Swatched: Tarte Holiday 2012 Collection Sets

Unless you've been living under a beauty rock, you must have heard of these fantastic Tarte Holiday Sets. From what I've seen and heard, they've been flying off Sephora shelves so fast it's like UD Naked all over again. Looking at them and how little they cost, I totally understand the frenzy. With most of these sets, you're essentially paying a little over the price of one item for multiple products. The best part? Aside from the blush set, they aren't even mini-sized. 

A portion of my face has been rather odd lately so I haven't been able to take photos of myself wearing makeup. For now, here are swatches of the three sets I have, in case you were hesitating on your purchase (but seriously, why are you?).

Fantastic Foursome 4-Piece Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush Enthusiast Set ($35 for $60 value)

L-R; Angelic, Fantastic, Magic, Stellar

L-R: Stellar, Magic, Fantastic, Angelic

The colors are all exclusive to this set! Angelic is an ivory highlight, Fantastic is a matte cool pink, Magic is a pink-leaning coral, and Stellar is a shimmery light bronzer. Out of the four, Fantastic was slightly chalky (since it's matte) while Stellar required some packing to show up, but I think that's a good thing in a bronzer shade. 

5-Piece LipSurgence™ Collector's Set ($34 for $120 value)

L-R: Escape, Enchanted, Exposed, Sweet, Elite

Tarte included three different formulas in this 5-piece set. Escape and Sweet are Lip Lusters (sheerer, more shimmer), Enchanted and Elite are Lip Tints (more pigmented), while Exposed is a Matte Lip Tint. It's fantastic if you've been hankering to try out a variety of Tarte lip offerings without breaking the bank. My only caveat is it's mostly comprised of warm pinks. I would have liked to see a wider color selection, maybe switch two out for a red and a nude.

Eye Catchers 6-Piece SmolderEYES™ And Skinny SmolderEYES™ Collector's Set ($39 for $144 value)

L-R: Ash Violet, Rainforest Black, Champagne, Gunmetal, Gold, Onyx

Again, the colors are exclusive to this set and not available in their regular line. I can't even begin to explain how awesome swatching these liners felt. Gliding butter! Yet they won't budge! Look at those colors! And that black! I mean, that's what I call a black! 

I guess it felt like a lot of exclamation points. I think the colors are pretty self-explanatory from the swatches and accompanying names, except Gunmetal, which is a taupey brown and not a steely gray as the name would suggest.

From swatching and some light testing, all the items in these sets hold up to the usual Tarte standard. I've been a longtime fan of their blushes, Exposed being my go-to browned rose, and am happy to rediscover their lip pencils and eye liners. I was once a staunch devotee of SmolderEYES in brown and only put it away because I went back to wearing black liners. 

These Tarte sets are available at Sephora and Tarte.com, and I say they're all worth it. Even if you only like one color out of the entire set, you can split them up and give them as Thanksgiving/Hannukah/Christmas/I-Don't-Need-A-Special-Reason gifts. After all, what girl doesn't like receiving makeup?

The products in this post were provided by the company for editorial consideration

One Woman's Freckles Is Another Woman's...

... skin condition. I kid, I kid!

On a whim – I blame that taupe eyebrow pencil I had lying around – I decided to dot on some freckles to see how I'd look. 

image via

While the model above is cute as a button (and potentially leopard-sexy), I on the other hand look like I need to put on sunblock. Maybe the trick is more concentrated dots?

If you're interested in replicating the look, here are the products I used:

Clockwise: Serge Lutens makeup base, Suqqu Keshizumi, By Terry 100, By Terry 200, LMdB Fawn*, Guerlain Rouge Automatique #100

L-R: bT 200, bT 100, LMdB Fawn, Suqqu Keshizumi

To dot on the freckles, warm the pencil on the back of the hand, then put the pencil on your cheek and roll it a little without altering position. Taupe shades replicate freckles in the most natural way.

