I haven’t tried anything huge from Tarte – high performance naturals, besides one of their Amazonian Clay blushes. The successful mid-range American cosmetics brand founded by Maureen Kelly continues to impress with its unique formulas, on point colors, and standout payoff and longevity. Her story here is pretty amazing given that she started with no professional makeup-artistry or business background. The range has a look that stands out, a quirky balance between feminine chic and mod ethnic. In terms of general pricing it’s pretty comparable to Benefit Cosmetics. A niece of mine (only 3 years younger than me) was coming home from the US and she sweetly asked if I’d like to buy anything she could bring home for me. One huge thing loomed in my mind ever since Jane Cunningham featured it. It was none other than Tarte’s New “Be MATTEnificent” makeup palette, a lavender/ taupe symphony of a palette, and one other item also by them which you’ll see soon.
PRICE: $36.00 from Sephora (currently sold out, check other sources)
Top row: Sand Out From the Crowd, Peach for the Stars, Two Plums Up Second Row: Pink Outside the Box, Rose to the Occasion, View From the Taupe Bottom Row: Dream in Chocolate, Stand Out Black Blush: Elevated
TARTE’s first ever matte eye & cheek palette includes: 8 limited edition Amazonian Colored Clay Eyeshadows, 1 limited edition Amazonian Colored Clay blush (“Elevated”), and a double-ended eyeshadow brush
Formulated without: parabens, mineral oil, pthalates, triclosan, sodium lauryl sulfate, gluten…
What I picked up instantly was how smooth and silky the eyeshadow is and how despite some fallout the payoff of the medium to lighter shades totally impressed me. What also makes the palette so worthwhile is that they included 2 extremely essential eyeshadow shades you can use to deepen the look or line your eyes (dry or wet most likely), dream in chocolate (dark brown) and stand out black. A bit of View From the Taupe and Dream in Chocolate can be blended together for use on brows. Read more to see more photos and a complete look applied on myself.
Usually in eyeshadow palettes, especially matte collections, it’s usually only the deeper shades that truly deliver pops of pigment over the eyelid but here every shade up to the lightest one actually shows up on the lid on the first swipe…and actually stays on pretty well even without a primer.
Blush: Elevated Top row: Sand Out From the Crowd, Peach for the Stars, Two Plums Up Second Row: Pink Outside the Box, Rose to the Occasion, View From the Taupe Liner Shades: Dream in Chocolate, Stand Out Black
I actually have a funny “accidental” story that proves the longevity and staying power or “cling” of these powder shadows. When I applied the swatches on my arm I forgot to photograph them before carrying my Himalayan Persian super fluffy cat Cloud, I hugged her tight and she struggled with her “put me down” sass as usual. When I put her down I realized I might have ruined the swatches but about 60-70% of the swatch pigment was intact on my arm and it hadn’t even spread across in a dirty way, each color was pretty much still in its place, they just needed a bit of retouching. Up close I’ve never seen more finely milled matte eyeshadow that actually goes on smoother than the usual “chalky” payoff you can tend to get from other brands. You already feel this when you rub your fingertips back and forth across the surface. For the look I achieved below I used the dual-ended brush in the palette combined with some fingertip action. I didn’t go for a completely purple look, my look is partly purple, partly neutral.
MY LOOK: Peach For the Stars (all over the lid), Sand Out From the Crowd (popped on the center with my fingertip and on the inner eye corners), Rose to the Occasion (in the crease), Two Plums Up (in the outer corner V), and Don’t Stand Black to deepen the corner and softly line the eyes.
For undoubted lavender/purple eyes Pink Out of the Box, Rose to the Occasion, and Two Plums Up make the look pop.
If you don’t want purple eyes just stick to Sand Out From the Crowd, Peach For the Stars, View From the Taupe, Dream in Chocolate, and even Stand Out Black to intensify it for the evening.
By the way, I’m not wearing the blush included in the palette, sorry, something I overlooked because I was testing out something else. I really like how wearable the shades of purple, pink, and taupe are and how well they go together.
The only major con I can point out in this palette is the fallout you may have to deal with, it’s not an annoying amount but for some people they might not like it, but I don’t care because the eyeshadow itself is a matte formula that’s a dream to blend and I’m not kidding about the fact that it actually stays on well. If you don’t want a purple look and would rather go for the standard neutral brown smoky eye the palette still makes this possible which is why it’s so good and is already sold out on Sephora as I check now. It’s probably available still from resellers, Amazon, ebay and other more obscure online stockists.
