Review: Tarte's Natural Cheek Stain

Tarte True Love Cheek Stain
$30

I have been away from my usual stomping grounds for nearly two weeks. I was lucky enough to escape the wrath of Sandy in South Florida first on a Girls trip and then hosted by dear friends with homes in Palm Beach and Boca. It was a lovely break and I am thankful to have it, though my heart is heavy about all of the destruction the Northeast as suffered.

I was down to the last drop of my usual blush fave, Benefit's Posie Tint and completely out of Dr. Dennis Gross's Alpha Beta Glow Pads, the exfoliating self tanning towelettes, that I can no longer live without.

Sunday's are always bustling at Sephora in Greenwich Ct., particularly on a nice day, since it's free standing and on the main shopping street. Today was the busiest I have ever seen it...

What was going on?  Apparently it was the V.I.B. Holiday 2012 Event for Insider Beauty Members and one guest, both of whom would receive 20% off their total purchase, (ending tomorrow November 12th).  What qualifies one to be a V.I.B.?  I'm not sure, but if  I had to venture a guess, it would be those of us who purchase exorbitant amounts of product each year. Somewhere in the blur of the last two weeks, their email announcement escaped my attention.

Many of the brands have fantastic, value packed sets of bestsellers available. Attractively packaged and priced, they make great gifts for others too.

Anyway! I decided to poke around a bit.  I have stayed devoted to Posie Tint for over a year now. I love the cool, gel consistency of this liquid blush and the peachy pink color is nearly perfect for me, yes, nearly.  That would have required it to have  had a hair more depth.  As such, I always have to layer a deeper hued powder blush over it, which takes a way some of the sheerness that I crave.

DivaDebbi's Makeup Diet

I finally did my bi-annual closet switch and purge last Sunday.  I dread doing it for weeks, finally dig my heels in and finally breath a sigh of relief when it's all over.  I can promise you one thing, from years of experience; you will not pine for, or even remember anything you choose to donate.  

As a reward for having a Sephora addiction being a V.I.B.,  I have been looking forward to receiving my 4 Day 20% off pass at Sephora for weeks. I know it seems inconceivable that I could need anything, but after I finished editing my clothing closets last week, I moved on to my makeup closet, and continued the purge. The toss tally???

• 4 foundations
• 2 tinted moisturizers
• 3 blushes
• 2 brushes
• 8 lipsticks
• 2 mascaras
• 3 eyeliner pencils
• 2 eyeliners
• 2 concealers
• 3 lip glosses
• 1 highlighter
• 1 primer
• 5 eyeshadows

OUCH!!!  Clothing at least can be donated.  For sanitary reasons, the only place for this heap, was a Hefty.  While I do receive some of this swag free for reviews, enough of it came out of my pocket to qualify me for V.I.B. status at Sephora. 

 What I would like to be going forward, is more thoughtful about my purchases, making good choices and sticking with them.  How do I intend to this?  I will start treating my makeup purchases the same way I do perfume...sampling them and test driving them, before committing to full size products. I will also read a lot more reviews on blogs, Makeup Alley,  TotalBeauty and Sephora before buying.

Did they wear well? Crease? Fade? Flake, Go orange? Get dry/oily? Smear? And remove easily?

I know I can do better. Will I still be entitled to my V.I.B. discount next November? Maybe not...but the "beauty hand print"  I leave on this world, will be a little lighter--there was an awful lot of wasted product and packaging in that Hefty.

Whose with me???

xox,
DD