Alright -
Death by Chocolate Eyeshadow Palette by I Heart Makeup (~ $12.50 for 22g), a sub-brand of Makeup Revolution, is definitely NOT a dupe for any of the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palettes, even though it mimicks the idea, packaging and layout of the shades. But that is precisely why I wanted to try it: while I think Too Faced makes some really lovely eyeshadows, for my personal taste, both Chocolate Bars are way too warm. I just knew I wouldn't use at least half of the shades, so when I saw some recommendations for the Makeup Revolution version on Polish YouTube, I knew the shade selection in Death By Chocolate would tick all the boxes for me.
Let me start by saying that if you're a make-up fanatic like me, Death by Chocolate is by no means a necessary purchase. It sure is pretty and even practical, but if you have a larger collection, you should be able to dupe nearly all of the shades very easily. However, if you're still building your stash, or you're looking for an inexpensive eyeshadow palette for everyday, or would like to have a good travel palette you wouldn't worry too much about being damaged in your suitcase, Death by Chocolate is your friend - and if you're not into cool-leaning shades, there are two other versions that are more warm-toned (Naked Chocolate and I Heart Chocolate), and I assume the quality is probably very similar.
Unlike the Too Faced palettes, these Makeup Revolution spin-offs are housed in sturdy plastic cases. The only two things I dislike about this packaging is the plastic insert with the shade names (c'mon, I thought we all moved on from that!) and the fact that the top with the mirror is a bit heavier than the bottom with all the shades, so when you angle the palette at more than 90 degrees, the mirror just falls flat on the counter - a bit annoying, to be honest. But yes, the mirror is large and good quality, and would absolutely suffice to do your whole face while traveling.
As mentioned, Death By Chocolate follows the same layout as Chocolate Bars, having 14 regular sized shadows and 2 larger pans of highlighting shades. To my eyes, Death by Chocolate is a 'complete palette': you get both a matte and a shimmery highlight, you get at least two matte transition shades (one warm, one cool), you get a whole selection of shimmery lid shades, both warm and cool, and a pigmented matte black to use as a liner or deepen things up. There's also a fun pop of color by way of a beautiful glowy plum purple, one of my favorite shades in the palette.
Really, the array of looks you can achieve with this palette is enormous - from barely there daytime looks to sultry smokeys for a night out. Even though the shades are predominantly cool, there is a few warm options to spice things up. I also appreciate that the palette combines shadows in a few different finishes: we have some mattes, glowy satins and a lot of metallic, high shine shades (look at all these variations of taupe in the bottom row!).
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| First row swatched, L-R: White Light, Don't Let Go, Break Me Up, Consume Me, All Is Lost |
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| Middle row swatched, L-R: Lick Me (mine broke and had to be repressed), Fool's Gold, One More Bar, Devour Me, Tear the Wrapper, Love You To Death |
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| Bottom row swatched, L-R: Pray For Me, Dipped, Tease Me, Set Me Free, Bring Down Angels |
As for the texture and pigmentation of these shadows, overall, I'm very happy with the quality. Sure, some shades could use a bit more pigment (e.g: White Light, the matte ivory highlight, or Devour Me, the matte dark plum), but actually, on the eyes they apply and blend very easily. One important note, as you can see from my arm swatches, a lot of these shades swatch very differently from what they appear to be like in the pan, e.g. Don't Let Go or Pray For Me. As a general rule, I would say these apply better than they swatch; they all have a buttery texture but are quite tightly pressed in the pans, which makes them difficult to pick up with a finger. From my vigorous rubbing for the swatch shots, some shades even developed a bit of hard pan, so I think from now on, I'll be only using brushes with this palette. Throughout the day, all the shadows I've tested wore nicely, although I think my favorite purple lost a bit of its vibrancy by the end of the day
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| My warm eyeshadow look with Death By Chocolate Palette using Tear the Wrapper on the lid, One More Bar in the outer corner and Bring Down Angels in the inner corner |
For now, Death by Chocolate isn't one of the Makeup Revolution palettes carried by Ulta, but I still thought I would review it for you in case you wanted to know about the quality of their shadows or decided to seek this one out on eBay/ order through Makeup Revolution's UK site. I've been really enjoying using this palette ever since I got it three weeks ago, but I think this is my last large eyeshadow palette purchase for a looong while. I just increasingly feel that every time I buy some new shadows, I have almost exact dupes at home already waiting to be used.
Have you bought any larger palettes recently? Are you planning to pick up any of the newly released Holiday ones?
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