Tarte: Balanced & Beautiful Amazonian Clay Essentials Kit

If you have been reading my beauty-related posts you already know how much I love Tarte Cosmetics! It is a wonderful natural brand. Their products are infused with superfruit, plant extracts, vitamins, minerals, essential oils and other naturally-derived ingredients and do not contain harmful elements like paraben, mineral oil, phthalate, sodium lauryl sulfate, triclosan, synthetic fragrances, gluten. You can read more about it here. I have always been intrigued about their 12-hr Amazonian Clay blushes that everyone raves about!! But let's be honest, $26 for a blush seems a bit pricey!

I saw this kit online during the last holiday season but I stayed away, the blush looked scary at that time :) Now, few months later, it showed up on sale at Ulta (at $19), plus I had a 20% off coupon; I will be a fool if I don't take advantage of that. Like I said the blush retails at $26, so you are getting two additional goodies at a much lesser price than that of the blush alone! Oh btw, the kit comes at a regular price of $22.

This set is encased in a hot pink cardboard-paper box with a striking gold ikat-print design which is very characteristic of Tarte. The outer packaging of the blush is plastic but sturdy, comes with a nice round mirror and opens entirely flat. Plus, the outside color is exactly like the blush which is always uber convenient. I also love the decorative "tarte" embossing on the lid as well as their typical design carved on the blush itself. Such a cute product to own :) The cream eyeshadow comes in a tiny adorable pot that seems to be very robust. The brush is made in China and has a long-enough 'bamboo' handle, which is always good for our earth :) Overall, I am really impressed with the packaging of all the products.

The kit contains the following products

• Full-size (0.20 oz/5.6 g) Amazonian clay 12-hr blush in "FLUSH".
• Full-size (0.1 oz/ 3.4 g) Amazonian clay waterproof cream eyeshadow in "SLATE".
• Full-size bamboo cream eyeshadow brush.

FLUSH: These amazonian clay blushes are one of Tarte's wildly loved products. Now I know why! They are insanely pigmented and really really long wearing. I have had around 7-8 hours of solid wear out of them. I will not be able to confirm its durability claim for 12 hr as I have not wore them for that long. But it's definitely long wearing.

It's a vibrant pinkish berry shade which looks utterly scary on the pan, but transforms to a very natural color on the skin. I have medium olive skin tone and I just need the lightest swipe to get the color show up beautifully on my cheeks. Perfect color for fall & winter, if you happen to strictly follow seasonal-color rules :) I absolutely love the shade on me, but it will look even more gorgeous on dark-skinned girls. If you have lighter skin tone than me, you will need to be extremely careful not to put on a lot of product, but don't let that bother you. This will look beautiful on everyone. 

SLATE: I adore how cute and tiny this pot is. The color is a bit challenging to describe though. I see it as a beautiful mixture of rose-hued champagne and taupe with cream colored micro-mini shimmers. The color is almost invisible on my hand under broad daylight. On my lid, it transfers as this lovely champagne-beige color. It can be used as base and also as a single color all over the lid, which is my favorite way of using it. Easy, beautiful look in just one swipe. Sometimes, I put this in my inner corner too, which immediately brightens up the look.

Brush: It's a nice flat eyeshadow brush with some sturdy bristles. It is very useful in patting colors on the lid. I have used it in applying the cream shadow above, but I prefer using my ring finger instead. 

Three wonderful products at such an awesome value! With the sale price and coupon, this might be the best deal I have scored in a while (Giddy smile! :) ;) ) As you can already tell, I am totally in love with this kit. But still, here goes my customary pros and cons...

Pros:

• Excellent value for your money.
• Gorgeous long wearing blush in a lovely color.
• Beautiful waterproof cream shadow in a perfect "everyday" shade.

Cons: 

• None :)

I have seen this kit mostly around the holiday season in Ulta, Tarte. You may even try Sephora, QVC etc. As told before, I bought mine a few months after the holiday season in Ulta. So if you are a bit curious about the kit (Believe me, its a nice one to have ;)), keep an eye on the sale section of Ulta, Tarte and grab it whenever it's available ;) Hope it was helpful.

Love,

~Arrru