I Tried the Entire Too Faced x Kandee Johnson Collab, and It’s So, So Good

No brand has cornered the market on kitschy, cute, and candy-scented quite like Too Faced Cosmetics. Its cult-favorite Chocolate Bar palette smells so convincing a kid once ate it. So it really was only a matter of time before the brand’s cofounder and chief creative officer, Jerrod Blandino, teamed up with makeup artist Kandee Johnson.

There’s the obvious connection: A collab between the two is rife for great pun potential, and the two have been close friends in the industry for years. But also Johnson’s dedication to make makeup fun and accessible falls right in line with the Too Faced ethos—she’d rather teach followers how to use eyeliner than tell them to grab a kitchen knife and trace a razor-sharp line.

Now, after what feels like forever (in reality, it’s been since only January that they announced the collab), we’ve finally got a first look at every single product in the collection. I caught up with Blandino and Johnson in Orlando ahead of the launch, which officially lands at Ulta on September 3, to learn more about the products, their pro tips on how to use them, and swatch the hell out of everything I could get my hands on. (The samples are still so exclusive the brand doesn’t even have produced photos of each of the individual products yet.) Take a look at all the new products in the collection, below. As promised, the puns are delicious.

Too Faced I Want Kandee Candy Eyes Palette, $45

Blandino already revealed this in one of his famous “sneaky peeks,” but here’s what you haven’t heard about it yet. The palette is shaped like a vintage chocolate tin, and (shocker) it smells like chocolate. “These are my go-tos that will look good on everybody,” Johnson says. “They’re easy, not complicated. I’m not teaching you how to do an Easter-egg eye. Most people don’t go out wearing that kind of makeup. I wanted for people to be able to go out every day and look pretty.”

As for her favorite shades? “My two must-haves are Licorice Rope, because you always need a good black,” Johnson says. “Even if you do a liquid liner, putting black shadow over it helps soften the line out and makes it look smoother and more perfected. And then I wanted a good collection of base colors. The Banana Cream Pie base with the yellow tones [far left, at bottom] was important because our eyelids are so thin that anytime you have yellow in an eyeshadow base, it’s going to knock the purple and redness out.”

Personally, the shimmer shades were my favorite, and this is coming from someone who is usually not crazy about glitter. I’d probably tap them on the center of a neutral eye or smudge them into my lash line.

Too Faced I Want Kandee Candy Glow Highlighter Stick, $30

There’s much to love about this highlighter: It’s a stick, it glides on, and even though it’s the color of cotton candy, it really does look gorgeous on. “I don’t like when a highlighter looks like a bronzer on your face,” Johnson says. “A lot are almost too golden. This is pretty on light and dark skin tones because it blends easily. It’s sparkly but doesn’t look crazy.”

Too Faced I Want Kandee Melted Matte Liquid Lipsticks, $21 each

The collab comes with a quad of colors, all sold individually. Melted Ice Cream (a pale beige and Johnson’s favorite), Freshly Baked (a pinky brown), Sweet and Sour (a red orange), and Tropical Punch (a bright fuchsia).

“I love Melted Ice Cream because you can put it on with lip liner or add it to any of these colors and it becomes a totally new shade,” Johnson says. “No matter what I’m wearing, I always dab this color right in the center and on the top. I take my finger and tap it inward—some people just pat and blend out—but if you press and go in, that’s what makes your lips look fuller and more rounded.” On its own, it’s pretty light (and probably works best on very pale skin tones), but it blended pretty easily for that Insta-lip look. Oh, and they all taste like crème brûlée.

Too Faced I Want Kandee Banana Pudding Brightening Powder, $30

You’d think the palette would be the most exciting of the collection, but nope, if there was one thing both Blandino and Johnson couldn’t shut up about it was this: a yellow-tinted brightening powder that helps color-correct dark areas, mainly under your eyes.

“You want the part under your eye to look flat in photos,” Johnson says. “So when you put the yellow powder underneath, it knocks out those blue and purple tones to make you look more rested and awake. I’d use a sponge or a brush to apply it, but if you’re in a rush you can even use your fingers to tap it on—even if your makeup is already done. I always do that right before a photo shoot.”

Too Faced I Want Kandee Candy Liner, $18

Meet the answer to your cat-eye problems and difficult-to-pull-off Insta hacks. “This eyeliner is like a tattoo. It doesn’t come off,” says Johnson. “It has a special applicator with a flat edge, so you can just stick your wing and then fill it in. It’s great for beginners.” When I (a cat-eye inept) tried it out, it wasn’t quite as easy as stamp-and-go, but the line did go on much sharper than if I tried to free hand. True to her word, the formula didn’t budge but did come off easily with remover.

So what’s worth your money? Honestly, it’s all great and on par with everything you love about Too Faced: It smells incredible, the powders are creamy and pigmented, and the liquid lipsticks don’t feel like you’re wearing chalk. But if I were a betting woman, I’d guess the brightening powder and liner won’t be around for long.

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