Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush
I'd like to start by talking about a recent Sephora experience. It is tangentially related to my review of Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 -Hour Blush, I promise. After Christmas I made a big order from Sephora (so expect quite a few beauty-related posts in the near future). I wanted to try the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette, and at that time it was only available through sephora.com (now it's in every Sephora store, at least in my area). So to get free shipping and stock up on the things I would have bought in-store anyway, I placed a big ol' order and waited for my goodies to arrive. And waited. And waited. And my package never came. Sephora is usually SO good about getting your goods to you in three days, so I was worried. Had someone stolen the box from my front stoop (that was a valid concern - stoop thefts were on the rise in my neighborhood)? Had my Sephora order been lost? Had it even shipped at all? I tried tracking the package, which resulted in even more confusion. The good thing is that Sephora has AMAZING customer service, and when I emailed asking where my order could be, they were super helpful. Granted, they told me that I'd have to wait 14 business days since my order allegedly "shipped" to file a complaint, but THEN they would be happy to help me in whatever way they could. I counted out 14 business days on my calendar, made a note to call Sephora customer service on that day, and waited.
I called after the 14 days had passed and talked to a great guy, who tracked the package and decided to classify it as lost. He then, without me asking, checked to see if everything from my order was in stock. The only thing I couldn't re-order was a brush that was on sale, which was to be expected. He told me I could either get a refund or just place my order again, and I quickly said, "RE-SEND THAT SHIT, BOO!" And do you know what this fabulous man did? He decided that this time, they'd forgo USPS and send my order via UPS, so that they could track it better and have more control over the order. I didn't even ask for that! (But I was going to. Or at least ask for an unmarked box to deter stoop thieves). My order came in LESS than three days, and all was good. God bless Sephora.
Which brings me to Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush. ("Finally!" You must be thinking. "CHRIST on a CRACKER, woman, I was wondering when you'd get to the point!") I'm a big blush fan, and I'd heard great things about this Tarte blush. I went to my brick and mortar Sephora and swatched each of the 12-Hour Blushes and decided to order the color Natural Beauty. When it arrived I tried it on my cheeks, and it was downright garish. Natural Beauty is a BOLD color, and while it looked good on my hand, on my cheeks it was clown makeup. I like a strong blush look, but I'm also a bit heavy handed with my blush application, so I need something a little lighter that I can lay on thick and layer up on. I'm also incredibly pale. Natural Beauty was not the color for me. I promptly went to my Sephora store and exchanged it for Dollface, which was much more my style.
Now that I had a color that didn't make me look like a rookie drag queen, I could actually see how the Tarte blush held up. I mentioned that I'm a blush-aholic, and the 12-hour promise of this blush is what initially drew me to it. So often my blush would fade after just an hour or two, and who wants that? I've never actually timed it, or worn blush for 12 straight hours, but I can say that it does last a long time. I'll sometime reapply if I'm going out at night, but I think that has more to do with me being addicted to highly-flushed cheeks than the blush not lasting long enough.
The Amazonian clay nourishes all skin types. Oily faces will benefit from the clay helping to control their greasiness. Dryer types will notice the clay helping to retain moisture in their skin. Combination skin can get a little bit of both! Everyone get a nice glow going and gets healthy skin in the process.
I also love the packaging. Tarte has some of the best packaging in the beauty industry, in my opinion, and this blush does not disappoint. The compacts match the color of the blush, so mine is a pale pink, while others might be a coral or a bronzey-brown. This is great for a person who wants multiple shades of Tarte blush - no digging though your makeup reading labels. It also adds a nice pop of color to your makeup bag. There's a mirror in the top of the compact, which I don't use, but it's big enough to actually be useful (so rare in makeup compacts!), if that's how you roll. Overall, this is a great blush that actually lasts, and it comes in a whopping FIFTEEN colors, so there's a hue for everyone. This blush is well on the way to becoming one of my Holy Grail products.