Tarte: Shining Stars LE Best Seller's Collection Review & Swatches

This just arrived today and I couldn't wait to post it because I am convinced I'm the only b[v]logger that has this collection!! I've searched and searched and searched for reviews and/or swatches for this collection to only find people saying they want it! I've been wanting to try some Tarte products and despite not finding any swatches I'd already decided I wanted it and I'm glad I picked it up. Last week some time Nouveau Cheap said they were having a 50% off sale on this collection for only one day, so you bet your Visa card I ordered it quickly! This set of three minis and one full sized item is normally $25 and can be found at Sephora and Ulta stores/website or the Tarte website.

This is a picture of the cheek stain, and LipSurgence next to a MAC compact and the ELF Glossy Gloss. These minis are really mini!! Lol.


 The collection includes:

• Deluxe Lights, Camera, Lashes! clinically-proven natural mascara in black- On the tube it says it increases lash volume by 424%, a drastic claim that I'm not sure is true. I have a couple of these mascaras and I've never thought it was anything special. I'm not sure if the claim of the volume increase is an over time thing, but I'm just not seeing it. Grade: C
• Deluxe natural cheek stain in Flush- I was both skeptical and excited about this product. I don't do well with cream-like blushes, but I thought it'd be a great base under my powder blushes. Unfortunately, it doesn't show up on my cheeks =(. It's a beautiful berry pink color but, after it soaks in, I can't see it anymore. This would be perfect for people lighter than me. Grade: C
• Deluxe LipSurgence natural lip tint in Enchanted- This is my favorite thing in the collection! Enchanted is a nice rosy color that you can build up for a more intensified color, or you can do a couple of swipes for just a sheer berry red tint. It smells like mint and it tingles your lips for a couple minutes after you put it on. It feels like a hydrating lip balm, but it's pretty glossy. After about 45 minutes the glossiness wears off and you're left with it looking more like a lip stain. I will be purchasing the full-sized version of these. Grade: A
• Full Size emphasEYES Amazonian clay waterproof liner in black- This was what I was most excited about because if you remember my Winged Liner post, I've been using cream/gel liners more to do my eyes. I like the ELF one alright, but I think after feeling this one I'm not going back to it. This is the creamiest liner I've experienced. It's very opaque and dries to a matte finish. This liner is waterproof, but I'm not necessarily sure if it's smudge proof if that makes any sense? I did my rub test on my swatch and it fades slightly. I haven't had a chance to truly truly test it yet, so this is more like my first impression more than a review. Grade: B

Overall, I would recommend this collection to you to buy because I feel some of my issues were circumstantial. I already knew I wouldn't really like the mascara, it works okay, but nothing like my Smashbox HyperLash. I also knew better about the cheek stain but, hey, I'm hard headed an optimist! The liner is $22 alone, so it's like getting it and the others for $1 a piece! For $25, I don't think it's bad to try it out to see how you like it!

SWATCHES!

[Since I haven't seen swatches, I also swatched my palm for those who wanted to see how they look on a "lighter skin tone"]

The mascara brush

[above]The cheek stain

[above]LipSurgence

Clay Liner

So what do you guys think of this collection; would you buy it? Also, I'm trying to do collage pictures and I can see I have a long way to go, but do you like the collage pictures better, or do you like the straight down, normal pictures? Thanks for reading!!