When Too Faced released their original Gingerbread Spice Eyeshadow Palette a few years ago, I wanted it SO bad. I’m a sucker for cutesy, Christmas packaging but I couldn’t justify the $49.00 price tag. However, dreams do come true (or so I thought) and they released a mini Gingerbread Spice for the holiday season. Since I still wanted the palette after two years, I bought it immediately. Oh boy, do I regret that now. This might be the worst palette I’ve used this year.

The Gingerbread Spice Mini Palette is $27.00 and contains eight shades: four mattes, two metallics, one shimmer and one satin. It is lightly scented with what is supposed to be gingerbread but in my opinion, it smells like vanilla. Let’s talk pros and cons!

Pros:

• The packaging is a sturdy, weighted tin with a metallic closure and mirror.
• The mattes, while pretty average, work well. They’re creamy and blendable. They’re not overly pigmented but they are buildable. 
• The two metallics aren’t anything super special but they are pretty. 
• All of the shades in this palette are from the original Gingerbread Spice Palette. This is a pro for those, like me, that missed out on the original.
• This is a pretty color story for the holiday season. 

Cons:

• The shimmer shade, Frostbite Me, is horrible. It looks beautiful in swatches but the formula is just bad. It has a thicker consistency, like a metallic, so it creases and bunches up in the inner corner BUT it has almost no base pigment so it doesn’t really work on the lid. It could be used as a topper on top of another shade but it creates so much chunky glitter fallout that it’s not even worth the hassle. 
• The satin shade, Gumdrop, won’t blend and is super patchy. I also hate the color of this shade in general but that’s a personal preference. I tried to create a look using this shade in the crease and Frostbite Me on the lid but it was so awful that I had to wash it off. 
• Both metallics, Warm & Toasty and Hot Toddy, create a ton of fallout. They also need to be built up and even then, they’re nothing spectacular. 
• The only way to deepen eye looks, using this palette alone, is with the deep purple matte, Figgy Pudding. You could use this shade with the warmer mattes but I don’t like those colors together. I wish they would have gotten rid of the light pink, Lookie At My Cookie, in favor of a deep brown. 
• This is definitely a me thing but I was slightly disappointed with how faint the scent is in this palette. 

Swatches & Shade Descriptions:

These eyeshadows do have names but no shade descriptions on the website. I will describe them to the best of my ability. I’ll be going from left to right, top row to bottom row.

• Frostbite Me– white base with pink, silver and gold shimmer
• Warm & Toasty– metallic true gold
• Gumdrop– satin magenta
• Hot Toddy– metallic red toned pink with blue and pink shimmer
• Lookie At My Cookie– matte pale pink 
• Gingerbread Latte– matte light brown
• Spice Is Nice– matte rusty orange 
• Figgy Pudding– matte eggplant 

Eyeshadow Looks:

I created one looks using this palette alone. I always use the Profusion Eyeshadow Primer and set my primer with a cream colored shade. When explaining the looks, I will go in the order of the swatches on my wrist; left to right and top to bottom. You can click on the pictures to see them better. Since these eyeshadows do have names, I won’t be describing where they are in the palette or what they look like.

I attempted to create two different looks with this palette but this was the only one that I didn’t completely hate. I honestly think it’s just the tones on me that I’m not enjoying. I’ve discovered that pink is NOT my color and I need to stop using it. Anyways, here’s how I created this mess:

1. I blended Spice Is Nice into my crease.
2. I blended Gumdrop into the innermost part of my crease. 
3. I applied Hot Toddy on the innermost and outermost parts of my lid. 
4. I applied Warm & Toasty in the center of my lid. 
5. I applied Frostbite Me in my inner corner and on my browbone. 
6. I lined my waterline with Lookie At My Cookie.
7. I smudged Gingerbread Latte on my lower lash line.
8. I mixed Figgy Pudding with Gingerbread Latte on my lower lash line. 

Brushes Used:

• Detail Crease Brush
• Tapered Blending Brush
• Flat Eyeshadow Brush
• Small Angled Brush
• Smudge Brush
• Eye Crease Brush
• Blending Brush, I used this brush to blend out the edges.

If you are curious about any of the other products on my face, you can find these looks in my recent posts on Instagram.

Final Thoughts:

I also bought the Too Faced Salted Caramel Palette and I’m shocked at the quality difference in the two. I had heard that their formula was inconsistent and it definitely is. If you were debating between these two mini palettes, go with the Salted Caramel. I can see myself using this palette for the mattes but I’ll never use the metallics, shimmer or satin again. This palette is nowhere near worth the money I spent on it and I honestly doubt I’ll buy eyeshadow from Too Faced again. However, if you’ve tried this palette, or the original, let me know what you think. Thanks for reading and have a great day!