Tarte Holiday Gift Sets

While I shouldn’t be surprised at all, Christmas items are popping up all over the place. Some people think that Christmas is rushed upon us, but I am not one of them. If it were up to me, I’d decorate for Christmas all year long. Christmas decorations just seem to make people happier. When I saw that my local Target and Menards had already had aisles with Christmas items in them, I knew it was only a matter of time before Holiday Gift Sets were going to be available from the beauty world. Today I found out that this is true.

Let’s start with Tarte Cosmetics. It’s no secret that I love Tarte Cosmetics. I look forward to Maureen Kelly’s collection of jam packed gift sets and unbelievably affordable prices each and every year. This year’s line continues to impress me.

Tarte Purse Your Lips Limited Edition Lipgloss Clutch is a lip gloss addicts dream come true. These glosses feature Tarte’s t5 super fruit complex™ making them packed full of antioxidants and vitamins that work to keep your skin looking young and gorgeous. This collection features nine (yes, 9) beautiful glosses in shades ranging from nudes to pinks to coppers to reds allowing you to create many versatile looks. The glosses come packaged in a gold clutch purse, perfect for the holiday season. The best part? The price! This $106 value is priced at only $39! That breaks the glosses down to a measly $4.33 each. Talk about a steal!

Year after year a favorite must have gift set is the Tarte Mini Cheek Stain set. This year they packaging is even jazzed up for the holidays. The Tres Cheek Limited Edition Mini Cheek Stain Set features 3 brand new shades of Tarte’s best known and most beloved product. Posh is a beautiful soft plum shade. Fierce is a light strawberry red. Chic is a golden coral peach. Just like the lip gloss set, I love this collection because the colors cover a wide range of shades. You can create countless looks with just these three shades. They are so sheer and blendable; don’t be afraid to combine shades to create a whole new look. The cheek stains also contain the t5 super fruit complex™ to keep you looking beautiful. The 3 cheek stains come packaged in a cute gold pouch (makes a great change purse or a small make-up case) and the tubes housing the cheek stains are gold for the holiday season too. This $50 value is priced at only $25.

Finally, The Vanity Limited Edition Palette is a must have for every make-up addict. I have the palette from last year and it still hasn’t run out! This year’s palette is chocked full of 16 BRAND NEW eye shadows, 16 BRAND NEW lip glosses, a deluxe Lights, Camera, Lashes! mascara, a deluxe Mineral Powder Bronzer in Park Avenue Princess, a deluxe luminizer, four powder blushes, and deluxe eyeshadow and eyelining brushes. I don’t even need to say anymore because this palette totally speaks for itself. This is the biggest value Tarte has to offer. It has a retail value of $494 and is a steal at the price of $52!

All of these gift sets are limited editions and are currently available at Sephora.com. Happy Shopping!

Tarte Eye Couture Day-To-Night Eye Palette

Tarte has released a new eye shadow palette! The new Eye Couture Day-To-Night Eye Palette is a must have. Packed full of 10 eye shadows (5 from the bronze family and 5 from the charcoal family), a double ended eyeliner pencil, a double ended eyeshadow brush, and a mirror, everything is stylishly housed in Tarte's signature metallic purple compact. With a retail value of $182, the $44 price tag is a steal. Plus, these palettes last such a long time. I have purchased every palette released by Tarte and can honestly say that I haven't used any of them up completely because there is so much product in it.

I just placed my order for this palette at Sephora.com so I haven't the pleasure of trying this on yet. No worries though because I know this will impress. The gist of this palette is it allows you to go from daytime to nighttime make-up with one handy dandy palette. Clearly that feat will be easy to attain. Use the bronze family shades to create your daytime look and kick it up to high gear with the charcoal family shades. And you can tell by looking at the swatches in the picture to the right, the "families" do not consist of 5 shades of bronze with only slight subtleties and 5 shades of charcoal with only slight subtleties. Although they are from those families, the shades actually cover a pretty decent spectrum.

As usual, all of the shadows are formulated with Tarte's signature skinvigorating™ ingredients and are paraben-, sulfate-, phthalate-, synthetic dye-, synthetic fragrance-, mineral oil-, and propylene glycol-free. I am not an environmentalist nor am I a greenie by any stretch of the imagination, however, I do like the idea of using more eco-friendly cosmetics. I mean how good could chemicals on the skin be??? It's been nice to watch Tarte establish itself as a greener product, introducing more organic and natural products. Happy Shopping!

