Review: Tarte 9 Ways To Shine Cheek Wardrobe

I usually do my best to resist buying holiday makeup releases. Often, holiday products have a different formula and aren't as good as other products carried by the brand. However, sometimes holiday releases are just too good to miss.

I recently grabbed one of Tarte's holiday releases, the 9 Ways To Shine Cheek Wardrobe. As the name suggests, this is basically a face collection with nine shades of blush, highlight, and bronzer. I was primarily interested in it because 1) I like Tarte blushes and 2) the packaging was SO CUTE. 

The shades come in three stacks that slide open and fold up as needed. Recently, I've been obsessed with things that come in this fun, folding packaging, so I'm really glad that Tarte released this product. I just think that this is such a good idea for travel and all that jazz. And, obviously, these little folding compacts are very easy to store, which is a positive change for Tarte considering their holiday releases are usually super bulky. The packaging itself is also metallic, and it looks very elegant and classy, which is definitely a plus.

Anyway, now that I've rhapsodized over the packaging a bit, let's talk about the actual product. The whole collection is $35, which breaks down to a little less than $4 per product, which is a pretty good deal considering that Tarte's single blushes are usually $29 each. Granted, you're getting a smaller volume of product per pan than you would get if you bought a single blush; however, Tarte products are usually so pigmented you only need a tiny amount of product each time them. For reference, I have the holiday blush palette that Tarte released about three years ago, and I've barely made a dent in the blushes, even though I use the palette all the time. All of this is to say that I wouldn't be worried about the smaller amount of product, especially since you're going to end up with nine products. 

In terms of shade selection, I think that Tarte did a great job. Each stack contains three products: a blush, a highlight, and a shade that could be a bronzer (depending on your undertones and skin tone); the only exception is the Gunmetal Stack, which has two blush shades instead. The three stacks are loosely divided into color families. The Rose Gold Stack has the lightest shades,  the Gold Stack has the medium shades, and the Gunmetal Stack has the deepest shades. Obviously, not all of the shades in all of the stacks will work for every skin tone; however, I'm fairly confident that almost everyone would be able to find at least one product that works for them in this collection. If you purchased the collection, you could easily keep the stack that works best for you and give the other two stacks as gifts. I think these would be great stocking stuffers. If you don't want to give the other stacks away, you can use the extra shades as eyeshadows, or just use them on the face with a very light hand. 

I would say that all of the shades in this collection are fairly warm-toned, which is a bit disappointing. It would have been nice if they had included at least one or two cool toned products. 

In terms of formula, I think these face products are pretty good. The formula is not the same as Tarte's Amazonian Clay Blushes, which are some of their most famous products. However, they're obviously high quality face products. They're all pigmented, easy to blend, and they apply evenly to the skin. What more can you ask for from blushes? 

Long story short, if you're looking to add some high quality blushes and face products to your collection, I would recommend this set. If you have a lot of blushes already, you probably don't need this collection, but, if you're new to makeup, this could be a great way to get your collection started. 

Final Rating: 8/10