As an aside, that Serge Lutens makeup base costs $80, and unless I'm using it wrong (I sweep it onto the eye, how else am I supposed to use it?), it's absolutely horrible. Creases within application. What's wrong with this picture?

The product(s) marked with * is provided by the company as a gift during a press event.

Guerlain Terra Azzurra Bronzing Powder and Blush

Guerlain x Pucci Summer 2012 Collection

I'm not going to review the Météorites Perles d'Azur in-depth because try though I might (and believe me, I've tried hard) I couldn't capture a photo that would show you how these balls worked on the skin. When applied, it gives off a subtle glow – I would describe it less as a highlighter and more like an illuminating powder. I think this iteration of the Météorites is less sparkly/glittery than many others I've tried, especially compared to the holiday ones. Honestly though, even if these did nothing for my skin I probably would have bought it anyway. Those turquoise pearls slay me. 

I do encourage you to hop on over to Beauty Reflections for Tracy's hilarious and thorough coverage on the Météorites Perles d'Azur. She even has individual swatches of the different colored pearls!

And now to the star of the collection, Guerlain Terra Azzurra Bronzing Powder and Blush. While I love that the company gave the packaging extra thought and housed it in a lush Pucci-print pouch, I have to say it's wasted on me. After all, my makeup bag is already too cluttered to house all my products, it doesn't have space to hold an extraneous pouch, even one as pretty as this. 

The funny thing about Terra Azzurra is although it houses four distinct colors, once your brush picks up the orange it's like the rest doesn't exist. If you swirl your brush across the pan, chances are the resulting color will be a frightful bright orange. If you target the application at either half, however, you get a regular bronzer/blush duo (for swatches, see this earlier post). Guerlain's forte is in their powders, and Terra Azzurra is no exception. The powder is finely milled, smooth, and blends easily. It features the heavy floral scent typical of Guerlain powders, which may be the only scented makeup product I actually like.

The powder is fairly versatile. It is easy to apply the colors with a sheer hand or pack on the pigment for intense shading. Case in point:

Barefaced (...which translates to concealer and eyebrows, and the Météorites)

Contoured with bronzer

Contoured with bronzer and applied the colored strips on the apples of my cheeks

Halfway through applying, I realized that the colors in the pan looked exactly like those used in the Rodarte fall '12 runway look (the actual products used are NARS Bronzer in Laguna and NARS Blush in Gaiety), so I decided to have my slice of fun. 

Rodarte F/W '12 from style.com

I used the lighter pink shade at the inner corners and bottom lash line, then applied the darker pink shade to the outer corners of my eyes (it was actually quite difficult to get the colors to show, but since Terra Azzurra was never meant for the eyes, I let it slide). I used a big eyeshadow brush and fluffed the bronzer shade from the lash line to the brow bone. I also shaded a bronzer arch just above my brows. 

I swirled a blush brush across the entire pan and layered it repeatedly on my cheeks to create the burnished look. Finally, I swiped a layer of Guerlain Noir G Mascara on my lashes to finish.

And just a reminder that it's perfectly possible to wear Terra Azzurra and not look like a clown:

Guerlain Terra Azzurra Bronzing Powder and Blush retails for $75 and should be available at Guerlain counters nationwide. Beauty Insiders can also order it from sephora.com.

Estée Lauder Illuminating Gelée Powder in Shimmering Sands

It was really hard for me to write this review because I approached the product with a bias, which means my opinion would be harsher than the product probably deserves. After enduring the horrible smell from my Bronze Sands palette, I wasn't very keen on putting something similar even nearer to my nostrils. Thankfully Estée Lauder Illuminating Gelée Powder in Shimmering Sands came without the horrid chemical smell. (In retrospect, I'm quite sure the Bronze Sands palette I received was defective.)