Review Of Tarte Enbrightment

I promised a review of Tarte Enbrightenment and I finally am ready to give one. I picked one up in Pearly Pink and no surprise, I love it! This double ended "pen" contains Tarte's brand new t5 super fruit complex on one end and BriteSmile's teeth whitening formula on the other. Let's start with the lip gloss. Like every other Tarte lip gloss I have tried, the gloss is full of color, shiny, and feels like butter. While the t5 complex is supposedly a new and inventive antioxidant rich, anti-aging formula, I haven't been using this long enough to comment on those claims. The gloss is nice, but it's not anything new and spectacular. You get the same visual effect from any Tarte lip gloss.

What makes Tarte Enbrightenment so great is the BriteSmile pen on the opposite end. As I stated in my original post, I always forgot to put BriteSmile on because I always thought about it after I had brushed my teeth. Now that it comes with a lip gloss on the opposite end, I have it with me in my bag all of the time and have been using the BriteSmile daily. Just pull it out, brush it on, and you're good to go. So much better than messing around with whitening strips that you need to worry about taking off. My teeth look so much whiter that I can hardly believe it. Another benefit of applying BriteSmile during the day is that I'm not mindlessly snacking when I'm not hungry. That's always a plus.

So, overall, the lip gloss is great, but nothing ground breaking. Having the dual ended pen with gloss on one side and BriteSmile on the other is a fabulous idea that I absolutely love. What would be great is if Tarte developed a BriteSmile product that could snap onto their wonderful lip gloss duos. I would highly recommend this product if you're as anal about dental hygiene as I am, and want to be able to do it on the go.

Tarte Enbrigtenment

I've been coming across a lot of new products at Sephora.com lately. It seems that Tarte is really enjoying the idea of teaming up with other companies to offer great products. First it was Borba, and now it's BriteSmile. Introducing Tarte Enbrightenment. This double ended "pen" contains Tarte's brand new t5 super fruit complex on one end and BriteSmile's teeth whitening formula on the other.

I love the concept of this product. I have actually used BriteSmile before and really liked it; particularly because of the "pen" dispenser. Just brush it on your teeth and you're good to go. I will say though, that often times I would forego using it because I usually only thought about doing it after I brushed my teeth, which was not recommended. With Tarte Enbrightenment, I will have it in my purse and will be reminded to apply the teeth whitener at some point during the day...way before I brush my teeth.

I'm really excited to try Tarte's t5 super fruit complex as well. I know I will not be disappointed because I have loved everyone of the Tarte products I have tried, particularly their lippies. Enbrightenment comes in your choice of 2 colors: Pearly Pink and Radiant Red. I've ordered Pearly Pink and am anxiously awaiting its arrival on my doorstep. Once I've tried it, I will give you a review. If anyone else has already gotten their hands on this product, feel free to leave your comments.

Lip Gloss May Raise Skin Cancer Risk

As I was getting reading to leave for class yesterday, I had the noon news on in the background. Just as I was about to turn the television off and head out the door, the news began to break for commercial and in their list of stories to come, one caught my eye...New Health Risk Associated With Lip Gloss. What?!?! I wear lip gloss everyday! So of course I sat there and waited for 20 minutes before they finally got to the story. A new research study shows that lip glosses, particularly shiney glosses, attract harmful UV sunrays and thus raise the risk of skin cancer. A quick Google Search returns a bunch of news stories about this.

Now, I don't know what types of lipglosses they used during this study. I say that because as you all know, many lip glosses now come with SPF included in them. So it would be interesting to see if they only focused on lip glosses lacking some sort of protection already built into them. The study suggests that you put some sort of sun protection (they recommend 30 SPF) on your lips first and then put your gloss on top.

So, here are some of my favorite lippies that already contain some SPF in them. First and foremost, Tarte 24/7 Lip Sheers SPF 15. I actually already do use this as a base for some of my lip glosses. The texture is so wonderfully smooth and it makes my lips feel so hydrated. The coverage is great, the colors are great.

Next, (and I actually think this one is tied for first), Bare Escentuals Lip Guards SPF 15. Just as sheer and beautiful as the Tarte Lip Sheers, I absolutely love how these lippies feel on. After using these for just a few days, my lips were noticably softer. And I love the containers these come in. I will say, I have never been a fan of the tubs that have the little hole in the slanted plastic top. That plastic top always seemed to make the gloss messier than it needed to be, slopping it around all over the place. The wonderful people at Bare Escentuals fixed that problem by applying a sponge like material on the top. I love it. If you have not tried this product yet, you absolutely must. One other thing about this product, while I love my Tarte Lip Sheers, they are not a hot summer day in Chicago's best friend. I usually cannot leave the Lip Sheers stashed in my car because they tend to melt. With the BE Lip Guards you don't have this problem because they don't come in the "Push-Pop" like tube. Just something to keep in mind if you're anything like me.

