Sweet Tarte

Did you ever have "that girl"  in school? You know the one: pretty, smart, talented, athletic... You didn't want to like her, but when you met her you realized she was nice, too.

Well, that's how I feel about Tarte: I didn't want to like it, so I avoided using it. It just felt too hip...but once I used it, I was hooked. Here's why:

First, it really does have it all: pretty on the outside, substantial on the inside. It's an easy-to-understand product mix—they don't fall into the trap of offering too many products that all do the same thing.

Plus, Tarte proves that glamour can be good for you. The products are formulated with ingredients that are natural as well as having great performance. And their components are made from recyclable or post-consumer recycled material and can often be re-used to help reduce environmental waste.

Their signature product is the cheek stain, which works wonderfully as a modern cheek stain. It's a gel-based formula which blends easily and looks incredibly natural on the skin, packaged in a cool push-up stick. It was an instant best-seller and still one of their most popular products. And you kind of can't go wrong with the shades—they are all really beautiful.

Natural Beauty and True Love are two of my favorite colors.

Next, lips—and this is where I really fell in love--LipSurgence matte lip tint in “Fiery.”


How to describe this chubby pencil? Silk comes to mind. When formulating makeup, you are always balancing texture with wearability—especially when it comes to lip products. What that means is the creamier the product, the quicker it disappears; the drier the formula, the longer it lasts. I love a good, matte lip stain, but it means my lips become dry as a result.

Tarte's matte lip tints are infused with their high-performance natural LipSurgence technology, which the company claims is clinically proven to increase moisture content. I found that the color lasted all day and my lips felt great, even after I took my makeup off. The pencils are also peppermint-infused so they smell great as they glide on.

Tarte is going to be my go-to line for easy summer glamour. It just goes to prove you can have it all.

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