2 Looks, 1 Palette: Cranberries & Chocolate + Chocolate Vault

I'm honestly having so much fun playing in makeup that it's hard for me to resist writing more reviews! Since I had so many palettes to cover and so little time, let's just get right into it!

I mentioned in another review that I went half on the I Heart Revolution Chocolate Vault with a friend of mine, and let me just say that the entire set is a thing of beauty.  For $48 (plus free shipping!), we received 6 eyeshadow palettes, 3 lip glosses and 2 face palettes.

Stock photo, I do not own!

The entire palette is valued at over $100, but Makeup Rev was selling it for $110 at release. Currently, you can grab it for $55, but I'm not sure for how long.

Giant Chocolate bar!

Within the Chocolate Vault, there are 3 new exclusive eyeshadow palettes and 2 new face palettes. I wanted the vault for 2 of the exclusive palettes, but once I took a look at the inside of the S'mores palette (brown x white palette), I decided I didn't need it.

Inside the vault!

Out of the entire vault, I grabbed:

-Lemon Drizzle palette

-Cranberries & Chocolate palette (now sold separately)

-Chocolate Cherry lip gloss 

-Chocolate Strawberry face palette 

If I had purchased these items separately, I would have spent something close to $45, which means I saved a good amount of money. W00t!

All of my items together!

After my Lemon Drizzle review, I was really worried that the Cranberries & Chocolate would leave me with bitter disappointment, but the Makeup Gods were on my side with the rest of the vault.

Since I didn't want to write a separate review for the other items, I want to mention that I used the Chocolate Strawberry face palette for both looks, and the Chocolate Cherry lip gloss for the first look only.

Cranberries & Chocolate Palette

Stock Photo, I do not own!

This. Is. AUTUMN!!!!

Seriously, the Cranberries palette reminds me so much of Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Thanksgiving that I can't help but feel like Makeup Rev just grabbed some fallen leaves from the ground, mixed it with a dash of nutmeg, and created this glorious embodiment of Fall. Most of all, I love that the Cranberries & Chocolate features a black shade for the ultimate smoky eye.

Stock photo, I do not own!

As I've been doing with my other Chocolate palette reviews, I used as many colors as I possibly could for each of my looks. For my first look, I got a little heavy handed with the mattes. It's unfortunate because I could have gone with a more intricate appearance, but I was pressed for time, :/

Look 1 

I promise I'm not angry.

I learned my lesson from being an overachiever and dividing the palette in half to create two looks.  This time, I kind of just dipped my brushes wherever I wanted. The first look ended up more matte than I wanted, especially with the gorgeous shimmers in this palette.

Close up of Look 1.

Here's the breakdown of the first look:

-Bite (base color all over my eye lid)

-Bittersweet (base color underneath my brow)

-Wine (under eye)

-Berry (lid color)

-Divine (placed on top of Wine)

-Heavenly (inner corner)

-Scorched (outer corner)

-Sienna (crease)

Close up #2

While creating this look, I didn't have any shades that acted out! Everything appeared on my eye, though a few colors took some building up. Personally, I feel like the look ended up a lot softer than I intended but that's probably because I blended everything out. I was a little disappointed with Sienna because I wanted a distinct color under my eye, but that's more my fault than the palette's.

I want to add that this is the look I used the Chocolate Strawberry face palette and Chocolate Cherry lip gloss with. The gloss didn't stay after I ate, but it's pretty and it smells wonderful! The face palette has a gorgeous contour and blush color, which has a bit of shimmer. I was happy to find that the contour color actually showed up on me, but it's a lot more subtle. If you're darker than me, it probably won't show up, :/

Look 2

#ExtraAF

I had plans for the day when I put together Look 2, so I wanted to try something outside of my usual box. I typically don't gravitate to orange shadow, but the oranges in this palette played so nicely!

Close up!

I created this look with the help of all my eyeshadow brushes, lol. I think the contrast between my lid and my undereye is more evident with this look.

I used: 

-Cocoa (all over base shadow)

-Tawny (blended out near my eyebrow)

-Scorched (crease)

-Auburn (lid)

-Cosmopolitan (crease highlight)

-Rich (outer corner)

-Gratification (brow highlight, inner corner, mixed with Tasteful to tone it down)

-Tasteful (brow highlight + all over highlight)

I missed a few colors this time, but not many. As usual, I primed my lids with concealer and then used an assortment of brushes to create each look. My Day 2 eyeshadow had a lot more pigment than the first look, but that had more to do with technique than the colors I used.

I LOVE this palette. While I wouldn't place it above the Violet Chocolate palette, it's certainly right on par with my #1 pick for best Chocolate bar. After writing this review, the new rankings are:

1. Violet Chocolate

2. Cranberries & Chocolate

3. Mint Chocolate

4. Golden Bar

5. Lemon Drizzle

I really wish I liked Lemon Drizzle more, but it was such a disappointment compared to all the rest of my Chocolate palettes. I know I'll reach for all of my other shades before I feel compelled to dip into it, but I'll try to force myself to use it when it gets warmer. That being said, I think the Cranberries & Chocolate (and the Violet Chocolate) are an absolute must buy.

Between those two palettes, there's plenty of colors to cover multiple seasons. You can grab the palette with this link or splurge on the entire Chocolate Vault here.

I have two more eyeshadow reviews coming soon, plus, DRUMROLLLLLLLLLLL.... A Taobao review!! 

Shooketh.

Keep an eye out on my blog for lots more posts of things you probably don't need to buy, but should buy anyway! XP

Thanks for reading, lovelies! See you soon!

Stay beautiful, stay true,

~J