Half Off Tarte Lipglosses

I just came across another great find at VictoriasSecret.com. They have select shades of Tarte Lipgloss Duos on clearance for only $9.99! That's half price! This is truly a rare occurance because these are not discontinued shades; nor are they ugly shades that no one in their right minds would want to purchase. Right now, they have Ferris & Sloane, Luke & Laura, Westley & Buttercup, Jake & Samantha, Danny & Sandy, Johnny & Baby, Tarzan & Jane, Bonnie & Clyde, and Elle & Emmet in stock and available at this price. This deal has made my day. I picked up Ferris & Sloane, Johnny & Baby, and Elle & Emmet.

Every now and then, Victoria's Secret has great deals on some great beauty products that they probably just have an overstock on. Right now they also have a bunch of Vincent Longo products on clearance, many of them are more than half off! If you see anything you like, I recommend you snatch it up right away. As I was checking out, they actually sold out of something that I had put into my cart only minutes earlier. Happy Shopping!

****EDIT****

Edited to add that right now they also have Tarte Cheek Stains for only $9.99!!! That's is just crazyness! Three shades available at the moment: Cloud 9, Tipsy, and Flushed. Great deal. I stocked up on a bunch of them to have on hand for gifts.

BCA Product Spotlight - Tarte Inside Out Vitamin Lipstick

And now it's time for another Breast Cancer Awareness product, this time brought to you by Tarte Cosmetics. When you purchase Tarte's Inside Out Vitamin Lipstick in Sweet Dreams, a portion of the proceeds will go to the Young Survival Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated to the concerns and issues that are unique to young women with breast cancer. Sweet Dreams is a gorgeous pale pink shade (it's the one in the middle in the pink tube in the picture). This is one of the products that was born out of the collaboration between Tarte and Borba so not only will you be looking good using this product, but you'll be feeling good thanks to vitamins packed in this lipstick. You'll be feeling even better knowing a portion of the proceeds are going to help a great charity. The good news is that this product is not a "specially made for October" lipstick and is available all year round.

New Gift Sets / Palettes From Tarte

I've been trying to post this latest post all week, but unfortunately the network at school blocks a lot of things and for some reason it does not allow blogs to post or even save. It's crazyness, I know. Anyhoo, have you girls been to Sephora lately??? If not, you should take a gander at Sephora.com and look at all of the new gift sets and palettes they are starting to introduce from all of your favorite beauty lines. I love this time of year because the Christmas gift sets start making their way to the stores. Everyone knows that I love these sets because they are usually available at an extreme value. Over the coming days I am going to do my best to post about some of the gift sets that have caught my eye. First, let's see what Tarte has to offer.

Let me just tell you, everytime Tarte comes out with a new set or palette I think it is absolutely the best they have ever offered and there is no way it is going to be topped. Well Tarte has done it again with their We Wish You Wealth Palette. When I first saw this palette, I literally let out a gasp. Packed with 16 brand new eye shadows, 16 brand new lip glosses, 4 gel eyeliners, 4 cheekstains, 3 24/7 lipsheers, eye primer, luminzer, and eyeshadow and eyelining brushes, this palette has got everything you could ever need. Of course, that still won't stop me from buying even more make-up!

The shadows and glosses cover such a wide range of shades that you will always have the perfect shade to suit your mood at your fingertips. The thing that makes this palette better than any other that Tarte has ever offered is that it includes cheekstains! This is the first time ever that the cheekstains have been offered in pan form. It will be so nice to just grab this baby and go as opposed to having to also grab a separate cheekstain. Oh, I almost forget the part that made me gasp. This kit is a $560 value and is priced at only $52. I am so glad that I didn't have time to pick up the Pret-A-Porter palette because I love this one so much more.

Moving on, We Wish You Happiness is Tarte's latest Cheekstain gift set and boy does it bring me happiness. This set features 3 new, limited edition shades (Enchanted, Merry, and Delighted) packed in a cute bag. I am really liking how Tarte is starting to offer new shades of cheekstains in their kits. For awhile there they seemed to only be offering Blushing Bride in almost everyone of their kits that contained a cheekstaind and while I do love Blushing Bride I really do not need 30 of them. Notice, I still purchased them knowing full well I didn't need them. Yes, I do have a problem and I acknowledge that I need help. I now feel so much better forking money over for something I really don't need (but really do want) knowing that I'm getting shades that I can't get anywhere else. The only bad thing is when you fall in love with a shade and can't get more of once you run out. At $30, this makes a great gift for any friend.

