Tarte ~ 12-Hour Amazonian Clay Blush

Massive Tarte 16th Birthday Sale, Blush Haul!

tarte 12-hour Amazonian Clay blush

Just recently, Tarte celebrated their 16th birthday with a plethora of sales, the best of which was the markdown of their fabulous 12-hour Amazonian Clay blushes from $28 down to $16.  If you’re already a fan of Tarte’s famed blushes, you know what a big deal this is. If you’re new to Tarte’s blushes, be ready to hop on the bandwagon! Their blushes are definitely worth swooning over.

I bought 6 blushes to add onto my collection of 2.5 of their Amazonian Clay Blushes (I put the 0.5 in there because I own a deluxe size of Dazzled). These blushes are both scary and absolutely stunning at the same time. One side of your brain is going OMG THE COLORS ARE SO BEAUTIFUL and the other side is going OMG TOO MUCH COLOR AH! I assure you, the pigmentation in these is good, but you can manage it so you don’t end up with scary clown face so don’t let the brightness of the pans fool you—one swipe can be quite light if using a tapered, light blush brush. If you’re using a more dense blush brush I would go at the pan with a very light hand and build the color  up from there. The shades are incredibly pigmented but you can have complete control over color dissemination if you want to.

If you missed the blush sale, no need to fret. The truth is you really don’t need all of these shades for your collection, especially at $28 a pop. With many of these being Allure winning shades, it can be hard to choose which ones are right for you, especially since the colors are all so lovely. I’m here to help provide you with what blushes you should absolutely get, and which you can probably skip.

Swatches in order from top to bottom, both shots are in natural lighting: Exposed, Risqué, Dollface, Fearless, Captivating, Tipsy, Blissful, Natural Beauty

tarte 12-hour Amazonian Clay blush

tarte 12-hour Amazonian Clay blush

Exposed is probably the one shade everyone owns and talks about the most. It may look a little plain in the pan but it’s one of my absolute favorite neutral blush shades. I swear any complexion and skin tone can rock this color. Add any shade of highlight to it and you’re good to go.

Natural Beauty is my winning shade for Winter. It’s a reddish-pink and provides that perfect cold weather flush. It’s not too red, not too pink, but just right. Do go at it with a light hand though, that pigmentation is quite real.

Now I don’t normally wear strictly bright pink shades but that hint of coral in Fearless makes it one of my favorites. If you want a bright pink but not a “Barbie Doll” pink, Fearless may be worth a try.

I thought Dollface would look horrendous on me because every time I tried to apply it with my finger or a cotton pad in a Sephora store it ended up looking muddy on my red under-toned cheeks. I only ordered it because for some reason I was determined to give it an actual try with a brush, in my own bathroom, and make it work for me. Turns out, I love it. I feel it looks a little purple in the pan but on me it applies like a nice, light, flushed pink.

Tipsy is probably the most unique shade and many, many people adore its stunning, vibrant coral hues. It’s one of my absolute favorite shades, especially for Fall when my “tan” is fading and I want something a little more vibrant to color my “somewhat tan but heading in pale territory” cheeks. However, I also bought Blissful and found it to be quite similar to Tipsy even though swatches on Google images showed otherwise. As you can see in my swatch image, they look almost identical (I did re-swatch to double check that I hadn’t swatched one of them twice on accident). I’m unsure if this is the case for anyone else but unless these shades look remarkably different from each other on you, you can probably skip buying one of them. I believe Blissful is supposed to be more of a warm peach and Tipsy a true coral, so I am putting Tipsy down as a favorite. On my cheeks I think Tipsy looks a tad more vibrant.

Packaging: Some reviewers say that the packaging looks a little too childish for them. Looks-wise (which to me is an added bonus if the quality of the product is good), I personally like a balance when it comes to the packaging in my collection; a little girliness and fun and a little class and sophistication make the perfect mix for me. The packaging here doesn’t bother me; it’s cute, simple, and it won’t open in my purse, carry on or suitcase. The only problem is, while the colors of the compacts vary slightly in color variation, they are still quite similar so it is sometimes hard to tell which shade I’m reaching for.