See, this is the problem, and why I hesitated for so long to publish this. There is nothing evidently wrong with this palette, but I don't like it. The texture is unique to Estée Lauder's gelée powder formula, where the closest description seems to be that it is "cream to powder" (it isn't actually cream but I guess that's the best word to describe the wet-but-not-actually-wet feeling you get when you touch the powder). It's smooth and bright and wonderfully metallic when swatched, but like the eye shadows lose its gleam when applied with a brush. 

Eyes: Estée Lauder Bronze Sands

Shimmering Sands is a metallic copper at the back of my hand, but becomes an odd reddish brown when applied on my cheeks. I'm not entirely sure if it is meant to be a bronzer, blush, or a contour color, but it doesn't seem to suit my coloring. I think someone with a darker skin tone would enjoy Shimmering Sands better. On me it's neither here or there, which makes it difficult for me to use.

I find it funny how I struggled to write all this - I don't have to like every good product that's available in the market, right?

Estée Lauder Illuminating Gelée Powder in Shimmering Sands retails for $42 and is available at Estée Lauder counters nationwide, as well as esteelauder.com. I purchased mine from nordstrom.com. 

Las Vegas de Chanel Lucky Stripes and Gold Fingers

I've been waiting all day to get home to show this to you! BlushingNoir and I have been exchanging notes on Twitter for some time about the Las Vegas de Chanel collection after seeing the info on La Chanelphile, mainly how badly we want it and speculating when it will be available. Not getting anywhere, I called the Las Vegas boutique last Saturday in hopes that they would have more concrete answers, which was when I found out it was already there. I ordered two pieces on the spot (I don't need a gold lip liner, and I already have a gold lipstick). Now keep in mind, that phone call happened when I was in a stadium waiting for a concert to begin. That's some dedication, y'all.

Anyway, Lucky Stripes and Gold Fingers arrived today and I had to wait an agonizing half a day before I could get to my camera and photograph them. I'll just stop talking now and show you pictures:

Lucky Stripes on eyes and cheeks, Chanel Belgravia layered with LMdB Creme de la Creme on lips

The Lucky Stripes powder is actually intended for eyes and cheeks, which is why I decided to show you how it works both ways. As expected of something that's paying homage to Sin City, it has shimmer galore. But again, as expected of Chanel, it's refined shimmer.

The thing about this powder is I'm not sure if it was supposed to be a bronzer or an illuminator. I expect it could swing both ways depending on the stripes you sweep through/your skin tone. As you can see from the swatch, it looks like an illuminator, but I used it on my cheeks the way I would use a bronzer and it seems to work. Either way, the effect of the powder is this glowy radiance that I like very much.

Gold Fingers is like a yellow gold version of Graphite, but with less dimension. The polish is somewhat sheer, considering that I applied two coats and could still visibly see my nail line. I think this could be overcome with more coats or thicker layers (case in point: pinky and ring finger), but personally I'm disappointed by it. The brush is slightly longer than what I'm used to for Chanel, but that does not present issues with application.

Chanel Lucky Stripes retails for $95 and Gold Fingers is going for $28 (yikes on both counts). The boutique charges $12 for 2-day FedEx shipping (signature mandatory). To phone in your order, contact  the Bellagio Chanel boutique at 702-765-5505.

Le Métier de Beauté Flawless Kaleidoscope Face Kit

I'm brimming with happiness while writing this review. It has been too long since a kaleidoscope graced this page, and not only is this kaleidoscope great, it's not limited edition. It's still available on counters so I know all of you can go out and grab it if you wish. 

This review is long overdue, as is my acquirement of this kaleidoscope. By all logic and common sense this should be one of the first few kaleidoscopes to own from the brand, but I managed to accumulate around thirteen of the lip and eye kits before getting to it. When I confessed this to Dustin he just shook his head in disbelief.