Lastly, We Wish You Health Skinvigorating Discovery Kit is a limited edition discovery kit. With this one you'll get discovery sized versions of Clean Slate Face Primer, Lock and Roll eye shadow, Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara, and Inside Out lip gloss. While I do love the Inside Out lip gloss and am thinking about forming a cult to celebrate Lights, Camera, Lashes!, I do believe that this set is the most lackluster of the group. I suppose it's good if you were wanting to try Tarte, but then again, it doesn't even have Tarte's best item...the Cheekstain. At $38 (with a $50 value) it also doesn't really seem like that great of a deal either.

To sum it up, I absolutely love We Wish You Wealth and We Wish You Happiness. Not a fan of We Wish You Health, but I also wouldn't turn it down if someone gave it to me as a gift. All three of these sets are limited editions and thus run the risk of selling out.

Tarte Sunglosses

It's no secret that I love Tarte Cosmetics. Each season I anxiously await their latest limited edition release of lip gloss and make-up kits. This season, I am definately not disappointed. I absolutely love the new Tarte Sunglosses. In this kit you get 3 FULL SIZED double ended super shimmery lip glosses in Gidget & Moondoggie (pale pink/shimmering sand), Frankie & Annette (coral pink/watermelon), and Zack & Kelly (peachy pink/cotton candy). The come cutely housed in a super chic denim sunglasses case that is actually large enough to hold your favorite pair of shades.

What I love most about all 6 gloss shades is that fact that there is literally just a hint of color, but a ton of shine. I am someone who gets very tan in the summer. As a result, certain shades of make-up that look great on me at the beginning of the season make me look like a clown when I get more color. Nothing drives me crazy than that. Due to the subtle color in these glosses, you don't have to worry about the shades not working with your current skin tone. They will work with any tone. This set just screams summer.

Waterproof Make-Up

I grew up with a pool in my backyard. My parents still have a pool, my apartment building has a pool, and I live right on Lake Shore Drive so the beach is just footsteps away. As much as I love the water, if I'm not wearing waterproof make-up then forget it. Now, obviously when I'm at my parents house or even my apartment and just feel like spending the day lounging around in the pool, I don't even bother with make-up. As much as I love make-up, I'm not one of those people who refuse to leave the house without it. But what about those times when your going to a party at a friend's who has a pool...like there's not a chance someone will got tossed in the pool unexpectedly??? If that someone is me, I don't want to go into the pool looking totally normal and come out looking like Alice Cooper with runny eye make-up. In these situations, water proof make-up is a must.

A few people have been emailing and asking me for some suggestions for waterproof make-up. In my opinion, eye make-up is what you really need to be concerned with when thinking water-proof. Blush and lipgloss usually just wash off and don't leave you with a streaky mess. Mascara and eyeliner, on the other hand, can leave you looking like an extra in a horror movie. A lot of make-up brands offer much of their eye mak-up in both regular and water-proof varities. If you have a favorite brand of eye make-up that you just couldn't live without, just check and see if they offer a water-proof version. If you are looking for something new and waterproof, check out some of my latest finds.

CARGO Swimmables Summer Beach Collection - I came across this set on HSN.com earlier this week. This is an HSN exclusive. This kit is just too cute. I love the name...Swimmables! You get water-proof mascara and eyeliner as well as a lip tint in a handy sports case making it easy to toss into your beach bag. Both the mascara and eyeliner are in shades of black and the lip tint is a berry shade. I just bought this kit for a friend of mine getting married in July (she's a 7-7-07 Bride) who is honeymooning in Hawaii and plans on spending a lot of time on the beach. This kit is available for only $25 with FREE SHIPPING!

Tarte Lights, Camera, Splashes! Waterproof Mascara Black - I first tried Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes! about a year ago and fell in love with it. I was overjoyed when about two months ago I learned that Tarte had finally come out with a water-proof version. The mascara brush has tons of tiny "lashes" that are able to get in between each and every eyelash and give them a nice even layer. The packaging is adorable too...a very chic denim wrap is adorned with a little anchor patch. Available for $18.

Dior Eye Show - If you're looking for a waterproof eye shadow, Dior Eye Show is your best bet. This cream shadow packs a lot of punch in its color contains just the right amount of shimmer. It's texture is smooth and feels so lightweight you won't even realize you have it on. Available in 6 great shades for $30.

