Hey loves! tarte is one of my favorite brands and I’m always visiting their site to catch new arrivals and new deals. I got an e-mail a couple weeks ago about a “create your own kit” special, where you got a makeup bag, foundation, blush, lip product, liner product, mascara and a brush for only $59, which is a total steal!
Here are all the goodies I got for my bag (plus some extras that I added on!) I totally forgot to add the bag into the picture, but it’s a really nice gold metallic bag that will certainly come in handy for my cruise in March 🙂
I decided to pick up the empowered hybrid gel-foundation in the shade fair-light neutral (which at the time was their lightest shade, but now they added porcelain to the mix – and I’m totally bummed)! This foundation retails for $39 on it’s own and I have been wanting to try it out for a while since I do have dry skin and some foundations just don’t look right over my skin. The packaging is quite gorgeous but I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to apply it (they have a brush specifically for this foundation, but I can’t justify spending $30 on a brush, lol). So I’ll probably just scoop some out and put it in the lid then use my elf brush to apply it. I haven’t had the chance to try it out yet, but when I do, I will post a review! (Swatch of color will be at the end!)
Everyone’s always raving about their blush in the shade exposed, so when I saw that it was included, I had to pick it up! This blush retails for $28, so for these two products alone – we already have the cost of the kit made up. I looooove their amazonian clay blush so I’m super excited to wear this gorgeous shade! It’s a perfect nude shade and will be my go to for when I need a flush of color on my face!
For my lip product, I chose the Lip Surgence Lip Tint in Moody. It’s a gorgeous berry color and I like that it’s a tint, so I won’t look too over the top, y’know? This is super hydrating and smooth and I think I will be getting a lot of use out of it, since it’s so easy to apply throughout the day! The Lip Surgence Lip Tints retail for $24.
For mascara, I chose the Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara! I have a sample size of this and it’s one of my favorites. It really adds a lot of length and volume to your lashes, without looking clumpy. The packaging is a little bit strange, but the mascara itself is awesome. I love the wand on it and highly recommend the mascara! It blows Better Than Sex out of the park for me (which is saying a lot). This mascara retails for $21.
I’m a brush fiend and I feel like you can never have too many. I’ve been searching for a nice brush to apply highlight with and I think the smaller end on this brush will do the trick! I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be a “contouring” brush, but oh well! I also like the larger end for use with powders, I also love that it’s dual ended because I love dual purpose products. This brush is $34 so it was a TOTAL steal.
I’ve never really tried cream/gel liners before, so I had to snag this one up! I was surprised how big the box was for such a little jar (lol). This liner costs $21 and it’s waterproof, which I think will come in handy. It didn’t look too pigmented when I did the swatch photos, but I guess I’ll have to try it out on my eyes before coming to a final conclusion, so keep your eyes out for that.
Here are the swatches of the swatchable items from the kit. Top to bottom: clay liner, exposed blush, gel hybrid foundation (look how dark!) and the liptint.
So those were all of the items included in the kit, now here are the extras!
Again, I’m a brush fiend, so when I saw this brush being offered as a free sample, I had to get it! It actually reminds me of the brush that comes in the Swamp Queen palette, but I’m not sure if they’re exactly the same? This is the cream eyeshadow brush, but you really could use it for anything. I can’t find the brush separately, so I’m assuming they were doing it as a free sample/gift to get rid of their stock of them.
This was a $5 add on and it contained two sample sizes of their best selling gloss and mascara. I’m not s huge gloss person, but I thought I would still try it out especially because it’s a mini size + it’s a great winter color. I also love trying out new mascaras, so this set was kind of a no brainer for me.
I feel like the packaging for this sample mascara is super odd and meh, I don’t really like it. The top just kind of pops off, rather than twist on or off. It’s also super hard to clean the tip of the wand, since there’s nothing to wipe it off on, so you’re going to make a mess while applying it (just look at that product pile up at the tip!) I haven’t tried it yet, but I will probably post a picture of it on on my instagram in the future or on the blog, if you want a full review (let me know!)
I apparently didn’t take a picture of the gloss itself, but here is a swatch of the color! It’s super pigmented and sticky, so I’m not sure if I’ll actually wear it, but I think the add on was a good idea, especially with the holidays coming up. I’m not sure if they’re still offering it, but if they are, I totally would grab it to give as a gift.
Anyways, I think that this kit deal that they do is absolutely amazing! You get a ton of products for the cost and the foundation basically (almost) covers the cost of the entire kit. Definitely keep your eyes peeled for it and sign up for their newsletter so you can be notified if they do it again!
What’s your favorite item from this “haul”? Let me know in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed the post & thanks for much for reading, as always <3
Xoxo Rae
Disclaimer: I purchased these products with my own money. I’m not affiliated with tarte nor are they paying me for this post. All opinions are 100% honest and 100% my own.
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