Tarte | Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette & Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette

Tarte is a brand that while not new on the beauty scene, is uncharted territory for me since I’m just starting to learn my way around their products – but if these two palettes from their latest Rainforest of the Sea Collection is anything to judge by, consider me impressed. Of course, being a Summer baby (and a Water sign at that), anything with aquatic connotations has my name all over it.

Tarte | Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette & Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette

Tarte | Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette

Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette, limited edition (CAN $41.00) | Eight neutral eyeshadow shades housed in a round palette whose outer cover bears an absolutely dreamy undulating pattern in shades of violet, lavender, light blue, and metallic gold (with a full-size mirror on the inner lid). There are 2 matte hues and 6 shimmer/metallic tones, ranging from natural to deep, with the texture of the powders being creamy to the touch as well as made with an exclusive ‘Rainforest of the Sea™ Complex‘ formulated to hydrate lids throughout the wearing (not really sure if I get that part, but I guess it can’t hurt).

I don’t experience any powdery kickback upon swirling my brushes across any of these shades, and was stunned by how incredibly pigmented and smooth each colour turned out to be. The 2 matte hues make excellent bases for layering other colours on top as well as acting as transition shades (re: the crease), while the shimmery tones can be easily blended out for a more sheer wash or built up for more depth and brilliance. All exhibit an excellent blendability and when worn over primer, stay true until removed without showing signs of creasing or fading (the lightest shade, Sand, doesn’t really show up against my natural skin tone so the wear on that one is a little harder to judge, but I love how it serves to even out my eyelid when worn as a base).

Sand – ivory, matte (both cool & warm leaning)
Mermaid – light gold, shimmer
Seashell – pink, shimmer

Wave – slate/taupe, shimmer
Abyss – dark brown, shimmer

Cove – tan, matte (warm leaning)
Starfish – bronze, shimmer
Reef – coppery brown, shimmer (brick undertone)

Tarte | Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette

Tarte | Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette swatches

Tarte | Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette swatches (alternate light)

Rainforest of the Sea Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette (CAN $50.00) | First of all, there’s the gorgeous ‘aquatic-ness‘ of the outer case (shown near the top of the post) – pretty mesmerizing, wouldn’t you agree? The three shades of this palette have been created to bring light to strategic areas of the face, with Sunlight leaning slightly warmer and displaying a light golden undertone, while Moonlight falls cooler and has a rose/gold incandescence. The one that threw me was Filtered Light, until I understood that it’s almost meant to act as a ‘skin blurring‘ type of product, as well as a setting face powder, but so totally NOT a highlighter.

The texture on both Sunlight and Moonlight display that same creamy-to-powder feel of the eyeshadows, with ultra finely milled shimmer for added radiance. Both can be blended out for a hint of glow or built up to mega-watt shine and staying power is easily 9+ hours, especially when worn over foundation. The texture on Filtered Light is initially odd, sounding papery and feeling rather dry and chalky to the touch, but which blends out to form a transparent film upon the skin when applied, serving to detract from imperfections and helping to provide a flawless finish (but it still feels slightly weird – never came across anything like it before).

Sunlight – oyster, shimmer

Filtered Light – natural, semi-translucent (matte)

Moonlight – champagne, shimmer

Tarte | Rainforest of the Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette

Tarte | Rainforest of the Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette swatches

Tarte | Rainforest of the Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette

I love it when beauty surprises come my way, especially really good ones such as these two lovelies from Tarte. For fans of neutral-toned eyeshadows (such as myself), this Eyeshadow Palette is worth every penny of its totally wallet-friendly price, especially if you factor in that it’s vegan, free of any parabens & fragrance, made in Italy, PLUS the amazing performance of each hue. The Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette (umm….not a big fan of that name, however – lol) is an excellent deal for ‘strobing’ fans and perfect for travelling with, eliminating the need to cart multiple products around. So final verdict? LOVE and let’s just add that I’m going to be paying much closer attention to this brand going forward.

The Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Collection is available now through Sephora. Find more information on the brand via www.tartecosmetics.com