Here is my review of the new, limited edition Tarte CC Be Mattenificent palette. As soon as I saw it, I knew I needed it because, first of all, the packaging is just absolutely gorgeous, it looks like a piece of agate.
Blush -
Elevated
This is a beautiful peachy-neutral blush that just looks great with any look! It is definitely buildable. It's not super duper pigmented whereas you need to just barely tap into it and then be careful with how much you apply, it is a great formula that can be worn ever so lightly without being too careful, but you can also build it up to stand out a bit more. This is definitely a favorite from me in this palette, I actually really like using it in the crease as well.
Eyeshadows -
Sand Out From the Crowd (base)
This is a great highlight shade. It is very similar to my own natural skin color. It's not as stark as a white highlight, but a perfect natural creamy color that I love. It is very pigmented, but can also be somewhat on the chalky side of things.
Peach for the Stars (lid)
This is a nice peachy-neutral shade that is somewhat on the light side. I don't find it to be dark enough to use in the crease, which makes it good that it is labeled as a lid shade.
Two Plums Up (outer corner)
This is a gorgeous plum-purple color that is excellent for adding depth to a look without being just a boring old brown or black. You can use it heavily to create dimension, but you can also smoke and blend it out to add some extra color as well. I think this shade has a similar texture to the liners, which you will read about further down the page. It is not chalky whatsoever.
Pink Outside the Box (lid)
This is a light baby pink color. Once again, it is very pigmented, but it doesn't have the chalkiness that "Sand out from the Crowd" has. It's a nice lid shade, but will also make your look more pinky-toned if you want to use it as a highlight under the brow or in the inner corner.
Rose to the Occasion (crease)
This is a beautiful mauve-y color that is great for the crease. I love more mauve/purple tones for the crease area, it just brings a little bit more interest than a simply brownish shade. It seems to swatch a little darker than I can actually get it to come up on the eye. It is the second darkest of these six main shadows. It takes a bit of building to get it to come off as dark as it is shown swatched.
View from the Taupe (crease)
This is a neutral brownish taupe color that I find to be somewhat a pain. It is slightly chalky and I find that the shade in particular is just too light to use in the crease, it just hardly shows up on my pale skin.
Liners -
Dream in Chocolate
This is a dark dark brown shade. Nothing too exciting. These liner shades just seem to be a little thicker formula than the rest of the palette. I do find them somewhat harder to blend than the other shadows.
Don't Stand Black
This is a black that is definitely not the blackest-black shadow in the world, but that can also be helpful to create depth without turning a look into a sultry dark nighttime look. I would call it a soft black, not a deep dark, rich black, but it does still work well as an actual liner.
Overall, some of the shades are chalky and have a different texture than I have come across. They almost seem to bead up when I use them on the lid with an eyeshadow brush. It almost seems like they have a little added moisture to them that makes them form "beads" of shadow as I use them on the eyes. It's hard to explain, it's not like they are chunky when you swatch them, but it's just a different texture that I've never encountered before. They do have a little bit of fallout, but nothing too crazy, and since they are matte, it's not like it's a big deal, since there won't be little left-over shimmers on your face once you brush away the color that might happen to fall on your cheeks.
This is a beautifully packaged product and I think most of the shades are somewhat unique. The big issue I have with it is that I wish there was just one or two shades that were slightly darker, because I do find that they need a lot of building to be a good crease color, in my opinion. Plus keep in mind that I do have fair skin, so those with darker skin-tones may not find 5/6 main shades to be dark enough to put together an entire look. I am glad they including some basic colors in the liners, and like I said, the blush is just gorgeous and such a wonderful, everyday, totally wearable, goes-with-anything type of blush.
Thanks for reading!
Love,
Alaina
