Is This £5 Palette A Too Faced Dupe?

You know, there is nothing worse than being on a spending ban when you really want to play with new makeup, and that’s made even worse when you really want to blog about it.

So while I don’t really have a payday anymore, I did decide to allow myself a little bit of a spend at the end of August, and having seen so many people post about amazing finds on the TKMaxx website, and being in constant search of the bargains, I decided that was where I’d look first. I was actually super impressed to find some great products from some of my favourite high-end brands, but believe it or not, I was actually drawn to some of the cheapest palettes I found, and I decided to forgo the big brands and opted instead for a brand that’s made me a little curious for a while now: W7. I bought three palettes in total, which came to £15, and while I will share them all eventually, today’s post is about just the one of them..

So this is the W7 Cheeky Trio palette, and when I saw it online I did have a little question in my mind as to whether this would turn out to be a potential dupe for what is already one of my favourite face palettes, which is the Too Faced Sweet Peach Glow palette. And well, take a look for yourself..

Sure, there’s an obvious size difference in the two palettes, but first impressions wise, the shades looked pretty damn close to me so I figured I was onto a winner! The packaging is a fairly simple tin, but it does the job and it doesn’t scream of an obvious dupe attempt.

But how does it actually shape up compared to its Too Faced counterpart?

Well formula-wise, W7 doesn’t make any sort of claim on the peach front, so it doesn’t deliver the glorious smell that my TF palette still gives off after over a year of use, and its not quite so smooth and buttery to touch, but its certainly not a crumble-fest either. The pigment is pretty decent, but do the shades match up?

Highlighter – Top – W7, Bottom – Too Faced

Despite looking VERY similar in the pans, as soon as I swatched out the highlighter I could tell they weren’t an exact match. Its kinda hard to tell in photos, but the W7 is a much more silvery-gold, whereas Too Faced does have peachier undertones which gives it a little more depth.

Blush – Top – W7, Bottom – Too Faced

The W7 blush is also much pinker than its Too Faced friend, but the colour is pretty and it builds nicely. It also doesn’t have the slight shimmer than Sweet Peach does, but I don’t think blusher has to be shimmery so I’m cool with it.

Bronzer – Top – W7, Bottom – Too Faced

Again, the bronzers looked super similar in the palettes, but the swatches for these two probably have the most difference out of all of them. Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of the Too Faced bronzer as it doesn’t really suit my skin tone, so I prefer the W7, although it could maybe be considered more of a highlighter than a bronzer as its kinda light..

So is this a good dupe? Well, its under £10 (and under £5 in a lot of places), and its also cruelty free, so it ticks a lot of boxes for me straight off the bat, which is why I bought it in the first place. Given that I already owned and loved Sweet Peach Glow before this, I was maybe a little swayed by that peach scent I love so much. However, as palettes go, I think that the Cheeky Trio is a fab face set, and the slight differences in the shades mean that at least I’ve got an excuse to use them both!

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Too Faced Sweet Peach Glow Palette

I’m gonna say something controversial: the Sweet Peach eye palette did not excite me. Aside from the peach scent, I couldn’t find any reason to justify the money for shades that I probably wouldn’t wear very often.

Now when they released the Glow palette on the other hand, it hit all the spots for me, and when I finally got to see it in person I knew that I’d be taking it home with me. Not a drop of regret.

The palette consists of a highligher, a blusher and a bronzer, and that peach smell every time I open the lid is just too perfect. The packaging is, of course, adorable, from the tin to the peachy pattern on the product itself. And speaking of the product..

Top – highlighter, Middle – blush, Bottom – bronzer

Oh. So. Creamy. All three are so buttery and soft, and blend so nicely – honestly I feel like its a pleasure to apply them, not to mention how nice my face smells with them on. The shades are subtle but buildable, and all compliment each other so well! Considering its a ‘highlight’ palette, my favourite product is actually the blusher; peachy shades are my faves so this ticked every box for me, and I prefer this one to the stand-alone blush from the collection. I also love the fact that the bronzer isn’t too dark, because nothing annoys me more as a pale girl than bronzers that look like war paint, but it does come out a little orange if over-applied. As for the highligher, its pretty, subtle and perfect for a more natural look, but also the golden undertones make it versatile for an evening look too.

I’m not a big eyeshadow person, so I’m really glad that Too Faced released more face products to the Sweet Peach range, and considering the individual blushers are £25, and this retails at £34 and includes two more products, so its more cost effective, right?

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My Sephora Haul!

I’m gonna be honest, I was more excited about visiting Sephora in Disney Springs than any other store. Sarah and I basically regressed to kids in a candy store, and not only did we spend more (and money!) in there than I’d care to admit, I stayed sparkly for days afterwards as a result of all the highlighter swatches that ended up on my hands and arms..

Brace yourselves.

This was my first time shopping in Sephora for myself, having only browsed or picked up items for friends who begged me, and as well as being super chuffed with everything I put into my basket, I was also thrilled to bits when I signed up for a loyalty card at the checkout, only to be rewarded with freebie products too!

I know that I can get Benefit products in the UK, but I’ve never seen Dandelion Dew back home, and its a gorgeous shade of pink cream pigment that acts as both a blush and highlighter (two of my beauty weaknesses in one!). I’ve also been eyeing up the powder for a while now, but couldn’t justify the cost of it, so to discover it in a mini version meant I just had to treat myself! I also picked up a mini NARS combo of the iconic Orgasm blush and Laguna bronzer, and a blush from Sephora’s own brand range, in a gorgeous light pink shade: So Shy. The first of my freebie products was this matte lip crayon from Bite. The shade is dusty mauve called Pastille, and I know I have too many lipsticks but this was free so its acceptable, right?

A few more of Sephora’s own brand products also fell into my basket, courtesy of a load of good things that I’ve heard from several people, and also a little from necessity as I’d ran out of the makeup wipes I brought with me! I chose a face mask and an eye mask which I’m looking forward to trying, and pomegranate face wipes which smell amazing, and the little pouch bag was another freebie!

A bit of an impulse buy at $12, I bought the Tarte Wide Awake set, which contains their Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara, a little pot of the Maracuja C-Brightner eye treatment and a pair of undereye patches. As a glasses wearer, I’m a little self conscious of the dark patches that have become a permanent feature under my eyes, so I’m hoping that I might see some improvement with these goodies!

 

I’m all about highlighter – its my single biggest weakness when it comes to makeup. I also have a big weakness for anything that is peach flavoured or scented. Cue Too Faced and their Sweet Peach collection.. I’d read and watched a bunch of reviews of the highlight palette, and had ummed and ahhed, but seeing it in person convinced me, plus peachy shades do really suit my skin tone and the smell was AMAZING. Another freebie – seriously, I’m already so impressed with this loyalty card – was the Clinique chubby stick highligher, and the last and prettiest purchase was this STUNNING glow kit from Anastasia Beverly Hills. ABH glow kits were high on my look-out-for list, and the Nicole Guerriero kit was the only one they had in stock, which was fine by me because LOOK AT IT. Its perfect, and I’m almost too nervous to start using it but as I swatched every shade from the tester in store, I know they’re all beautiful!

Now excuse me while I go play with my new beauties..

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