It’s that time of year again… Summer’s ending and that means beauty brands are rolling out their fall collections. In keeping with their releases of the past few years, Too Faced just launched their Pumpkin Spice Palette, which follows the theme of their previous Gingerbread Spice and Extra Spicy palettes.
- Too Faced Pumpkin Spice Palette Overview
- Too Faced Pumpkin Spice Palette Review
- Cruelty-Free and Vegan Status
- Where to Buy the Too Faced Pumpkin Spice Palette
- Final Thoughts
Too Faced Pumpkin Spice Palette Overview
The Too Faced Pumpkin Spice Palette is an 18 color palette that retails for $49. The palette contains a total of 0.43 oz of eyeshadow.
The packaging is the same metal tin as the palettes in Too Faced’s Chocolate Bar and Gingerbread series. The cover is decked out with a pumpkin pie looking background and embossed letters.
I happen to love this line of packaging. I think it’s just adorable and it’s part of the appeal for me. The one thing I will say is that you need to be careful not to drop it. The metal makes the palette heavier than a cardboard palette and the impact is harder when dropped. I once dropped my Semi-Sweet palette and the lid came loose from the palette. Despite multiple attempts, I wasn’t able to reconnect it, so handle this palette with care.
Too Faced Pumpkin Spice Palette Review
Color Story
The last two iterations of this palette, (the Gingerbread palettes) were both decidedly warm color stories. Think oranges, warm browns, coppers, and bronzes. Even the plum shades in Gingerbread Spice were warm purples.
The Pumpkin Spice palette, by contrast, incorporates a range of cooler toned shadows. It still has a base of warm mattes like the shades Fall for It, Pumpkin Spice, Ginger Spice, and Spice Spice Baby.
But there are also several cool mattes that can function as blending shades. I like the slightly plummy and pinky tones of A La Mode and Love You A Latte. They work well alongside the warmer shades in the palette.
In terms of deeper shades, there’re four mattes. A neutral brown, reddish-brown, deep magenta, and indigo, so you’ve got both cool and warm options for contrast shades.
The shimmers for the most part are all cooler toned. There are basically two each of pink, green, and lilac.
I really like the shimmer shades that they chose to include. Pink and green are one of my favorite color combos and I love the olive and chartreuse colors. The purples are also really pretty, I especially like the shade Wanna Piece of Me.
There are more mattes then shimmers but there’s still a good range of light to dark and it can definitely create a complete look.
Overall I think of this a colorful palette, but not a super bright one. You could do a really bright look using the warm matte yellow, orange, magenta, and indigo. But if you look at the rest of the palette, it’s mostly soft colors and none of the shimmers are outrageously bright.
I think this is a great option if you’re looking for a colorful palette, that’s still wearable and not too bold.
Formula
I know Too Faced has its detractors but I really love their shadow formula. I think it’s one of the easiest formulas to work with, builds beautifully to full color, no fallout, and wears well.
As far as the mattes go they all seem pretty consistent with the standard Too Faced shadows. Firm but still smooth which I love because it results in little to no fallout.
The only shade I had issues with was the deep indigo called Spice of Life. It swatched nicely on my finger but struggled to transfer to my hand. I did swatch it bare but when used on the eyes with a primer it functioned perfectly.
As far as the shimmers go there appear to be two distinct formulas. The two shades labeled Crisp and Falling for You are the standard Too Faced shimmer formula. They’re firm, smooth, and buildable. The shimmer is on the softer side, as opposed to a reflective metallic.
The four shades called Fall Vibes, Oh My Gourd, Wanna Piece of Me?, and PSL & Chill have a much more chunky, metallic finish. They feel softer and more crumbly to the touch and there’s quite a bit a fallout when applied.
The texture is looser and as a result, they can apply somewhat patchy at first. It takes a bit of work to achieve a smooth application and I think they definitely benefit from fingers although a brush can work too.
The finish is intensely metallic and looks absolutely beautiful on the eye. I find most textured metallics take some effort to apply so I didn’t mind working with them. If you’re a beginner or looking for something super easy, you might struggle with these because they require extra skill.
Scent
The shadows in the Pumpkin Spice palette are scented, which is not a surprise considering it’s Too Faced. They don’t really smell like pumpkin to me. I pick up more of a vanilla scent with a hint of cinnamon.
I really enjoyed the scent, more so than the one in the Gingerbread palettes but if scented products bother you, this one is definitely apparent, at least while in the palette. Once applied I don’t notice any scent.
Swatches
Comparable Products
At a glance, the matte shades in the Pumpkin Spice Palette, seem very comparable to those in Gingerbread Extra Spicy. Upon further inspection almost all of the warmer mattes turned out to be exact dupes.
The cream, mustard, orange, warm browns, and peach can all be found in Gingerbread Extra Spicy. The magenta shade is close to the shadow labeled Hot Tamale and it’s nearly identical to the pink shade called Gumdrop from the original Gingerbread Spice Palette.
So what sets this apart are the cooler mattes, and obviously the shimmers. It’s almost like it’s a variation of the same palette but with cool shimmers as opposed to warm ones.
If you already have Gingerbread Extra Spicy and you’re not so into the cool tones, then definitely skip this palette.
For me, I don’t really mind the doubles because I think the warm tones give the Pumpkin Spice Palette more variety. I do wish they would have swapped out some of the mattes for like a matte sage and a pine green which would have rounded out the palette beautifully. But regardless, I still enjoy the shade selection and I think I can create some really fun looks.
Cruelty-Free and Vegan Status
Too Faced is a cruelty-free brand. Neither they, their suppliers nor any third parties test their ingredients or their products on animals. Their products are not sold in China where animal testing is required by law. Too Faced is owned by Estee Lauder, whose products are tested on animals.
The Pumpkin Spice Palette contains carmine and is not listed among Too Faced’s vegan products.
Where to Buy the Too Faced Pumpkin Spice Palette
- Sephora – Free shipping on all orders and free returns.
- Ulta – Free shipping on orders over $35.
- Macys – Free shipping on orders over $25 and free returns.
- Too Faced – Free shipping on orders over $50 and free returns. Limited international shipping available.
Regardless of where you choose to purchase from, make sure to check if Rakuten (ebates) is offering cashback. Sephora offers cashback for anywhere from 2% to 8% and Macy’s up to 10%, so it’s definitely worth looking into.
If you haven’t signed up for Rakuten yet, you can do so here, it only takes a minute and then you’ll earn cashback every time you shop through their link. They also have an extension which I recommend installing, that activates cashback on all eligible websites with one click. It also scans for coupons.
Final Thoughts
Bear in mind that I’m a sucker for most of Too Faced products, and especially their metal palettes. That being said, apart from a cute aesthetic, I think the palette has several strengths. The quality of the matte and basic shimmers is great and user friendly. I love the finish that the metallics shades give. The color story is fun and can create a complete look. And if you like scented products, this smells yummy.
The downsides would be that the metallics require extra work and that it’s got a lot of duplicate shades as the Gingerbread Extra Spicy Palette. If you missed out on Gingerbread Extra Spicy, and the shimmer shades appeal to you then I think you’ll really enjoy Pumpkin Spice. If you don’t like textured shadows or you’ve already got Gingerbread Extra Spicy and you’re not a fan of the cool tones I don’t think you’ll get much out of this palette.
Pros
- Nicely textured matte and shimmer shades
- Good range of matte and shimmer
- Good range of light, medium, and dark
- Fun, wearable color story
Cons
- Textured metallics leave drop down and require extra effort to apply smoothly
- Lots of duplicate shades from the Gingerbread Extra Spicy Palette
Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a comment below.
Bye now,
