ZOEVA CHRISTMAS COLLECTION | SPICE OF LIFE

I'm seriously into the new Zoeva collection for Christmas 2018 so thought it was worth its own post! I'm a huge fan of warm tones all year round but they're especially gorgeous at this time of year, meaning I'm in my new beauty launches element. Today I'm giving you the lowdown on all three parts of this collection, as well as comparing the eyeshadow palette to a certain Gingerbread-themed number I've been loving lately - I hope it's helpful!


Spice of Life Brush Set* | £21.50 | There is, of course, a brush set in this collection. It comes in a festive red and silver small pouch (which is super handy for travel) and the brush handles match. I obviously love Zoeva brushes - I talk about them all the time! These white-bristled brushes are a a synthetic-natural mix, which is my preference for eye brushes. I've tried the 134 Luxe Powder Fusion brush before and whilst I liked it for applying highlighter, I do find myself gravitating more towards my fan brush. However I've since picked up my first big Hourglass palette and the pan sizes are actually quite small (so I can't fit my fan brush in them without touching more than one pan). This is perfect for that palette as you can just pick up the one shade you're aiming for. You also get the synthetic 322 Brow Line which is great if you use brow pomades or powders, but also if you use concealer to tidy up and carve out your brows. There's also the 223 Luxe Crease Brush; one of my favourites for applying my crease colour or even for blending. The 221 Luxe Soft Crease is a new one to me (I think) which is a smaller domed blending brush. It's definitely more precise than the 223 and something everyone could do with in their collection.

Plaisir Highlight Box* | £31 | I'm actually really into this concept! This is a set of three travel-sized glowing cheek duos that each pair with the colour scheme of a different Zoeva eyeshadow palette. I find the formula to be pretty consistent across the shades, though there are one or two variations that we'll get into. Overall this is a gorgeous, sheeny formula; these shades give a really pretty glow and have a very smooth consistency. They're nothing insanely 'blinding' so are pretty user-friendly and give me the highlight I want on an everyday basis. 

Cocoa Blend has a champagne tone and a rose colour in there - I find the latter works as a blush topper (but could be a subtle blusher on fair skin) and I think these tones are really pretty when paired with the eyeshadow palette (which has warm golds and browns with a pop of cranberry and purple). Caramel Melange (styled after the super-warm coppery and orange-toned palette) has a light pink and a golden bronze - I guess the latter could be a bronzer on fairer skin tones but for me it's a gorgeous highlighting shade. Although the pink isn't my thing, this golden colour is my favourite of the bunch, so for the price-point I would have picked this up myself just for that shade. Then there's the more festive Spice of Life with a light, frosty gold tone and a warm reddish berry colour (this definitely has a more pigmented formula and can be used as a glowing blusher). I really like that although all three eyeshadow palettes these are inspired by are warm-toned, they've come up with very different (but still fitting) colour schemes for these companion products.

Spice of Life Eyeshadow Palette* | £17.50 | Ok, so this is kind of the star of the show! My heart skipped a beat when I saw this palette - in part because it reminds me of the Too Faced Gingerbread Spice palette (review) for less than half the price... I just think this is so festive and gorgeous with the warm tones broken up with a couple of frostier shades. I really love the formula of this palette - the mattes are smooth and blend out evenly with very little effort. There's one pressed / foiled glitter, which isn't my favourite shade but it works pretty well, even with a brush. There are then some standard shimmers which have a nice, metallic-pearl finish. I think this is a well-balanced palette that you can get a good few looks out of. They last pretty well on me - nothing that incredible or out-of-this-world but well enough for me on a day-to-day basis.

A Nuance is your standard bone matte colour. Unlike Any Other is a pressed glitter / foiled silver tone. Fortuitous Moment is a pinky-nude shimmery lid colour. Balance the Contrast is a stunning cranberry-orange duochrome shimmer. The Flavour is an antique gold shimmer.

Of the Favour is a more neutral camel-coloured matte crease shade. Surprises of Life is a darker crease colour option; a reddish brown matte. Favourite Discovery is a warm medium classic gold shimmer. Variety Is Key is the shade I use to add a bit of smokiness; it's a dark purple-grey shimmer with hints of brown. Shared Joy is pretty similar to Of the Favour but has a much warmer undertone.

I also thought it would be helpful to compare this to the Too Faced Gingerbread Spice Eyeshadow Palette | £42 | review | given how similar they look and the fact that the Too Faced palette is sold out at most retailers at the time of writing! Obviously the matte bone colour comparison isn't the most remarkable but we also have two very similar frosty pressed glitter tones - the Zoeva shade is definitely more of a silver, whereas Too Faced's Frostbite Me is more of a white, however I actually find the Zoeva shade easier to work with. Oh Snap! isn't my favourite shade in the Too Faced palette (it has a matte pinky-toned base with gold micro-glitter) and on the surface it looks like Fortuitous Moment form the Zoeva palette, however swatched side-by-side you can see the Zoeva shade is much lighter and has a more traditional shimmer finish (I personally like the Zoeva version better). They then both have matte warm mid-toned brown crease colours that will look more or less the same on the eyes.

Hot Toddy is the most unique shade in the Too Faced palette, which I'd never come across anything like before; it's a cranberry-to-orange duochrome. Zoeva has pretty much nailed creating a gorgeous colour that has the same shift to it in this palette. Bake It Til You Make It is definitely deeper in colour than its Zoeva equivalent but I think these are comparable deep purple shimmers with a hint of brown. Both palettes also have an olive-gold shimmer; though you'll notice the Too Faced shade definitely pulls more green whereas the Zoeva leans more towards gold.

You can also see that both palettes have a more neutral-toned medium matte brown crease colour. Finally we also have two very deep plum shimmers, though Too Faced's version looks more warm-toned and Zoevas has more of a purple hint to it.

So, is it a dupe for the Too Faced palette? Well, some of the shades are definitely similar (though you're obviously missing those more vibrant pinks, oranges and purples) and if you prefer the more neutral tones from the Too Faced palette; you'll definitely be able to create looks that are more or less the same on the eyes with this palette. These shimmers don't have the same super-foiled, metallic finish as several of the ones in the Gingerbread Spice, but it depends on how important that really intense impact is to you. I think this is a great alternative, but it's not an exact dupe.

What do you think of this Christmas collection?

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Disclosure - products marked * were gifted to me as unpaid advertisement for the brands / websites mentioned. All opinions expressed are my own. Please read my disclosure page for more information.

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