Tarte

Wearing Tarte Maracuja Blush & Glow in Sunlight on my cheeks

Aha! I knew I’d seen this unusual suspect before…

Tarte’s new Maracuja Blush & Glow line of tint and highlighter duos has been giving me major déjà vu. They look and feel awfully similar to a couple of my tried-and-true loves from NARS, namely the Multiples ($39) and Illuminators ($29).

Available now at Sephora stores and online for $32, each Blush & Glow comes with a Tarte Tint at the tip and a Luminizer in the tube.

Maracujá oil comes from passion fruit seeds, and Tarte added it to the Maracuja Blush & Glows. They say it delivers a high dose of essential fatty acids and vitamin C to the skin when applied.

As similar as I think these are to the Multiples and Illuminators, I wouldn’t call them dupes. Their counterparts over at NARS do seem to pack a little more pigment and feel a tad smoother to me, but after giving all three Blush & Glow shades a try, I will say this: they’ve got game.

The Tint tip performs like a cream blush on bare skin or atop foundation, while the illuminating Luminizer, aka a liquid highlighter, bestows a shimmery glow to the tops of cheekbones, along brow bones or when added to foundation.

Shimmery champagne Candlelight appears to be the neutral babe in the bunch; cool-toned shimmery pink Moonlight should work well for gals who like the way they look in cool-toned pinks; and Sunlight, a warm shimmery peach, is just begging to play with warmer skin tones and tans.

I gave each of them a try on bare skin and then atop foundation, and I thought they did much better with foundation. On bare skin, the colors skipped town after about an hour, but they held their grown for 5 hours on top of foundation.

Part of me loves natural-looking cheeks, and that’s the part that adores the subtle glow I get from these duos. I also like how I can apply and blend them with my fingers. It’s just nice not having to use a brush, and it saves time for more important things, like emergency trips to See’s Candy, Target, Trader Joe’s and Petco (Tabs has been all about dried catnip lately) — or other times when I need to look presentable in a rush.

Tarte Maracuja Blush & Glow from the left: Sunlight, Candlelight and Moonlight

From the left: Sunlight, Candlelight and Moonlight
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Wearing Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Glisten

Daily revelations, January 23, 2012

• “Isosceles” and “Camembert” are two very dignified words.
• The retail pet products world discriminates against cats (at Target, dogs get both sides of an entire aisle for toys and canine accessories, but cats just get one small section of wall!).
• What does it mean when you’re no longer embarrassed about saying things like this out loud: “The kitty appetizers with the shredded pieces are way classier than the ones with cubed bits.”
• ZOMG! Tarte’s four shimmery, glittery Amazonian Clay Blushes for spring 2012 are totally great!

I’m still trying to track down whether these four new $25 blushes are limited edition or permanent, but I’m really hoping that Tarte decides to keep ’em around, because I can easily see myself wearing Adored (a cool pink with purplish glitter), Frisky (a red with golden glitter), Buff (a nude peachy brown with silver glitter) and Glisten (a shimmery peachy gold from last year’s QVC-exclusive 8th World Wonder kit) all year round.

Like their older siblings, these four new shades also contain (you guessed it!) Amazonian Clay! — an ingredient that Tarte claims is able to adapt to different skin conditions, both moisturizing dry patches and absorbing grease in oily areas at the same time.

My dry cheeks have yet to feel a sudden surge of moisture when they wear these, but I can say that the blushes haven’t made my alligator skin situation any worse.

Also like last year’s blushes, these pigmented powerhouses have amazing grip strength! They latch onto my cheeks and don’t let go for nothin’, not even after multiple trips to and from my car yesterday in the rain. They stayed put all day long until I removed my makeup around 9 at night, so if you need or want a long-wearing blush, you could do a lot worse than these.

But, you might be wondering, what about the glitter? Well, I think Tarte handles it well. It’s definitely not glitter ala Claire’s/Hot Topic. Tarte appears to be using a semi-matte blush base for Adored, Frisky and Glisten that tones down the party effect, so it’s visible from an arm’s length away, but the glitter flecks are so tiny and subdued that I think they look refined. We’re talking classy glitter here, babe. 🙂

Frisky

Adored
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