I’ve been trying every Holiday 2011 Limited Edition palette that I can get my hands on, and one of my favorites so far is the Too Faced Sweet Dreams Makeup Collection.
A steal at $52 ($186 value), this collection comes with 15 gorgeous eyeshadow shades, 2 blushes, a bronzer, a highlighter, and a full sized tube of Shadow Insurance Eyeshadow Primer. This collection is a Sephora exclusive and may be hard to find at your local Sephora store because it is selling out quickly, so if you want it for a Christmas gift, be sure to order it online soon so it ships in time for the holidays.
Eyeshadows
These eyeshadows are seriously great quality. They have excellent pigmentation and all go on smoothly and evenly. There is a good variety of mattes, neutrals, brights, and metallic shades. I took these photos after using the product for a couple of weeks so ignore the dirtiness of the pans please.
Glittery shades
Party Girl (bright violet with blue micro glitter) and Peach Fuzz (peach with gold micro-glitter) are the only two shades with glitter and I think they have very minimal fallout when compared to Urban Decay’s glittery shades. The glitter pieces are very small and are not overpowering.
Matte shades
In the Buff (ivory), Teddy Bear (taupe brown), Smolder (navy blue), and First dance (deep purple) are all totally matte shades. They blend well but don’t quite have as much color payoff and pigmentation as the other shades but I find that to be pretty consistent with matte colors from other brands.
Shimmer/metallic shades
The rest of the shades have varying levels of shimmer to them. A couple of standouts to me are Copper Peony (metallic copper) Label Whore (brown/green duo tone), Cop a Teal (shimmery Teal) and Honeymoon (antique metallic gold).
Cheek colors
The bronzer, Chocolate Soleil, is a nice matte shade that should work well for most skin tones since it is buildable and blendable. It also smells like chocolate which is a nice suprise.
The blushes, Coca Rose (soft pink brown) and Sweet Pink (baby pink shimmer) are nice shades and I like that one is matte and the other is shimmer but they don’t last as long as I would like them to. I think I’m really spoiled by Tarte’s Amazonian Clay 12-hour blushes so almost any blush is disappointing compared to theirs. The colors are nice though and they are very blendable.
I’m not a big fan of the highlighter, Candlelight Glow, I think its just a bit too powdery and maybe not light enough to really highlight my skintone.
Eyeshadow Primer
Too Faced’s Shadow Insurance is a cult favorite. It really is a wonderful product and works just as advertised. Only a tiny amount is needed and it will keep your eye makeup on and looking great all night.
Packaging
Like many other Limited Edition collections, this one tries to make its packaging unique and cutesy. I am a fan of packaging that is minimal and functional so I could care less about having decorative cutouts on the edges like this one does. If they left off the decorative edges they would have dramatically reduced the size of the packaging so it would take up much less space on my makeup counter. Plus it would have been more environmentally friendly. And, I know this is nit-picky but I find it difficult to use the cheek color drawer without opening the top lid due to the overhang of the cardboard cutout edges. It is not a big deal to have to open the top but I would prefer not to have to if I don’t need to.
Also, since the packaging is just cardboard, I’m not sure that it will stand the test of time. If it gets wet it’s going to warp and I’m pretty sure if it drops it will get bent, although it would be more likely to cushion the product from breaking during a drop than plastic would.
I do like that the names of the shades are printed on the product and the packaging is thinner than a lot of other palettes, making it fairly travel friendly. The mirror is not an actual mirror but instead is a reflective sticker but I’m ok with this for travel purposes too since airlines are not exactly careful with your luggage and I’ve had lots of mirrors end up broken in kits like this from travel.
Pros
- Great quality eyeshadows with unique and pretty colors
- Good variety of mattes, neutrals, metallics, and bright shades
- Good quality face and cheek products included
- Shadow Insurance primer is excellent and costs $18 alone
Cons
- Cheek colors don’t last as long as some other brands
- Packaging is way more bulky than it needs to be
Rating
- Quality: 5/5
- Uniqueness: 5/5
- Value: 5/5
- Packaging: 3/5
- Overall: 5/5
I definitely would recommend this palette to anyone who is willing to be a little adventurous with their makeup. Since it has such a nice variety of shades and not too much glitter I think it world work well for lots of different complexions and age groups. Again, this is a Sephora exclusive so you won’t be able to find it anywhere but Sephora stores and at www.sephora.com and it is a limited edition Holiday 2011 product so get it before its gone.
