Tarte For True Blood Limited Edition Eye Shadow Palette Swatches and Review

I was so excited to see the Tarte for True Blood Limited Edition Eye Shadow palette hit the stores recently. It was inspired by, of course, the HBO series True Blood.  It contains Tarte's 17 full-size eye shadows, a full-size emphasEYES™ Aqua-Gel Eyeliner in black, a deluxe Lights, Camera, Lashes! clinically-proven natural mascara and a deluxe Lifted™ Natural Eye Primer with Firmitol™.

Swatches and review after the jump




How cute is the little drawer inscribed with the words "Open After Dark"? It contains the fullsize Aqua-Gel liner in black, a deluxe Lights, Camera, lashes! mascara and the eye primer.

























It has 17 shadows that range from neutrals to dark shimmery purples and greens, to burnt copper to matte black. The following is a description o the eye shadows that I got from the Sephora website: The Light (shimmering warm ivory), Fairy (shimmering pink), Dusk (matte warm taupe), Dawn (shimmering gold dust), Werewolf (matte chocolate), Waitress (sparkling pink champagne), Nocturnal (sparkling deep indigo), Charmer (sparkling burnt copper), Glamour Me (sparkling deep plum), Stake (matte steel), Bayou (shimmering golden tan), Telepath (sparkling warm rose), The True Death (sparkling silver), Immortal (sparkling midnight black), Moss (shimmering forest green), Legend (deep matte black), "V" (sparkling crimson).




The Light (shimmering warm ivory), Fairy (shimmering pink), Dusk (matte warm taupe), Dawn (shimmering gold dust)




Dawn (shimmering gold dust), Werewolf (matte chocolate), Waitress (sparkling pink champagne)


Waitress (sparkling pink champagne), Nocturnal (sparkling deep indigo), Charmer (sparkling burnt copper), Glamour Me (sparkling deep plum), Stake (matte steel)




Stake (matte steel), Bayou (shimmering golden tan), Telepath (sparkling warm rose), The True Death (sparkling silver), Immortal (sparkling midnight black)







Moss (shimmering forest green), Legend (deep matte black), "V" (sparkling crimson)




As you can see, the darker colors are super pigmented, saturated, rich.  They apply like butter and the shadows remain true to their color in the palette when applied.  I especially like Moss, "V", Glamour Me, Nocturnal and Stake.  These are wonderful crease/outer V colors that I will definitely find use for again and again.  I also love the fact that Tarte included a variety of finishes and textures of their shadows in this kit. The finishes range from matte, to shimmery to sparkly. I even liked the fact that you can choose between a matte black AND a sparkly black in this kit. The power of choice indeed!

I am not too impressed with the lightest colors, however (The Light, Fairy, Dawn).  I feel they are not as pigmented as the darker ones, and are too powdery to be lid colors.  I use them for highlighters, though, and they work well.  The darker shades like Nocturnal also double as liners as they are uber-pigmented and rich, and would really work well to define the eyes.

I also tried the emphasEYES Aqua-gel liner in Black that is included in this kit.  It glides like a dream on the skin and is as easy to use and as pigmented as the Amazonian Clay emphasEYES gel liner in black (third from left):



The Lights, Camera, Lashes! mascara is one of my favorites. It has a full head of evenly spaced spikes to coat each hair evenly and create the illusion of lush lashes:



Lastly, the primer potion works well to make the shadows adhere to the lid and make them last 8-9 hours crease free and without fading.

All in all, I am loving this kit with the exception of the three lighter-colored eye shadows because they are not as pigmented as I hoped they would be. However, the majority of the eyeshadows, the mascara, liner and primer are top-notch and of amazing quality. I like the fact that not only do you get 17 shadows, you get Tarte's best-selling liner and mascara as well to complete your eye look. For $52, I believe this kit is good value for your money, especially if you're still building your collection and you want to try a variety of shades and finishes of eye shadows. This product is available at Sephora stores and Sephora.com.

Watch out for a look using the Tarte for True Blood eyeshadow palette!

The Shades Of U Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Note: Media sample was provided by a representative of the company for consideration. All opinions are completely mine.