At the end of the month, as a part of its "Peaches and Cream Collection" Too Faced is releasing the Just Peachy Mattes palette, a 12-pan all-matte palette filed with neutral shades and riding what seems to be the never-ending coattails of the Sweet Peach palette.
And I won't be buying.
(Sigh.)
It's been a while, I feel, since I have talked about Too Faced, but that's not for lack of new product releases or the brand giving "sneak peaks" way too far in advance. It's simply because I am so tired of Too Faced that I am even tired of writing about why I am not going to buy their newest whatever.
And this upcoming release just really annoys me. But, I feel it is worth an anti-haul post in the hope that I can help someone out who maybe wants to buy this palette but knows they probably shouldn't.
The reason it annoys me so much is because when I first saw pictures of this palette, my immediate, gut reaction was, "Oo, I want that." And I had that reaction despite Too Faced's deplorable track record, obvious marketing ploys, and the utter unnecessary nature of this release. Because, unlike their Sweet Peach palette, this palette gives the appearance of being somewhat more peach-toned. And I like these colors.
So I totally get why people are tempted by this and why they are hoping (slightly irrationally) that Too Faced might improve their quality to something almost worth the price tag for this. (Which is $45.) But, even in a perfect world where Too Faced would grant consumers that one pretty basic expectation, I still don't think the vast majority of people who want this palette need it, myself absolutely included.
First, I'll start with an obvious draw people have to this palette:
Yep. The packaging. This almost feels like "classic" Too Faced to me, before they started going so overboard with the cuteness. This looks to be a nice plastic/metal packaging with gold accents and a glossy finish. This also looks like it might have some weight to it, which inherently makes it feel a little more sophisticated.
Unlike some of the other peach-theme products, this does not have a childish happy face peach:
And it has a pretty peach/pink ombre. The Just Peachy Mattes packaging seems perfect for people who really love cute packaging (and maybe prefer it over sleek, sophisticated packaging) but who don't like the saccharine packaging Too Faced has been putting out for the last couple years.
And for people who buy products solely for the packaging, I imagine you don't need to read an anti-haul post on this product. You have very likely already made up your mind on if you like the packaging enough to spend $45 on it. And if that makes you happy, you do you.
But for everyone else, let's look at the main attraction of this palette: the shadows:
If we could rewind time before I became so grossed out with the rampant consumerism, marketing tactics, and hype surrounding the beauty community, before I became a conscious shopper, and before Too Faced launched the Sweet Peach palette, had this palette been the teased Sweet Peach palette, I would have absolutely purchased—if I could have easily gotten my hands on it.
I mentioned this in a post recently, but there was only one time that I have ever been a part of a huge makeup release/restock and been on the website at the time the product launched. And that was recently for the first restock of the Colourpop Yes, Please! palette. I did not plan my day around that restock. I saw what time it would be happening, and I put it in the back of my head. As it turned out, I had some free time at the time the palette was restocked, so I went on the website, purchased the palette, and that was that. There was no craziness for me; the website did not crash. It was just a normal transaction. I later read that the palette sold out within minutes and most people who wanted to get it couldn't, and it made me feel bad. I just don't understand why brands do that.
So given the hysteria that Too Faced created for the Sweet Peach palette, if Just Peachy Mattes had the same low stock/website crashing issues, no. I would not have gone through that to try and buy it. As I've said before, it doesn't make me feel better than others knowing that I was able to get something that other people wanted and couldn't get. And I have heard people say that this is something they enjoy, and, to be frank, I don't find that to be an attractive quality in someone.
I think if people are really honest with themselves, when they look at Just Peachy Mattes, they will know that this palette is filled with very common shades that are in so many palettes that most people already own several times over.
Still, I can see these being some reasons people try to give to justify the purchase to themselves:
- It will be so handy to have an all-matte palette!
- It will be so handy to have a compact all-matt palette!
- I could use this to travel!
- I know I have other matte palettes, but the shades in this one are closer to my skin tone and it has all these great transition shades!
- It will be nice to have all these shades together because it is just so time-consuming and awful to reach for more than one palette, and that two seconds of time saved is so worth $45!
And, I'm sure you know this already, but all of those reasons are just complete BS.
