollie!! The lipstick is seriously such a gorgeous shade of red! 💗Yeah, I was really hoping that the mattes would be more pigmented. The metallics are pretty, though. The makeup look took a while, but thankfully I had the “how to” guide lol!! I kinda wanna buy their Sweet Peach palette and see how it’d compare! x