Tarte Cheek Stains – a Review

If I had to choose one makeup item that I get excited about the most, then it has to be blushes. I love blushes and I save the application last as the final step that completes my makeup look. They really brighten up my complexion and add make me look more awake. Blush is also the one item that I am willing to shell out more money for in order to get good quality and pigments. So two years ago I was really really lemming the Tarte Cheek Stains at Sephora, but they were a whopping $28 each! After testing each shade about a million times, I finally decided to splurge on one in the shade Tickled. I managed to get the last one on the shelf since at the time they were seriously selling like hot cakes. It was, and still is, the most expensive blush I’ve ever bought. I can’t say that it was completely worth the ridiculous price tag, but I do think that it’s a good investment if you want your blush to last for years and years. You’ll probably never need to buy another blush in the same shade again. Having used this blush for nearly 2 years, I have barely even made a dent in it! Now I don’t use this everyday, but even if I did, I’d doubt I would use up even a quarter of it in two years.

A few weeks ago I nabbed two more of these blushes at the low low price of $11.99 each at the Victoria’s Secret Sale! I wanted to buy more but the other shades I wanted were sold out. And having thoroughly tested 3 of these blushes, I think it’s safe to say that these are excellent products that really live up to the hype. Are they worth the $28? Probably not, but if you can find them on sale or are willing to pay the full price, then I’d say definitely get yourself one (or two…).

Ok on to the review!

Flush on the left is one of the new blushes that I purchased from the VS Sale, and Tickled is the one that I have had for 2 years. Side by side you can see that Tickled looks BARELY USED. The great thing about these blushes is that the effect is incredibly natural. Yes that’s the point of gel stains: to mimic your natural flush. The colors are translucent but very pigmented so a few soft dabs will do. You do have to blend with your fingers though, and I find that it is pretty easy to blend since it doesn’t dry right away so you have some time to work with it. I use this when I feel kind of lazy and want to keep my makeup low-key. Undereye concealer, mascara, and cheek stain are my three items that I can basically slap on and walk out the house feeling fresh and looking awake. Also, if I’m in a pinch, I’ll use it as a lip stain as well, although I prefer not to since it kind of has a bitter taste.

The swatches of the two blushes on white printing paper. I had to up the contrast in Photoshop in order for the colors to pop more since I didn’t use flash, but don’t worry the shades are very true to life. You can see that Flush is a cool-toned raspberry shade while Tickled is a warm/neutral coral/red shade. Flush smells like raspberries while Tickled smells like peach. Even though Flush seems to be cool upon first glance, it’s actually very versatile. I’m probably as warm as they come, but I can still wear this shade without it clashing with my skintone, and the what’s more is that it actually looks NATURAL on me, like I had just went jogging. Tickled on the other hand is very very red…so I have to use it very sparingly but the result looks like I am blushing, it’s really cute. My bf loves it when I wear it for some reason lol.

Here is me wearing Flush by itself with no foundation to show that this seemingly cool toned blush can actually work on warm skinned people as well. This is under natural lighting so again I had to adjust the contrast in Photoshop to make the color pop more, but it’s very true to life I swear!

Next up is the other one of my newly acquired cheek stains in Tipsy:

I have been lemming this for quite a while, and I am so glad that I got it on sale! It’s a gorgeous peachy/apricot color with fine silver shimmers which is what makes this a really unique shade. It also smells like yummy apricots. This one though is not as pigmented as the other two, so it takes a few swipes in order to build up the color to the same intensity, but the effect is gorgeous: really does look like the Asian glow I get haha but of course toned down at least a few notches.

Here is a swatch of it on white paper so you can see the true color. The silver shimmers really make this one special. This color can be pretty neutral because although the base color is on the warm side, but the silver shimmers bring it back to the neutral zone so it would work with most skintones I imagine. I wanted to show a picture of me wearing this one as well but I put on Flush first and it’s seriously hard to scrub off…I mean it IS a stain after all. And did I mention that it lasts and lasts?? Yep, lasts through the whole day so no need to touch up, which means…you will never ever finish this product in your lifetime lol.

Texture-wise, it can get a little sticky when you first apply, and it takes at least a few minutes to completely sink in so that your skin is dry to the touch. Also, it’s more difficult to blend if I wear it on top of foundation and sometimes even end up rubbing off the foundation on my cheek. So what I do is apply this before I put on any face makeup, which is after my morning moisturizer completely sinks in. I apply with a heavy hand because foundation will go on top of this so if I want it to show up through the foundation then I will have to apply more than usual, which is ok with me since that means I’ll have a chance of finishing this product in one lifetime instead of two. I assume this trick would only work well if you use light to medium coverage foundation like me. If you use heavy foundation that blankets all colors then it probably won’t work. But the result is so pretty, like a glow lit from within, like your foundation is “infused” with blush, and the effect is incredibly natural.

Finally, the big question is…does this make me break out? Most likely not. I know I can’t speak for all types of skins but this is an oil-free, water based stain similar to BeneFit’s Benetint except in a solid form, so I can imagine it to be safe for most people. And from the reviews on MUA, it seems that a negative skin reaction to this is pretty rare, but not completely nonexistent.

I know that some people want to try these cheekstains but don’t want to fork out the $28 for one, so instead they opt for the little trio sets that come out during the Holidays that lets you try 3 different colors for $30. Well…don’t buy them!!!

My friend got the trio last year and the quality compared to the full size is like night and day. I thought it was just a fluke but I went into the Sephora store to look at both the one from last year and the set this year and let me tell you it is definitely NOT a fluke. They really skimped on the quality in those sets. The ones with glitter are SO gritty to the point that they scratch your cheeks if you apply directly (no kidding). And the non-shimmery ones are so sheer that you can use up the entire tube and it wouldn’t even show up on your skin. So yea, there’s $30 down the drain.