Bourjois Intensely Luminous Waterproof Cream Eyeshadow - This is another great choice for water-proof shadow, especially if the $30 price tag on the Dior Eye Show is just too much for your wallet. These shadows are packed full of pigment, but appear irredescent when applied to your lids. These shadows also stay put without creasing. I absolutely love the Electric Beige shade. It also serves as a great base for layering shadows. Available in five shades for only $13.

Another thing to keep in mind as summer approaches, water-proof make-up is also helpful for those who tend to sweat a lot...especially, obviously, on your face. Now I know most women do not want to admit that they sweat a lot, but come on, we all sweat. In Chicago, where the summers are full of 90 plus degree heat and 1000% humidity, I sometimes sweat just sitting in the shade! Don't be afraid to reach for water-proof make-up when you're off to a BBQ or a fundraiser walk.

Pink Eyes

Pink eye shadow is taking over the cosmetic world by storm. One of my friends was particularly taken with this look. She ran out and bought some new pink shadow to wear for a night out on the town. The results were not pretty. Instead of creating a soft and pure look, my friend created an Academy Award worthy looking eye disease. The pink shadow made her eyes look puffy and sickly. So, the question is, how do you pull off pink eye shadow without looking like your two steps away from death?

The problem that my friend had was that she used only one shade of shadow. By using only one color, she was unable to blend and create contours. Using multiple shades of pink is good, using pink with other colors is even better. The first time I was introduced to pink shadow was about three years ago when I tried Clinique's Strawberry Fudge. The duo included a shade of pink and a shade of brown. Now, I must admit, when the Clinique girl suggested the duo I thought she was nuts, but I quickly fell in love with the look. I used the pink shade to color my entire eyelid up to just above the crease. I never wear pink all the way up to the brow. If you are one of those girls who likes to wear shadow up to the brow at all times to highlight the area, for this look I suggest Bare Escentuals Nude Beach. It offers a neutral looking color with just the right amount of shimmer to catch and reflect the light. I then took the brown shade and used it almost as a liner, creating a thick line about my lashes that I then blended into the rest of my eye. The good thing is that many cosmetic companies realize the fantasticness of this pink and brown duo and have created palettes pairing the two together. And let's face it, it's so much easier to simply buy a palette that is made up of compatible colors.

My other suggestion with pink shadows is to not, I repeat NOT, use it under your eye. I know there are a lot of people out there who don't like using shadow under eyes to begin with, however, I believe that there are certain shades (silvers and whites) that really make your eyes pop when you do. Pink is not one of those shades. The reason being that by spreading the pink shadow out, both up to your brow and below your eye, you are creating the sickly look!

Oh, and another thing, when wearing pink eye shadow, particularly when you are using only various shades of pink, be aware of the shade of blush you are wearing. You do not want your shadow and your blush to be the same color because then your look will just blend right into each other, thus risking the sickly look again. My suggestion is to go with either a darker shade of pink, a shade of plum or a shade of peach on your cheeks. I recommend Benefit Georgia or Tarte Cheek Stain Blushing Bride.

Tarte And Borba Inside Out Lip Gloss

I heard about this a few months ago, but am just now finding out more information. The people at Tarte Cosmetics did a little research and found out that the average woman eats 2 to 4 pounds of lip gloss in her lifetime. That is the equivalent to 708 tubes of lip gloss! How crazy is that??? So Tarte teamed up with Borba and developed Inside Out Vitamin Lip Gloss, a lip gloss that supposedly will help clarify your skin.

From Sephora - "The ultimate in double-duty beauty, Tarte's long-lasting, moisturizing lip gloss works to soothe and hydrate lips, while BORBA's nutraceutical blend delivers powerful skin protecting ingredients. The pomegranate-scented lip gloss is mouth-wateringly gorgeous with its hint of sexy sheen, but it's the vitamin cocktail that will keep you coming back for more. The first lip gloss that's actually good for you! While Tarte's shimmery gloss beautifies you on the outside, BORBA's nutraceutical blend beautifies you on the inside. Inside Out includes natural ingredients from BORBA's Age Defying, Replenishing, and Clarifying lines."

I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet. I'm assuming that they want you to eat the lip gloss so that you can have the "vitamin cocktail." It doesn't say that the vitamins some how seep through your lips, and since this product came about after the discovery that women eat so much lip gloss it's the only logical thing I can come up with. But here's my question...why would they encourage you to eat the gloss? Perhaps it's to make you go through the tube faster and thus have to shell out more money to pick up another one. I don't know about you, but when I put gloss on, I am cautious about not biting on my lips and what not in order to protect the shine and color from coming off. Especially when I am using a pricier gloss and at $21 a tube this would fall under that category. Either way, I'm sure I will probably still end up trying this product out since I am such a Tarte fan.