The makeup gods have listened, spoken and made their move for the lives of UK beauty addicts will become that little bit easier today as Tarte has been officially launched on British soil. Hooray! This comes as a great relief to my boyfriend who whenever I visit the US with has to linger round Sephora with me for over an hour while I fill up my basket to the brim a Tarte-centric load. From today QVC will stock a bevy of Tarte goodies; a brand best known for their pigmented, long-lasting and so darn easy to use formulas. It’s worth keeping in mind that anything that doesn’t appear there will always be available on the US Sephora site, which just incase you missed the memo, now delivers to the UK. Double hooray! Thanks to two Sephora orders (oops) and a few America trips over the years I’ve give a fair amount of the range a go now, so here are my two cents on where to spend and where to save when it comes to Tarte.
WHAT TO BUY AND WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO LIVE WITHOUT EVER AGAIN:
Brazilliance Skin Rejuvenating Maracuja Face & Body Self Tanner – easily one of my top Tarte finds. Not too sticky, nor oompha loompa inducing; it gives a subtly sun kissed appearance to the skin in just one layer. And there’s no whiff to it.
Amazonian Clay Waterproof Cream Eyeshadow – it’s rare to find a non-creasing cream shadow, but ladies here it is. Dense enough to use as liners, but malleable enough to pop all over the lid, I love the shades Slate and Shimmering Bronze.
Maracuja Creaseless Concealer – a high coverage concealer that doesn’t cake. It goes on slightly dewy in finish, but dries down matte and doesn’t budge. I use the shade Light.
Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush – if you’re going to pick up one thing from the line-up then make it one of these. Best. Blushers. Ever. Pigmented, but not intimidatingly so and so long-lasting. I love Exposed for days when I’m feeling a nude cheeks and Tipsy for when I want something with a bit of oomph.
Amazonian Butter Lipstick – I do love a barely-there, feels like balm lipstick and these fit that bill exactly. A light dose of colour packaged up in the cutest cases of them all and in a moisturising, ‘don’t need a mirror’ formula. Angelic Nude and Golden Pink are my two favourites.
Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage Foundation – a full-coverage, waterproof even (say what!?) foundation that does’t feel like a mask on the face. I don’t quite know how it does it. It’s more matte than it is dewy, but it still manages to look like skin. I use the colour Light Sand for my more tanned days and Fair for when I’m rocking my naturally über pale one.
Amazonian Clay Airbrush Foundation – a highly raved about product for a reason. Powder foundations aren’t usually my thing, but this one isn’t too messy in application and can be layered for a light coverage to full whack effect without ever getting cakey. Fair-Light Neutral is my tanned-up shade and Fair Honey is my actual colour.
FANatic Bamboo Fanned Blush Brush & Airbuki Bamboo Powder Foundation Brush – these are just so soft. They tick all the right boxes when it comes to brushes: they wash well, dry quickly and deposit colour evenly and without irritation. The foundation brush in particular really floats my boat.
WHAT TO ADD TO YOUR BASKET AND REMOVE SO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE BEING ‘GOOD’:
Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder – like all of the products mentioned in this section, it wasn’t a bad product, it just wasn’t a wow one either. This powder did the job, but was kinda messy and there’s other loose powders I reach for my stash over it.
Mineral Powder Bronzer – too much shimmer was held in this compact for my tastes. The base colour was a flattering red-y shade that mimicked my complexion in the sun but the sparkle content was just dialled up a bit too high for me. I am however very intrigued by their matte waterproof version, which has rave reviews on Sephora.
Lights, Camera, Splashes! Waterproof Mascara – I’m such a fusspot when it comes to mascaras, so take this description with a pinch of salt. Being a waterproof formula I assumed this would hold a curl, but alas it did not. It did give a nice, natural, clump-free flutter, but no darn curl.
Coloured Clay CC Primer – this just didn’t really do much for me. It was a tad too dark for my skin and then after blending it all just disappeared. Cool concept, meh delivery.
Amazonian Clay BB Illuminating Moisturiser – it says illuminating on the bottle so I don’t know why I was surprised when an über shimmery formula came out of the tube. For me this just sits a little too obviously on the skin; a good highlight perhaps – but it’s not an all over the face jobbie.
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