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Coffee and cocoa, while not always the first words that come to mind when describing makeup, make for the perfect and flattering color combinations when it comes to contouring, bronzing, warming up the face and enhancing the eyes.
Below are some of our favorite coffee and cocoa-based palettes that include neutral-type shades like browns, pinks, and plums, whether for the face or eyes, infused with cocoa powder which has healing properties that help to protect, condition and heal the skin. All of our picks below will have you feeling like you were just sunkissed!
All the products and shades below are also highly pigmented, yet easy to blend, making application fast and the eyeshadow kits include different formulations, enabling you to create your favorite looks from daytime to nighttime and everything in between.
Compare the Top Coffee and Cocoa Bronzer Palette of 2024
Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder — Best Overall
Too Faced’s Chocolate Soliel Bronzer is a long-wearing matte bronzer that is infused with 100 percent real cocoa powder and smells just as delicious. This medium/deep (Chocolate Soliel) shade is ideal for deeper or more tanned complexions and will give you the perfect sun-kissed warm glow without any shine, glitter, or shimmer. Too Faced Cosmetics are known for scented products, and this one will not disappoint with the faint signature chocolate scent that comes across every time you open and apply the palette.
Pros
- This bronzer provides up to eight hours of wear
Cons
- This is a scented bronzer
Cleof Cosmetics Eye Shadow Chocolate Palette — Runner Up
Another great option if you are looking for more neutral-based shadows is this eyeshadow palette by Cleof Cosmetics. It contains 16 matte and shimmery shades in nude, warm tones, bronzes and darker shades that will help create an unlimited amount of eye looks. These eyeshadows are highly pigmented, buttery soft to the touch and easy to blend, have little to no fallout and provide a long-lasting, fade-proof finish without the need for any touchups. This palette, while similar to the Too Faced Chocolate line of palettes, is a great alternative and contains premium, vegan ingredients that are safe for sensitive eyes and is a little easier on the wallet.
Pros
- This palette is infused with a chocolate scent
Cons
- This product contains talc
I'm Meme Bronzer Palette — Honorable Mention
The I'm Meme Bronzer Palette offers a unique and convenient makeup solution for any beauty enthusiast. It comes with three shades ranging from light to dark which can be used according to preference and area of placement, making it perfect for contouring and creating a natural look. Moreover, with this product, you can contour your hairline, jawline, cheekbones, sides of your nose, and eyelids, sculpting your features to give yourself a timeless look. Plus, the Roasting Coffee palette offers shades recommended for warm-toned skin and has a subtle coffee scent.
Pros
- Can be applied lightly or layered for a more pronounced look
Cons
- The scent may not be desirable to some people
Too Faced Chocolate Bar Eyeshadow Palette — Contender
Too Faced’s Chocolate Eye Shadow Palette is another chocolate-scented wonder filled with an array of 16 matte and shimmer shadows. The colors range from natural browns and neutrals to pinks and plums for nice pops of color that will look great on a wide variety of skin tones. These are richly pigmented shadows that can be used wet or dry and will give you a wide variety of looks with some transitions shades, darker crease colors and fun shimmer toppers that can easily take you from day to night.
Pros
- This palette also comes with a Glamour Guide with three looks to help get you started
Cons
- You may experience a little fall out from some of the more shimmery shades
Too Faced Cocoa Contour Contouring Palette — Also Consider
The Cocoa Contouring Palette by Too Faced is their original all-inclusive kit for sculpting, contouring and highlighting. This kit includes two essential contouring and sculpting shades ideal for light to medium skin tones, the perfect matte highlighter and a luminous pop of light shade with more intense shimmer, ensuring your contour will never look flat. Also included is Too Faced’s Buki Brush which will help give the most professional-looking sculpting effect while ensuring a perfect blend along the jawline, hollows of cheeks and forehead.
