tarte

Tarte Crown Jewels Lipgloss Multi-Gift Set: A Royal Bargain!

November 23rd, 2009 by Karen 50 Comments

Tarte Crown Jewels Lipgloss Multi Gift Set

Oh, destiny, art thou doomed to repeat thy makeup mistakes?

Every year I stock up on makeup sets under false pretenses, intending to give them away as gifts, but year after year I end up keeping one (or two or three!) for myself.

Never again… Yes, I’ve found a cure!

Tarte’s Crown Jewels Lipgloss Multi-Gift Set ($40) lets me gift unto others while indulging upon myself. 🙂

With 15 glosses spread out among three different sub-sets, there’s more than enough makeup here to satisfy my inner makeup monster (if only for a moment).

Each of the three sub-sets is based on a different color theme (nude, bold and glitter) and comes with five tubes of gloss, with the idea being to keep one set for yourself (hey, I can do that!) and give the other two away.

Genius!

Glittering Green Goddesses: Wearable nudes

Tarte Crown Jewels Lipgloss Multi Gift Set Glittering Green Goddesses closeup

Tarte Crown Jewels Lipgloss Multi Gift Set Glittering Green Goddesses swatches
Swatches from left to right: creamy beige, creamy peach, creamy rosy pink, creamy blueish pink and shimmery peachy brown

Tarte Crown Jewels Lipgloss Multi Gift Set Glittering Green Goddesses box

Dazzling Divas: Glittery bling

Tarte Crown Jewels Lipgloss Multi Gift Set Dazzling Divas closeup

Tarte Crown Jewels Lipgloss Multi Gift Set Dazzling Divas Swatches
Swatches from left to right: shimmery bronze, shimmery gold, shimmery light pink, shimmery violet and shimmery fuchsia
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Tarte Three Carats: Easy Blush, Light Flush

November 16th, 2009 by Karen 33 Comments

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Today I came *this close* to chomping down on the cheek stains in Tarte’s Three Carats Set ($25) because they reminded me of Push-Ups pops. Nom, nom, nom! 🙂

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One of three new limited-edition makeup gift sets from Tarte, Three Carats comes with three mini-gel blushes decorated in festive silver and rhinestones.

Don’t be fooled by how dark they look in their blingy outfits; they apply super-sheer and natural, despite appearances.
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Green Means Go: Tarte Green Siren Cheek Stain

August 26th, 2009 by Karen 21 Comments

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I suppose I could drop and do pushups to wake myself up. Then again, Tarte’s new limited edition Green Siren Cheek Stain ($30) works much faster and requires significantly less effort.

tarte-green-siren-swatch

Weightless and blendable, this shimmery golden peach cheek stain (Tarte says it’s 100% natural) delivers dewy flushes in a flash. Just a dab on the apples of my cheeks, a little blending, and 10 seconds later I’ve got a post-workout glow sans the perspiration.

I’ve worn it on bare skin and also tried it above my foundation and powder. No matter what, I think it’s always looked fab.

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For my time-stapped girls who love quick, natural cheek looks, Tarte’s got a great option for fall. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B+

Where’d the summer go?

Happy hump day, chicas. We’re half way through the week, huzzah!

It hit me today that summer is just about over… Can you believe it?!

I can handle the boots, cozy sweaters and rich colors that come with fall, but I’m nowhere near ready for a return to the cold.

How do you feel about fall? Are you starting a new semester in school or getting ready to send the kids back to class?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Just Call Me Doe Eyes: Tarte Bottoms Up Mascara

February 3rd, 2009 by Karen 17 Comments

If you took away my Tarte Bottoms Up lower lash mascara ($14), I’d probably get the shakes and start rocking back and forth. Maybe drool a little bit too.

Tarte made it special for lower lashes. It’s a water-resistant (not quite waterproof) black, and even though I’ve only been using it for a week, I’m already hooked. *I LOVE* how this mascara makes my eyes look bigger and more alert, like I’m actually awake, even when I’m dog tired.

Tarte Bottoms up mascara brush on top, Clinique High Impact Curling mascara brush head on bottom

Don’t let the tiny bottle fool you; Bottoms Up packs some serious makeup juju. Even though the brush head and bristles are about half normal size, they work mad, crazy good. I think the smaller head helps to thoroughly coat each lash evenly because it can sneak into all the crevices. It works better at coating and separating lower lashes than any mascara brush I’ve ever used before.

No mascara on the lower lash line

One layer of Bottoms Up on lower lash line

Swatch of Bottoms Up
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Berry Me in Tarte Berry Couture for the Holidays

December 16th, 2008 by Karen 37 Comments

Tarte wants to wish you a very berry Christmas with the Berry Couture gift set ($35).

It comes with two products (actually, three, because one’s a duo) — one full-sized Cheek Stain and a mini-Rise and Shine lip duo with a gloss and a stain — items perfect for rushed makeup morning or for those moments when you just want a little color.

The shade is a limited edition, sheer strawberry red called Berrylicious. YUM!

From left to right: Berrylicious Cheek Stain, Lipgloss, Lipstain

An Easy Natural Flush

For the look above, I used Berrylicious Cheek Stain on my cheeks and the stain and gloss from the Rise and Shine lip duo on my lips. It’s easy to apply and wear — no extra brushes required!

First, I swipe the Cheek Stain stick once onto the apples of each cheek once (it feels really moist and slick), and then blend in the edges with my fingers. After a minute or so, the blush dries to a sheer, matte, pinched-cheeks flush.

The Rise and Shine duo comes with doe foot applicators on both ends — easy to use.

