Tarte Bon Voyage 2014 Holiday Collection Swatches and Review

New for Holiday 2014 is the Bon Voyage set from Tarte.  This Parisian-inspired collection comes in a travel case filled with beautiful goodies. This would make a great gift for the makeup lover in your life, or for yourself if you've been wanting to try Tarte. It has a whopping $423 value for $59, so now's your chance to get a bunch of their best sellers for less. I spotted it at Sephora over the weekend and had to have it!

Here's what's inside...

It comes in this beautiful gold and purple travel soft case that zips all the way around to the back. Once you take out the packaging that the products are sitting in, this case will fit a lot more makeup than what's included in this kit!  So it's great for packing in a suitcase.

Inside, there's an eyeshadow palette tucked into the pocket on the inside of the top.  You could easily use this pocket for brushes later on, or whatever else you want.  On the bottom are the lip products, blush, mascara, finishing powder and Maracuja oil.

The LipSurgence Lip Tint in Romantic is a bright rosy pink shade.  This is the first time I'm trying a LipSurgence Lip Tint and I find it a bit more moisturizing than the Lipsurgence Power Pigments.  It goes on so smooth and feels moisturizing, plus it lasts a really long time.  The LipSurgence Lip Gloss in Visionary is gorgeous and my new favorite lip gloss!  It's a lovely my lips but better shade of nude-pink and it goes on so smooth, moisturizing and shiny.

I'm also loving the Cheek Stain in Muse, which is a pinky-bronze shade.  I've tried their cheek stains before, but they were always classic pink or rose blush shades.  This one has a beautiful sheen to it that just lights up your face and makes your cheekbones stand out!

Here are the swatches for all three:

LipSurgence Lip Tint in Romantic, LipSurgence Lip Gloss in Visionary, Cheek Stain in Muse.

I've never tried Tarte's Maracuja Oil, but I know a lot of people who swear by it!  It's an overnight anti-aging facial oil that's rich in essential fatty acids to nourish and Vitamin C to brighten.  I'll definitely be trying this out, since I love facial oils!

Lights, Camera, Lashes is one of my favorite high-end mascaras and has been for years.  It lengthens, curls, volumizes and conditions, increasing the lash volume by 424% (according to Tarte).  It's also cruelty free and doesn't contain sulfates, parabens or synthetic fragrances or dyes.

I've never tried the Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder, but it's supposed to take away shine, and keep makeup in place without looking chalky.  

The eyeshadow palette contains 20 eyeshadows with Parisian-inspired names.  They're a nice size, so you're not getting little sample sized eyeshadow pans like in some kits.  The palette itself is also lightweight, since it's cardboard not plastic, and super slim.

At first sight, the colors look so beautiful and wearable.  There are no bright, vivid colors in here...just romantic, pretty shades that would flatter anyone.

The shade names are printed on a clear plastic film that's covering the eyeshadows, but once you remove it, it's gone.  The Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette I just reviewed last week had the shade names printed right underneath each shadow, which I liked better.

Here are the swatches row by row:

Palace Of Versaille, Moulin Rouge, I Think I Cannes, My Own Cotes De Rhone, Boudoir Noir

 Fall In Louvre, Provence Upon A Time, Eiffel For You, Too Haute To Handle, Bastille In The Night

 Chantilly Lace, Merci You Later, No Champagne-No Gain, Take On Bordeaux, French Riviera

C’est La Vie, Marseille The Word, Play Nice, On A Good Notre Dame, Le Cordon Bleu 

Overall, the majority of the shadows (with a few exceptions) felt powdery and dry, not soft and buttery like Urban Decays' do.  But they are still very pigmented, it's just a texture difference, and I assume it's because of the Amazonian Clay that's in them.  Overall, they still swatched beautifully, with a couple of exceptions...
For some reason, the shades Moulin Rouge, Fall in Louvre and Chantilly Lace became hard on the surface and difficult to pick up.  I'm not sure if this was due to my finger being damp (I was wiping them off with a makeup remover cloth after each swatch) but it didn't happen with any of the other shades and I was trying to make sure my fingers were dry first.  Here's a visual of what I'm talking about...I'm sure this has happened to you before (Maybelline shadows always do this to me).

Also, the shades C'est La Vie and No Champagne-No Gain, which are the two metallic shades in the palette ended up breaking off little chunks everywhere as I tried to swatch them. They ended up swatching fine, but were just messy.

But other than those issues, the other 15 shades were easier to work with, just dry. With the 5 that weren't, I'm not sure if it's something I did, so I can't say for certain that it's the fault of the shadows.  I love the shade range and am crazy about several of them. 

Overall despite my issues with 5 of the shadows, I love everything else about this set.  The theme is right up my alley with all the pretty, romantic neutrals and I can't wait to create looks with it to go with all my cozy sweaters this season.  What do you think of this set? Would you try it, gift it, or neither?

You can purchase this set at Sephora.com or Sephora Stores.