This was featured on QVC as their "Today's Special Value" and for the price, I HAD to check it out...
You know I love me some QVC. Haha! I love watching QVC, I don't care what happens to be on! It's just good tv. The production quality is good, they move fast but not too fast so you don't get bored and the knowledge that the hosts have of all of the products is impressive.
This 6-piece kit retailed for
$49.96US. Let's break it down by the products and the numbers, shall we?
The box is really pretty and features two of my favorite colors - pink and purple! It can also be kept to put more stuff inside; it's quite roomy in there!
The 6-piece set contains all full size products: Flawless Finish Bamboo Foundation Brush, 1.0 fluid ounce of the Maracuja Miracle 12-hour Foundation with Broad Spectrum SPF 15, 100% pure Maracuja oil roller ball, LipSurgence Lip Shine pencil in Smitten w/built in sharpener (eep!), Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara and ModernEYES Waterproof Creaseless Shadow/Liner in plum-berry and plum-brown. How is THAT for presentation when you open the box?? Pretty WOW if you ask me!
Unboxed goodness!
Maracuja Miracle 12-hour Foundation with Broad Spectrum SPF 15 (doesn't release until 2013 Retail information not available.): This is a yellow based foundation. I found this shade to be a bit dark for me even though I am light across all of Tarte's face products lines. Maybe it's the Maracuja Oil? I need to mix some moisturizer or primer with it to sheer it down enough to be a better match. The foundation wore the best when I applied it with a Real Techniques Buffing Brush, Stippling Brush or a Beauty Blender sponge. This is a full coverage foundation that doubles as a concealer for the under eye area. It doesn't feel heavy or look cakey on the skin. I really like that it has Maracuja oil in it! That stuff is my new favorite oil hands down. It doesn't look wet or oily on, it gives the skin a subtle dewy glow once it sets. The broad spectrum SPF means that it protects against UVA and UVB. :)
100% pure Maracuja oil roller ball (Retail information not available.): Yay for Maracuja Oil! I love this stuff. ;) The metal ball at the end means that it'll help soothe those under eye bags in a jiffy. Keep this guy in the fridge and apply alone before your normal eye cream or mix it with your eye cream for instant relief. Already have the Maracuja oil bottle? Use this for travel and/or just for the under eye area on mornings when you really need it!
Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara in Black (Retail $19.00US): This is my new favorite Tarte mascara. I like it better than the Lights, Camera, Lashes! one... true story. I like it because the formula is soft and not wicked wet and it leaves my lashes feeling soft. It's easy to apply and I can load on tons of coats of this stuff and my lashes won't clump up and get icky. I have no idea what makes it "gifted" and there is nothing about it on the insert but I really like it.
 |
| Eye shadow side - plum-berry |
 |
| Eye liner side - plum-brown |
 |
| Eye shadow swatch - Top: no primer, Bottom: w/primer |
 |
| Eye liner swatch - Top: no primer, Bottom: w/primer |
 |
| Eye shadow swatch after "dry rub test" 5 minutes after application. |
 |
| Eye liner swatch after "dry rub test" 5 minutes after application. |
 |
| Eye shadow swatch after "water test" 10 minutes after application. |
 |
| Eye liner swatch after "water test" 10 minutes after application. |
ModernEYES Waterproof Creaseless Shadow/Liner in plum-berry and plum-brown (Retail information not available.): As you can see from the swatches and my dry rub and water tests, this product lives up to the claims of "High Performance"! The purple based colors are perfect for all skin tones and ages. It's such a universal color combo that is flattering on everyone. I see why they chose this! What else I noticed, and you can see me demonstrate this on camera in my up coming tutorial, is that you can layer the shadow pencil and it doesn't pill or get cakey. The formula is very creamy and smooth but once it sets, it doesn't budge, however you can layer. Incredible. I'd buy more of these if they came out with more colors.
Flawless Finish Bamboo Foundation Brush (Retail $30.00US): It's a beautiful brush but I didn't love it for application of the foundation. It's so dense that when I dabbed it against the back of my hand into the foundation, it all but swallowed up the product! I find that this brush works best as a contouring, bronzing or blush brush using either. Foundation brushes aren't typically this short and dense. I find that brushes like this aren't very good for application of foundation products, especially if you want a light hand. It shed minimally but after a good washing it was good to go.
 |
| In the cap is a built-in sharpener! |
LipSurgence Lip Shine pencil in Smitten w/built in sharpener (Retail $24.00): The color is a lovely soft, dusty pink color. It is incredibly moisturizing and hydrating. The wear time on this was surprisingly long for a lip pencil - I got about 4+ hours of wear before I started to see fading. Definitely "High Performance" for this pencil, however I have to say that if you're building a "High Performance" kit, perhaps a lip stain would've been more appropriate? These pencils are quite heavy on the peppermint so you can expect to have a minty pout when you wear this. The sharpener works well, too. What a bonus!
This "Sneak Peek" was included inside the box. Tarte always includes a sneak peek of something when I order from QVC and I love that! This is the Marcajua C-Brightener Eye Treatment. I haven't used it yet because I'm testing another eye cream, but I will follow up!
And stay tuned for the tutorial where I try the products for the first time and talk about them in real time in my next video tutorial!
What do you think of this set? Worth the price?
Have a beautiful day!
Betty xx