Pros
- For its pricepoint, it’s a great option as there is a high-quality brush included
Cons
- You may not need or use all shades in the palette
Buying Guide: Coffee and Cocoa Bronzer Palettes
Bronzing your face might sound like a simple process in comparison to contouring, but it can go awry quickly if you’re not using the right products. In this guide we cover everything you need to know about bronzers, bronzing technique and also what products to choose to get the best results!
What Is Bronzing?
Before we jump into a specific type of bronzer, it may be worth brushing up on basic makeup knowledge for some of you who are new to experimenting with cosmetics. Bronzing is the process of adding warmth to your skin by applying certain products on certain parts of your face. When done right, bronzing will give your face a lot more dimension, allowing areas such as your cheeks to pop out a lot more. This will ensure your face doesn’t look flat or one-toned once you’ve applied your foundation and concealer.
In general, bronzing requires the use of a specialized type of makeup product known as a bronzer. Similar to how you would choose a foundation or concealer that’s right for your skin tone, you must do the same with a bronzer. The process of picking the right bronzer can take time, but once you’ve found the right color, it only becomes a matter of learning how to apply it.
Why Go for Coffee and Cocoa-Based Bronzers?
Among the different plant-based foods available, coffee and cocoa are the most common that resemble the color brown. Furthermore, since they can be refined into powders and mixed into products, it makes sense that there are coffee and cocoa-based bronzers. The question is, why bother getting these types of bronzers over other ones? Well, we’ll tell you why!
They smell great!
Many people are familiar with and drawn to the scent of coffee or cocoa, if not both. Hence, it only makes sense to add their scent to makeup products such as bronzers. There are a considerable number of brands now incorporating desirable food-related scents into cosmetics as a way to enhance the user’s experience and to help the brand differentiate from its competitors.
Makeup may not release a scent as strong as perfumes or colognes, but that doesn’t mean the products are odorless, either. In fact, if you aren’t used to applying scented makeup, you’ll very easily notice the smell. This can be quite distracting if the scent isn’t something you’re particularly fond of or if you’re allergic to fragrance in makeup and skincare products.
They’re great for your skin!
One popular trend we’re seeing in the makeup industry in recent years is the advent of more nature-based makeup products. While companies could get away with it a century ago, it’s very difficult for makeup brands these days to put in questionable chemicals without meeting friction and backlash from their customers. We’ve come to realize the worth of our skin, and if you want to make sure your skin stays as healthy as possible, you may want to turn to natural products instead.
Now, let us be clear - using “natural ingredients” aren’t inherently a good thing. Many plants contain poisonous and acidic substances, and while they’re certainly natural, you wouldn’t want them anywhere near your skin. Similarly, while some synthetic components in makeup may raise a few eyebrows, that doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous for the skin. However, we all know that coffee and cocoa are pretty safe, so you’re guaranteed to be using a product that isn’t hard on your skin at all.
How to Choose the Right Coffee and Cocoa Bronzer for Yourself
Scent
Until you’ve applied the bronzer frequently enough to get used to it, you will notice its scent quite often, which can be quite distracting in some situations. To prevent this, consider getting a bronzer with a scent that’s pleasant to your nose. Cocoa and coffee bronzers do smell particularly nice, but some are a lot stronger than others. So, if you have a sensitive nose, try finding something a little more subdued.
Tone
Bronzers vary in color based on the ingredients used. Some bronzers are fairly dark whereas others are lighter in tone. Picking the right bronzer is a difficult process, and while there are numerous guides out there to help narrow down your choices, it’s ultimately up to you to decide. The only real way to find the perfect bronzer is to try out various products until you find one that suits your needs and your preferences the most.
Are Bronzers Necessary?
Bronzers may seem like an unnecessary step when doing your makeup, but they actually do change your overall look quite a bit. A great comparison to this is facial blushes - applying blush isn’t all that impactful on its own, but it drastically makes your face a lot warmer. In a similar way, bronzers may not be as “in your face” as the likes of mascara, but they change the overall contour of your face (or rather, the perceived look of the contour).