The lip stain has a gel consistency. I get the best results with it when I allow it to dry for about 30 seconds, and then add a layer of the gloss on top. It’s supposed to be a plumping gloss, but my lips don’t really look significantly bigger. They do, however, take on that “I’ve just had a hot hour-long make out session” look.

Daily Photo

I’m heading home to Hawaii for the holidays with El Hub tomorrow morning. Our mom is doing better and recovering from the two mastectomies last month. We can’t wait to see her!

This morning I dropped off Tabs at the kitty hotel again… Poor guy was not happy about it, but we don’t really know our neighbors well enough to ask them to take care of him. I miss him already… 🙁

On my way back from Hotel Cattyfornia I ran into Starbucks for a latte. The guy in front of me in line had a parrot on his shoulder, pirate style.

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Tarte Lash Hugger: Eco-Friendly Lash Lengthener

August 20th, 2008 by Karen 27 Comments

Riddle me this: how do lashes go green without actually going green? Answer: by wearing Tarte’s Lash Hugger ($18). Billed as an eco-friendly mascara, Lash Hugger looks like a step in the right direction. Tarte skipped many of the chemicals commonly found in mascaras, like paraben, propylene glycol, and synthetic dyes and fragrances, and, to reduce environmental waste, they used recycled aluminum for the tube. Lash Hugger scores on the environmental front, but how does it perform?

The first thing I noticed about the product was the brush. I hoped the long bristles would give my lashes a nice mix of length, thickness and curl.

Before Lash Hugger
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Face of the Day (FOTD) and Product Reviews: Tarte Ready-to-Wear/Pret-a-Porter Palette, Part II – Paris Mon Amour

September 11th, 2007 by Karen 2 Comments

Bonjour! Today is part three of our Tarte Fall 2007 reviews, so we travel to Paris via Tarte’s Prêt-a-Porter Palette, a dual personality palette with shadows, cream blushes, and lipsticks for two different smoky eye looks. The other day we took a look at the green smoky eye from the I Love NY side, so today we’ll check out a gray/purple smoky eye from the Paris, Mon Amour side.

Oui, oui, grab your croissant
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Product: Tarte’s Ready-to-Wear/ Prêt-a-Porter Palette — Paris, Mon Amour side
Use: to create a gray/purple smoky eye look, comes with coordinating blush and lipstick
Price: $44.00
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+!

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tarte-ready-to-wear-paris-mi-amour-eye1

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I followed the instructions in the “How to Get the Look” booklet that comes with the palette, and used:

Tarte products:
– deep purple shadow from the upper lash line into the crease
– gray-purple over lid and up into crease
– pale pink on brow bone
– deep purple on lower lash line applied with wet eyeliner brush
– coral rose cream blush on cheeks
– burgundy rose lipstick on lips

This look also includes:
– two coats of L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black
– Laura Mercier Oil-Free Foundation, Translucent Powder and Secret Brightening Powder
– MAC Concrete in brows
– MAC Bare Canvas Paint as shadow base

What I liked about it

I lurves this smoky look. Usually I have a hard time with purples because I end up looking like a post-fight street thug, and when I started applying these shadows I initially thought it was not going to end well. There was purple, purple, everywhere and it was not a pretty sight. But after ditching the palette brushes and working quickly before the MAC Paint dried I ended up very pleased with the results.

Just for the hell of it on one eye I tried using the palettes’ small brushes (an eyeliner brush and shadow brush) to apply the shadows, which is what the booklet tells you to do, and let me tell ya it was so not crackin’. The shadows are sheer and the eyeliner brush is tiny so it took forever to apply it and to blend. It took forever to get the purple dark enough. The brush was fine for wetting and applying the purple shadow on the bottom lash line, though. And while the eye shadow brush was alright for applying color onto the brow bone it really wasn’t working in my crease because it was too big, so I ended up using my MAC 217 to get the gray-purple into the crease.

Sidenote: MAC lovers, I had a minor epiphany when doing the other eye. When working with MAC Paint it pays to apply shadows quickly before the paint dries. It makes blending easier.

The burgundy rose lipsticks also blend together well and have a slight sheen that’s very pretty. The coral rose cream blush has a little bit of sparkle to it but it’s subtle. I plan on pairing this with Nars Torrid, a coral blush with shimmer, in the future. I think it’s going to look crazy good.

What I didn’t like about it

Obvs there was the palette brush issue, but that’s minor if you own your own brushes. Another small point is the shadows are set close to the cream blush, so I have to be aware of which way I’m stroking my brush so I don’t get deep purple shadow all over blush.

The final word

This palette rocks. It has a few minor flaws: blah brushes, and no eye primer base to grab the shadows. Usually when I get palettes there’s one or two colors I can’t wear but everything in here works for me. You really do get a lot for your money in terms of usability. If you’re a makeup addict-in-training who already has a few basics brushes and a cream base or two then check it out, and get ready to explore the lovely world of green and purple smoky eyes.

Last night I went to dance class for the first time in a month and I’m hurting. My hip hop teacher, Jackie, busted out a song from a new R&B artist Ray Lavender, and it’s called “Donkey Kong.” HA HA HA! The lyrics are kind of lame – “she got that donkey kong bouncing in that blouse.” Um, what? Still, the beat is sick and I can’t stop dancing to it. The song hasn’t been officially released yet so there isn’t a video, but you can hear it via this youtube clip. I warn you though — once you hear it you won’t be able to get it out of your head.

Have a great day, and get some dancing in, even if it’s just in your kitchen while you’re making dinner.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen