Holiday collections are well and truly here and I decided to plump for a big one. The Tarte Pretty Paintbox Collectors Makeup Case is one of the big daddies of the season. A Sephora exclusive this was a treat to myself. At $59 you get a bumper load of product – all good… or so I thought.
The Packaging
The print is kind of hypnotising. I really like it. However, can someone please explain to my why the packaging for this is so bulky? It’s like 2 inches deep for goodness sake! Whilst the packaging is robust, this is not great for travel and it is way too bulky for my bathroom or dressing table. They could have reduced the thickness by about two thirds and it would have been perfect. The inside shows that this is a collection of three parts.
The Eyeshadows
You get 24 eyeshadows in this holiday set. I am an eyeshadow fanatic so this was right up my street. Sadly no. There are 5 pasty cream/ off white shadows. I can make them work with a thick eyeshadow baselike a paint pot. The trick is to pack on the colour and then not to blink if like me you have hooded lids.
There is one good transion shade for my skintone and three meh ones. The matte black (silhouette) is not true black, it is very similar on my skin to Charcoal Sketch which is a grey. The navy burgundy and purple (Starry Night, Stained Glass and Still Life) are the best of the bunch but not a match for my Viseart shadows.
The rest of the shades are a mixture of satins and shimmers but to be honest, none of them really stand out to me.
Cheek Colours
Tarte are known for their 12 hour blushes and I reviewed them a couple of years ago when the brand first came to the UK. I had great expectations for this section of the collection. There is one blusher shade – Moment which has to be really packed on to show up on my chubby face. One highlighter which is a light yellow gold, a nice texture and not powdery or chalky. Then two bronzers
Unique which has shimmer and Provocative does not. Neither of them are a bronzers on my rich skintone. I can use them to set foundation and concealer for a highlighted effect, but I have other products that I do this with in more convenient packaging.
The best bits
Under the lid is the best part of this collection. Mini Tartist mascara, mini So Fine liquid liner and Obvi lip gloss. The lip gloss was a no for me, even with a brown lip liner is is just to pale.
So Fine liner
Cue angelic singing- this is frick’in fantastic. If you love a liquid liner that is jet black and has a felt tip type nib, you are going to love this. It gives a thin line so you can get really close to the lashes. Really close, which in turn leaves the lashes looking thick and luscious. If you want to build up graphic looks and create the perfect flick that is easy too because the line is thin you can get maximum precision. Definitely one to repurchase.
Tartist Mascara
The world and their brother love the Lights Camera Lashes mascara from Tarte. It is a great mascara but in my opinion Tarteist is better. Tarteist is a lengthening mascara and that is always my number one priority when I buy a mascara. It also builds up better. There is a slight ‘spiders legs’ effect when you layer Lights Camera Lashes which you don’t get with Tarteist.
So, out of 31 products (24 eyeshadows, 4 cheek colours a liquid liner, mascara and lipgloss) there are two standouts. The Pretty Paintbox Collectors Makeup Case is pretty poor in my opinon. A real disappointment as with holiday collections you want them to be special. If you were thinking about this one… don’t!
Check out my reviews of other Tarte products here and here and head to my instagram page for more beauty news and reviews