Even if Just Peachy Mattes was of incredible quality (the jury is still out on quality, but based on every other Too Faced release of the past two years, it is more likely that the quality will be bad than good), it doesn't take away the fact that there is absolutely nothing special about this palette other than the hype, theme, and packaging.
In addition to the obvious (Sweet Peach):
This palette looks like ABH Modern Renaissance:
And Viseart Neutral Matte:
And Morphe 35O:
And Viseart Warm Matte:
And Urban Decay Naked Heat:
For an incredibly similar option, there's Zoeva Matte:
From my own collection, I have Colourpop Yes, Please!
And my custom Inglot palette:
And just normal matte singles:
And my strong suspicion is that most people have at least one of the above palettes or their own collection of single shadows that duplicate the shadows in Just Peachy Mattes several times over.
And, here's the thing with Just Peachy Mattes: there is absolutely no innovation in this release. So while people are excited that the packaging isn't incredibly tacky and hoping this means Too Faced is reverting back to what made them popular in the first place, this is still a boring, tired color scheme. When Colourpop released Yes, Please!, people were really excited because it was something that we really hadn't seen before at such a low price point. Sure, it looks very similar to the Natasha Denona Sunset palette, but those shadows are so overpriced that it's laughable. The color scheme played off of what was trendy (warm naturals), but brought something new to the table.
Too Faced is not bringing anything new with this palette. They are relying on the fact that they will send out cute PR packages or take influencers on a trip or something like that to get influencers in a place where they feel they need to gush over this palette in order to keep getting PR and sent on the trips, and then impressionable people will want to feel "cool" like the influencers they watch and will feel a need to buy whatever is being talked about at this moment. (If you would like to read more about my thoughts on this topic, I recommend reading a recent post on ABH Subculture). That is really the only appeal I can see in this palette unless you don't already have all of these shades.
And if you don't already have the shades in this palette and are truly drawn to the color scheme, I would really recommend instead checking out the Zoeva Matte palette. The color schemes are very similar, but Zoeva has truly fantastic matte shadows, and even with international shipping, the cost is still lower.
To dispel the justifications I mentioned earlier:
- It will be so handy to have an all-matte palette!
You probably already have at least one all-matte neutral palette. You don't need another.
- It will be so handy to have a compact all-matt palette!
See above note.
- I could use this to travel!
Most people do not travel enough to really warrant buying a palette with the main purpose of traveling.
- I know I have other matte palettes, but the shades in this one are closer to my skin tone and it has all these great transition shades!
If you are a makeup lover and are that concerned with having an entire palette of transition shades, you very likely already have plenty of transition shades.
- It will be nice to have all these shades together because it is just so time-consuming and awful to reach for more than one palette, and that two seconds of time saved is so worth $45!
If you are willing to spend upwards of $50 to save a few seconds in order to not reach for another shadow (in the few weeks this palette will be popular and in regular use in your collection), I guess go for it. But we both know that is silly.
Finally, I think it is important—always—to weigh the cost of a hyped makeup item against the amount of time that product is really relevant. I really love all the products in my makeup collection, and for the exception of Colourpop Yes, Please!, none of the items I have are ever really talked about. And I don't care. I bought them and use them because I love them. Not because they are popular and people talking about them makes me feel cool. But I know this is not the case with everyone. I belong to too many makeup forums where I read people saying that they don't care if they already have something exactly like it or if the quality is bad—they truly cannot stand not having the cool new thing everyone is talking about. And if I am being completely honest, that mindset makes me sad. Because those are the people these companies are quite literally banking on. And having the newest makeup item should not give someone self-worth.
Too Faced products are essentially disposable. They are made to catch your eye and make you want to buy it, but they are not meant to be classic products. That's why Too Faced has more limited edition products than most brands. And because this is just a basic matte palette, there isn't a whole lot to really talk about with it. It's got the same amount of peach shades that Sweet Peach had, which is not many. So, despite the name, this palette is just your average matte palette. Hell, the same color scheme at Zoeva is just called "Matte Palette." Despite the nicer than average packaging, this product is just nothing special. I can see what Too Faced is doing with this palette and collection, which is the same thing they always try to do: suck the consumer in with gimmicks. But those gimmicks stopped working on me a long time ago. I have so many matte neutral shades in my collection that I absolutely don't need to add another palette. So I won't.
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