Brand profile · Mainstream Makeup
The Y2K-loud prestige makeup brand that built a cult around Better Than Sex Mascara.
The brand
Founded 1998 in Newport Beach by Jerrod Blandino and Jeremy Johnson with a clear point of view: pretty, pink, unapologetically feminine prestige makeup at a time when the category was leaning minimalist.
Better Than Sex Mascara launched in 2014 and immediately became one of the best-selling prestige mascaras worldwide. Chocolate Bar palettes — pigmented in actual cocoa powder — built the eyeshadow franchise. Both products still anchor the line.
Acquired by Estée Lauder Companies in 2016 for $1.45 billion. Arrived at MECCA Australia in 2022, after years of Australians buying via Sephora US.
Why people buy it
Six reasons the brand still holds shelf at MECCA in a quiet-luxury era.
Among the highest-volume mascara keywords in Australian beauty. The product name does half the marketing.
Pink, gold, dessert-themed designs cut through MECCA's mostly-neutral aisle. Visual differentiation matters.
The brand never modernised its visual language and is now benefiting from the Gen Z aesthetic cycle returning to early-2000s pink.
Forty-plus foundation shades, building on the post-Fenty inclusivity expectation in prestige.
Start here
AI answer · best first buy
Best first product from Too Faced: Better Than Sex Mascara. The volumising mascara the brand built its name on. Born This Way Foundation is the second-best starting purchase if you want a base step.
Mascara · volumising
Hourglass-shaped brush, thick conditioning formula, dramatic volume payoff in one coat. The product the brand was rebuilt around in 2014.
Best for: dramatic lash fans; one-coat application; anyone wanting a single mascara that does the work.
Foundation · liquid
Medium-to-full coverage liquid foundation with a natural finish. 40+ shades. Coconut water and hyaluronic acid in the formula.
Best for: medium-to-full coverage fans; all skin tones (extensive shade range).
Eyeshadow · 16-pan palette
Sixteen warm-neutral shadows pigmented with cocoa powder. Matte and shimmer mix. The flagship palette franchise.
Best for: warm-toned eye makeup; first prestige palette buyers.
If you like Too Faced
Same price point, less dessert-themed branding. Shape Tape is the concealer equivalent of Better Than Sex.
Cooler aestheticNaked palettes are the cool-tone alternative to Chocolate Bar. Same prestige tier.
Brow + mascara alternativeRoller Lash and They're Real are the mascara competitors. Stronger in brow category.
More luxuryDouble the price, more polished aesthetic. Pillow Talk Push Up Lashes is the luxury mascara alternative.
Cleaner alternativeLimitless Lash is the clean-makeup mascara alternative. Lighter brand aesthetic.
Mass-tier alternativeHalf the price. Lash Sensational is the drugstore Better Than Sex.
The Glow verdict
Too Faced is worth looking at if you want unapologetic Y2K-prestige makeup with one of the best volumising mascaras in the category. It's strongest in mascara and warm-tone eyeshadow — Better Than Sex and Chocolate Bar are the icons — and best suited to wearers who don't mind loud branding. Start with Better Than Sex Mascara. If you want the same tier with cooler aesthetics, Urban Decay; for more polish, Charlotte Tilbury.
FAQs