Get Radiant & Rested with Tarte - Beauty Addict

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Get Radiant & Rested with Tarte

Tarte's Radiant & Rested Luminous Complexion Collection is a Sephora-exclusive 5-piece set, featuring both best sellers and pre-launches.

The Radiant & Rested collection is a $92 value for only $42, so I definitely deemed it worthy of checking out. So what's in it?

0.17 oz Natural Cheek Stain in Glisten
0.009 oz EmphasEYES Inner Rim Brightener
0.5 oz Recreate Silicone-Free Primer
1.7 oz Smooth Operator Illuminating Serum
0.15 oz Park Ave Princess Mineral Bronzer

I sampled most of the goods in this set at a recent visit to Sephora (with primer being the only exception), and the standout is, by far, the Natural Cheek Stain in Glisten. It looks bronze in the tube, but on skin it's the most gorgeous shade of rose gold - almost like an updated Orgasm, with less peach. I really hope this one is released as a full-size standalone, because it ROCKS and I definitely need it in my makeup arsenal.

Also a solid pick? Park Avenue Princess Mineral Bronzer. This isn't a new product, but I know it's a favorite of many of you out there. I'm a fan, too -- not too dirty, not too orange, cute packaging, easy to blend and difficult to screw up.

The other two products (as I mentioned, I didn't try the primer) were a bit disappointing. EmphasEYES may work for many as a brightener for the inner rims of the eyes, but the color is too peach for my skintone. With this one, you should definitely try before you buy, and make sure the shade works for you.

And the Smooth Operator Illuminating Serum? Well, this one was kinda confusing. Smooth Operator is also the name of Tarte's tinted moisturizer, but when I saw "illuminating serum" on the packaging of the item in this set, I was expecting a sheer, lightweight cream or gel illuminator, maybe with a touch of shimmer, like similar products from NARS (Orgasm Illuminator) and Fresh (Twilight Freshface Glow). But when I squeezed some onto my hand, it just looked like...tinted moisturizer. And it only comes in the one shade included here, so I'm going to say "pass" on this one.

Overall, this set's a bit of a mixed bag; the bronzer and cheek stain are great -- and if you're looking for a lightweight tinted moisturizer in a neutral, average shade, it's probably a good buy. But if the EmphasEYES and the Illuminating Serum aren't for you, I'd say buy the bronzer separately and wait for Glisten in a full size.


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