Le Métier de Beauté Flawless Kaleidoscope Face Kit contains four basic shades to set, highlight, and contour your face. I'd consider you fully armed on the face front if all you have in your makeup drawer is Flawless. The few Le Métier makeup artists I've met all swear by this kaleidoscope. Shawn from the Boston counter shared a story of how this kit was a lifesaver when he needed to prep all the models for FNO Boston in a pinch. He just whipped it out and used it on all of them as needed. It's a no brainer, as you'll see why.

From top to bottom, Flawless contains the Classic Flawless Face Finish Translucent Setting Powder, Highlighter in Whisper, Radiance Powder Rouge in Echo, and a bronzer. I will talk more extensively about the bottom three in this review, but first, the setting powder. It is imperative that you know I don't use much setting powder. I usually forgo that step because I like the finish my foundations give me. That said, this setting powder is finely milled and blends well into the skin when applied on the face. It is a beige yellow that is a smidge lighter than my skintone, but it is not apparent when I wear it. I think most women would find it very useful to have in this kit. 

However, if you don't find it as useful, there is a hole under each of the swivel-out compacts that allows you to pop the shade out and replace it with any other shade you might prefer (you'll have to provide the shade yourself, unfortunately). This is a good tip to remember about all your kaleidoscopes!

The three bottom shades are what makes Flawless a no-brainer. I used the word "basic" before in the best possible way. Whisper is an opal pink highlighter while Echo is a coral blush with understated shimmer. The bronzer looks like it contains shimmer in the pan, but swatches decidedly matte. Without a doubt, these are universal shades that will complement everyone within the light to medium range of skintone.

Dear reader Katie was the one who gave me the inspiration for the structure of this review (thank you for your patience, Katie!). She wanted to know how Le Métier de Beauté blushes performed and was also concerned about the bronzer being too dark for her skintone. In true Messy Wands spirit, I'll show you how it works the "right" (though I believe there is no correct way to apply anything) way, and how it'll look if you overdo it. 

If you are new to face contouring, I suggest visiting my previous tutorial on contouring before reading ahead. While that tutorial is written using NARS Multiples, the concepts applied are the same.

Here's a picture of me before applying any of the face powders. Note that my cheeks are colorless to a fault. 

Here is how my cheek looks with just one swipe of bronzer below the cheekbone (I used a MAC 109 brush). Note that if this is still too dark for you, you can always blend it out.

Here is how it looks with about four or five stabs of the bronzer piled on top of each other. 

Here is a soft swipe of Echo placed above the bronzer, and Whisper placed above Echo.

Here is how a couple of punches of Echo would look, and a hard swipe of Whisper above it.

Another picture to show you the luminescence that Whisper creates. Sometimes I don't know why I bother using anything else.

A portrait picture to show you how ridiculous I looked when all this was happening.

However! Let's say you made a mistake and came out like above, with one side of the cheek much more pigmented than the other, just take a fluffy brush and blend - you'll see the color diffuse on your face. The opposite to that works as well. If you want more color on the face, all you have to do is add another swipe. As demonstrated above, these powders are buildable. You really cannot make mistakes with this thing.

When worn above Chantecaille Future Skin, the powders last all day. Sure, by the end of the night the intensity would lessen, but it was still visible on me. This doesn't happen to many of my blushes (and in case the distinction is crucial: it also does not happen with many of my blushes over Future Skin).

(On a side note, yes I realize the Future Skin review is also long overdue. I just want to make sure I've got everything covered before writing it. Thank you for your patience!)

One last picture from a different photoshoot session:

Flawless Kaleidoscope Face Kit retails for $95 and is available wherever you find Le Métier de Beauté counters. This includes Neiman Marcus in-stores and online, select Nordstroms, and Bergdorf Goodman. I know Dustin has plenty lying around at his place so you can also give him a call at 212-872-8612 to get your very own. If you do call him, please let him know you came from Messy Wands!

I hope you enjoyed this review. I certainly had fun writing it! Let me know if you have Flawless and cannot live without it, or suddenly have an urge to run to a counter to procure it. You know I love friends to gush makeup with!