*Purchased
I come to you today with a beautiful release from Tarte…and a dilemma!
I’ll get into the dilemma later in the post though. Today I’ll be talking about the new Tartelette Matte Eyeshadow palette by Tarte. I was able to get a hold of it before it was released on Sephora through the VIB/VIB Rouge early access. I was also able to use my VIB coupon (which I told myself I wouldn’t use, whoops) on this because it was over $50. I bought this online and even with the shipping, tax, and duty, it was less than if I had bought it in store.
I picked this up because I felt that it would fill a void in my makeup collection (how dramatic!). The only large palette I have is the Naked 3 (which I love!) but I don’t have many matte colours at all. When I saw this palette was being released, I just had to jump on it.
The case is gorgeous and substantial. It’s all chrome, which made it a bit hard to photograph.
There are 12 eyeshadows in the palette and all of them are matte. When swatching, each of them felt buttery and easy to blend. I’ve heard from other reviews that if you blend too much it can start to look muddy. I’ve personally only used this palette once so far, so I can’t really atest to those claims.
The photo above is taken with flash and I believe that most of these look pretty true to colour. The photo below is in natural light (where you can see my phone case in the mirror haha).
I know a lot of people had mixed opinions on the names. I personally really love the names of the colours. I think they are very positive and uplifting. 🙂 One thing that hardcore ‘tartelettes’ mentioned about this palette is that Tarte did away with the plastic film with the names on it and instead printed them on the palette. This is my first tarte palette so I really didn’t notice the change. :p
Here are the swatches from the palette, from top left to bottom right:
So now the dilemma i’ve been facing. All in all I love the palette. They are all colours I would use thoroughly. The one thing that I noticed with this palette is the smell. I noticed it the first time I used it. The colours smell almost rotten if that makes sense. Just really really nasty. I was so disappointed when I found this out and haven’t used this palette since. :/ I have no idea if this is just the scent of the palette or if I just got a bad one.
The problem is that I can’t find this palette ANYWHERE. I’ve checked 3 Sephoras and no go. I’m hoping I can find one store even with a tester as I can’t even find one with that. Since this palette is so new, there are not many reviews out about it. All the ones I’ve seen though have not mentioned a nasty smell or a scent. What I’m planning to do is try my best to find one so I can see if they all smell like this or if I just got a bad one. If they are all like this, unfortunately that will be a deal breaker and I’ll return it. I’ll update this post when I can find out more!
It really sucks because I was looking forward to this palette and it’s gone unused. 🙁 Hopefully I just got a bad one and can exchange it for another one.
Even with the few negative thoughts, I hope this post will be helpful to those looking for swatches and such. Thanks for reading! Hope you have an awesome day!
UPDATE: So after visiting / calling like, 6 Sephoras I FINALLY found one that had both a tester and new ones that I could exchange. When I smelt the sample, it didn’t smell at all. Unfortunately though, when I smelt the new one, it was the exact same smell as mine (aka nasty). The associate who was helping me said that since Tarte usually does all natural products, sometimes they can smell ‘off’. Another associate likened it to ‘new car smell’. Sadly it was still a deal breaker for me. It’s one of those things where once you know about it, you can’t go back. :/ From what I saw, I guess when you start to use it, it looses the scent. But I just couldn’t do it. :/ The palette wasn’t cheap, so why would I have something that I would continue to neurotically smell? I ended up returning it to get my money back. I’m planning on creating my own matte palette from Inglot so that should be fun. 🙂
19 Comments
I hope you'll be able to find another one. It looks gorgeous! :O
Also, I love your phone case 😛
That's weird (re:smell) :I (does it disappear after a while on your skin though?)
I mean,when you see it in stores, definitely give it a sniff ._.
Also, I swear bloggers should be asked for opinions on designing a palette. "MATTE!" , "GIANT ASS MIRROR!", and "NAMES PRINTED ON THE ACTUAL PALETTE" would probably be basic criteria (aint nobody got time for shiny bling bling packaging)
I know I hope so too! I knew it would be popular but there aren't even any testers in store! I love it so much but all I can think of is the smell.
Why thank you! It's a Nelson Mandela quote: "It always seems impossible until it is done".
I know right? Yeah I don't really notice on the skin. The funny thing is, the only reason I noticed is cause when I'm not wearing my glasses I'm completely blind. I needed to shove my face into the mirror and that's when I got a good wiff…yeah! Must find tester (atleast)!
For sure! It's little things. It seems stupid that they would even do the plastic sheet for the names in the first place. Shiny bling bling packaging like that Tarte blush palette? Lol.
I have a palette by Tarte (with eyeshadows) that I haven't noticed a smell from… HOWEVER, their blushes freaking stink if I stick my nose in them. They don't smell if I just open the package, but if I go sniffing at it, there's a definite weird smell to them. I think it's got something to do with the Amazonian clay, but I'm not positive.
Ohh that's a good idea. Never thought it would be the clay… I have a mini blush that I've never smelt before maybe I should see lol. Yeah it seems so dumb, but I can't stop thinking about the smell…ill have to see if it is in fact the product or mine is rotten or something haha.
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Ah, such a shame the smell is off! Gorgeous selection of shades, though! 🙂
Yeah I actually ended up returning it. u___u So disappointed and I'm probably neurotic, but I'm gonna try making my own palette from Inglot. 😀
Hey Melanie, oh noo I'm so sorry to hear that! I know you can "de-scent" makeup products by leaving them open, but then again I personally wouldn't do it because of the cat hair and possibly dust! I think the tester no longer smelled because it had been left out there for a while. You should definitely try to make your own matte palette with Inglot or MAC tho! Or maybe UD Naked Basics? Do you like how those look?
Oh no that's so tragic that you had to return it!!! It's such a beautiful palette. Did you try to just leave it out to air? I wonder if a lil Febreze would even do the trick haha
Yes I'd definitely be worried about the dust as well. Yeah it makes sense, and if there was maybe a coating over the shadows that was removed when some many people swatched it. Haha Sunny you read my mind. I've decided I'm going to create my own palette through Inglot! 🙂 I've been reading some reviews and the inglot shadows sound amazing! 🙂
Isn't it though? I was so disappointed. I didn't really let it air out and maybe that was my issue. I was just thinking though, if I'm going to spend $50+ on a palette, I want to love EVERYTHING about it lol. And I was thinking the Febreze/ Perfume route but I was scared that it would mess with the formula. *sigh*
hnmmm i picked this up (and the vice 3) but there isn't an obv smell from mine. BUUUT i haven't used it extensively so maybe something will come up later? i'll try and make note next time i use it.
Jenn
A Beautiful Zen
Yes, the only reason I noticed it was because for the first time I was using the mirror with the palette. I'm literally blind without my glasses so I had to get real close to the mirror. From all the reviews I looked at I didn't notice anyone mention a smell. Maybe I'm just neurotic, but once I smelt it, I couldn't go back lol. Hope yours doesn't smell and you can get some lovely use out of it. 🙂
True! I have a Tarte blush palette but didn't notice any smell on mine. Oh well, I'm sure there will be dupes of this out there somewhere.
Definitely! You don't see many full matte palette out there!
Eeeeee, yeah, I really struggle with smelly products. I can totally see how that wold be a deal breaker. It's unfortunately the side effect of more natural products, as they said. I'm sorry you didn't keep it because it is gorgeous, but hey! Now you can buy something else that's pretty and hopefully not smelly!
I know, I died a bit on the inside. So. Beautiful. But for me it was one of those thing that I'd keep thinking about it until I drove myself bonkers. :p