Product Review: Works of Tarte Blush Palette Color Wheel

I am a long-time fan of tarte's Amazonian Clay blushes. I love the color selection, the color pay-off, and they really do last all day for me. So you know when the limited edition Works of tarte Color Wheel Amazonian Clay Blush Palette came out, I had to immediately buy it!


It comes in a double-sided round palette (same size as the Rainforest After Dark and Rainforest of the Sea eyeshadow palettes) and contains ten new blush and highlight shades for $44! The sizes are obviously smaller than the regular size blushes - 0.084 oz. as opposed to 0.20 oz. - but in total product, that's the equivalent of 4.2 full-size blushes. A full-size blush sells for $28, so by my calculations, you're getting $117.60 worth of product for just $44! (They say it's a $150 value, so whatever - it's still a great deal.)

I admit, I am not one to use blush with shimmer or glow, so I did check to see how many of the shades were listed as "shimmer" before I purchased. There is only one blush shade listed as a shimmer (Culture), and obviously both highlight shades are shimmer (Idol & Crafty). However, when I received my palette, I noticed that there is actually a second blush that has shimmer in it (Concept). It doesn't have as much shimmer as the others, but there is definitely shimmer in it. The other six shades are matte (Mod, Deco, Surreal, Icon, Montage, & Ironic).

In the above photo:
Left palette, starting with the lightest shade in the center bottom, and moving counterclockwise to the left:

• Crafty - pale pink shimmer (highlight)
• Concept - pink nude (this is not listed as a shimmer but it definitely is!)
• Icon - dusty rose (matte)
• Montage - pink mauve (matte)
• Ironic - berry rose (matte) 

Right palette, starting with the lightest shade in the center bottom, and moving counterclockwise to the left:

• Idol - nude shimmer (highlight)
• Mod - peachy coral (matte)
• Deco - poppy pink (matte)
• Surreal - hot pink (matte)
• Culture - coral shimmer (shimmer blush)

I've found most of the colors to be very wearable. I've worn them with a faux tan and when I'm my normal Casper-pale self. The only two colors that really don't work for me are Mod and Concept (you'll see why in the swatch photos below). They're peachy colors and while they're very pretty, they don't work with my skin tone at all.

In the photo below, you can see a closer picture of half the palette. I like to call this the "spring/summer" side of the palette! My favorite from this side ended up being Surreal - which kind of surprised me because it's described as "hot pink". It's such a pretty flush of color! I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, because "Dolly" is one of my favorites from the regular line.


In the photo below, you can see the swatches from this half the palette on my pale skin (no faux tan). I've photographed it in natural light (no flash), both indoors and outdoors (in bright sunlight). Keep in mind that I have applied the blush much more heavily on my arm than I would ever apply it on my cheeks just to show you the colors. You can see why Mod is not a color I would wear - it's not flattering at all.
Note: **Remind me to never allow anyone to photograph my skin close-up in bright sunlight! Yikes! Nothing makes you feel all of your 54 years like seeing your skin look like your grandma's!**


In the photo below, you can see a closer picture of the other half of the palette. I like to call this the "fall/winter" side! My favorite from this side ended up being Montage, although for some reason, Icon, Montage, and Ironic all look very, very similar on me (as you will see in the swatch photos below). If you look closely, you can see the subtle shimmer in Concept, which was not listed as a shimmer.


In the photo below, you can see the swatches from this half of the palette on my pale skin (no faux tan). I've photographed it in natural light (no flash), both indoors and outdoors (in bright sunlight). Keep in mind that I have applied the blush much more heavily on my arm than I would ever apply it on my cheeks just to show you the colors. You can see why Concept is not a color I would wear - it's not flattering at all. You can also see how similar Ironic, Montage, and Icon look on my skin.


I decided to also swatch these on a piece of white paper, just so you could see the colors without the shade of my skin interfering - and I noticed that Culture and Concept (the two blushes with shimmer) were very crumbly and didn't want to adhere to the paper. There was a lot of "glitter" fallout, especially with Culture. The two highlighters (Idol and Crafty) had much creamier textures.


So I probably won't use three of the ten blushes (Culture, Concept, and Mod), but I'm a fan, and it's still a great deal and it's definitely going on vacation with me!

 

Did you get the new tarte Blush Palette Color Wheel?
Are you a fan of tarte blushes?