Tarte Bling It On Amazonian Clay Blush Palette (Comparison & Review | Holiday 2015)

Now it's no secret in the beauty community, Tarte has yet to top the blush palette that they released during Holiday 2013. In fact, the blush palette released last year was such a disappointment in terms of packaging and product quality, that I was very surprised to see Tarte give it another go. Needless to say, I was very much looking forward to this release because the original blush palette is an absolute favorite of mine and is what introduced me to the Tarte brand in the first place. So the question remains: How does the Tarte Bling It On Amazonian Clay Blush Palette measure up to its older sis?

Tarte Bling It On Amazonian Clay Blush Palette (Outer Packaging)

Tarte Bling It On Amazonian Clay Blush Palette (left) and Tarte Off the Cuff Amazonian Clay Blush Palette (right)

I figured the best way to go about a comparison was to put these two babies to the test side by side. At first glance of the outer appearance, one would think that the palettes are similar. However, the Off the Cuff Palette packaging is made with a woven shimmery fabric, while the Bling It On Palette is made with actual chunky glitters. This means that the packaging is not as smooth and that the glitter particles fleck off from time to time, leading to a bit of a messier makeup application. It is also notable that the palette did not come with Tarte's usual cute additions. The Holiday 2013 Palette came with an actual cuff bracelet to match the theme.

Though at first sight, they might be reminiscent of one another, opening the palette soon reveals that the differences become even more striking. The first thing that I noticed immediately had to be the color selection--the original palette has much more bright, saturated shades, whereas this year's palette is more neutral and muted, not to mention the Off the Cuff Palette also sports Tarte's beloved Park Ave. Princess Bronzer. While the palettes clearly reflect the beauty trends of the time, the original palette satisfies a lot more skin tones than the current one does. I don't see the Bling It On Palette working on dark or deeper skin tones, so that is a bit unfortunate, but the formula is still the same remarkable formula that I fell in love with. In fact, I seem to like the formula of the Tarte blushes better in these palettes. They appear to have smoother pigmentation and blendability, where I find the individual blushes to be slightly more patchy and not as long-lasting. Secondly, the 2015 palette has the names printed on it, which is a change that Tarte instilled last holiday season and is greatly appreciated by beauty bloggers and consumers alike.

Swatches from the Tarte Bling It On Amazonian Clay Blush Palette Left to Right: Fetching, Dollface, Prim, Smashing, and Beaming

I'm very pleased with the pigmentation of the blushes in this palette. They work beautiful on the skin and meld into the other base products seamlessly. Here is the breakdown of this year's shades:

♥ Fetching (LE) - True matte rose

♥ Dollface (Permanent) - Repeat shade from the Tarte Off the Cuff Palette, however, I find that in this palette it is more cool-toned, lighter, and the white base of this product to be more prominent

♥ Prim (LE) - My favorite shade in the palette. It is a lighter version of Dazzled (second shade in the Off the Cuff Palette). It is a matte neutral dusty rose shade

♥ Smashing (LE) - Matte bright pink with coral undertones

♥ Beaming (LE) - As the name suggests, there is a ton of shimmer in this shade. However, it is quite beautiful. It is a very, very light coral that will probably only show up on fair to light-medium complexions

Now let's see the two palettes swatched side-by-side for further comparison:

Tarte Off the Cuff Amazonian Clay Blush Palette (left) Left to Right: Crave, Dazzled, Darling, Dollface, Park Ave. Princess Bronzer. Tarte Bling It On Amazonian Clay Blush Palette (right) Left to Right: Fetching, Dollface, Prim, Smashing, Beaming

As I mentioned earlier, the Off the Cuff Palette is a lot brighter and much warmer compared to the muted tones found in the Bling It On Palette. They will pair much better and even enhance any contouring you choose to do on your cheekbones. While the Bling It On Palette may not be an efficient purchase for darker complexions, it is still a purchase I'm glad to have in my collection because it is a fresh take on Tarte's current Amazonian Clay Blush collection. It is now available for purchase at Sephora for $44.


XO♥

Spring 2015 Launch: The Tarte Tartelette Palette + A Lovely Discount Code!

Tarte is one of those higher end brands that's actually friendly to the masses. It's not "stuffy" or unapproachable and somehow relates to all different kinds of women. This fundamental quality about the brand actually seems to be the underlying theme of the Tartelette palette (more on that later though). It will be launching publicly in the Spring of 2015.

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Let's get into details...The Tartelette palette features twelve matte Amazonian Clay eyeshadows, which are exclusive to this palette. It is an all neutral palette ranging from very light to very dark and what's special about it is that is seems to offer three eyeshadows in each category (three highlight shades, three midtone, three crease/outer v colors, and three defining shades), so there will be something for all skintones. The palette is compact (about the size of my hands, granted I have small hands), has an amazing mirror, and is just overall a great quality, travel-friendly palette. Did I mention the packaging? Tarte has officially outdone themselves with this one! The top portion of the palette is a lilac to purple ombre with shiny gold detailing, and while the packaging is prone to fingerprint smudging, I don't mind wiping it down in the least.

The eyeshadows contain 1.5 grams of product, which is the same as a typical Mac eyeshadow. As I was mentioning earlier, the theme of the eyeshadow names in this palette seem to be different kinds of everyday women and is overall targeted towards the empowerment of women. Go Tarte! I think it's awesome that every time I reach for this palette, I'll be reminded how unique we each are and that we should support that uniqueness. Also, Tarte has finally heard you; the names of the eyeshadows are printed onto the palette. No more plastic sheet!

Enough of my blabbering though. I know you just want to see the swatches!

♥ Free Spirit: Yellow based cream eyeshadow. Absolutely going to love this as a brow bone highlight!

♥ Force of Nature: Mid-tone peach.

♥ Dreamer: Medium brown with orange undertones. I noticed that this one didn't feel that smooth as if it was pressed into the pan harder, but it is nicely pigmented.

♥ Multi-Tasker: Dark brown with grey undertones. This one did not feel as smooth either, but built up well and did not go on patchy.

♥ Caregiver: Light bubblegum pink. One of my faves because it's so rare to find a pink eyeshadow that feels as soft and creamy as this one and is this insanely pigmented.

♥ Natural Beauty: Medium pink with mauve undertones.

♥ Best friend: Dusty rose. This shade is going to be perfect in the crease for smokey eyes.

♥ Bombshell: Deep smokey plum.

♥ Super Mom: Off-White with beige undertones. This one was my least favorite out of the whole palette because of it's texture. It went on kind of patchy, though not horribly.

♥ Wanderer: True camel shade. This is the perfect transition shade.

♥ Power Player: Taupe with purple undertones.

♥ Fashionista: Insanely pigmented black. Watch out for this one! I was not expecting this much pigmentation with one swatch. Be sure to tap off your brush or you will get fall out!

Overall, I think this is one of the best neutral palettes to be released as of late. Tarte has really perfected the buttery smooth textures in these Amazonian Clay eyeshadows. I would recommend this palette for anyone that is a fan of all matte eyes or someone that simply needs an accompanying matte palette to their otherwise shimmery collection. The palette does lean on the cooler tone of the spectrum, so the only thing I would say that it's missing is probably one of my all-time favorite sort of shades--a dark reddish brown. Womp, womp! Maybe there will be a warm sequel? Here's to wishful thinking.

I will be updating you guys as to the palette's official release date in a future blog post. Speaking of future, I have a little treat to share with you guys, but unfortunately it won't be available until New Years Day. Get 15% off of the Tarte website from January 1st all the way to the 16th with "Sweet15".

XO ♥