Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches

Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette ($34 at Sephora) is brand new for Summer 2016 and even though I really don't need another nude eyeshadow palette, I couldn't resist it because I'm such a sucker for anything "beach" themed. Also, this is a brand new eyeshadow formula for Tarte, so I was really curious to test it out and of course, share my thoughts on it with you guys. Let's take a look! 

Description:  Define and defend lids from everyday aggressors with this eye shadow palette. Introducing plush shades in a velvety formula, they’re powered by tarte’s Rainforest of the Sea™ complex, formulated to hydrate and balance lids with a creamy powder is that is never drying or chalky. 

Each of the pigmented, blendable shades is a blend of liner, lid, crease, and highlight shadows in wearable mattes and metallics to define and contour your eyes. It includes a step-by-step guide to take your look from beachy bronze to a sea-inspired evening eye. 

Price/Where to Buy: $34 at Sephora.com (not yet in stores, arrives March 14). 

Quick Verdict: If you're not tired of neutral eyeshadows, this is definitely worth picking up!

The Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette comes in a pretty blue ombre box...a change from Tarte's regular purple packaging. Inside, the palette is a disk shape, similar to their Rainforest After Dark palette but it surprised me by being a whole lot smaller. It feels really heavy and expensive, and reminds me of an antique gold compact my grandma used to have. It's really well done and screams high-end...I absolutely love it. There's a really pretty sea-inspired design on top with swirls of gold, blue and purple, while the back and sides are a solid reflective gold color. 

The center of the disk contains the eight shade names, plus the name of the palette in the middle. In a way, it feels like a waste of space, and I think back to how the Rainforest After Dark palette had a blush in the center (and this one is already much smaller than that one). Still, that's my one and only gripe with the packaging...otherwise, it's perfection! 

Inside, there are eight nude shades, both warm and cool-toned, in matte and shimmer finishes. The official description above claims that the shimmer shades are "metallic" but the shimmer is actually really subtle and not overly sparkly. Some of the shades are even closer to satin in my opinion.

In a way, with a name like "Rainforest of the Sea" I would have liked to see some bolder, "tropical beach" shades mixed in such as turquoise, blues, and greens...I could definitely see Urban Decay doing something like that. But then again, Tarte is known for their timeless, wearable shades and I can't remember them doing a palette with anything other than neutral shades in recent memory. It's their niche, I guess! 

The new Rainforest of the Sea formula is unlike anything we've seen from Tarte. Gone is the drier more powdery Amazonian Clay formula that was always hit-or-miss...these are creamy, buttery, and richly pigmented. They have a soft, plush, velvety texture that is more reminiscent of Makeup Geek and Kat Von D's Metal Crush shadows...the finish just isn't as metallic as those are. 

They don't kick up any dust when you touch a brush to them, but if you dig in hard, they can flake off in tiny chunks, which is typical of this kind of soft velvety formula. Not a big deal for me at all, but I just wanted to point that out.

They pick up easily for the most part...I found the two matte shades, Cove and Sand to be a little more difficult to pick up but not terrible. All of the shades have a tendency to stick really well to your eyelids, even without any primer. The creamy formula is long-lasting (12 hours!) and didn't crease on me at all. These also get better the more you use them. After breaking through the initial top layer, they got even creamier and more pigmented. 

My favorite shade is probably Wave, which is a stunning bluish-gray shade depending on how the light hits it. I also use Seashell, Starfish, Cove, and Mermaid in most of my looks, with Sand as a the perfect browbone highlight shade.

b Overall, this is a really beautiful collection of Spring and Summer earth tones that's just perfectly done. I'm not surprised that it currently has a 5 Star rating on Sephora.com...Tarte has really stepped it up with this new formula and the expensive-looking (and feeling) packaging is to-die-for. 

Even though I didn't need any more neutral eyeshadow palettes, I'm glad I picked this one up. I've been using it so much lately instead of my Naked Palettes. Seeing as how it's limited edition I plan to just enjoy it this Spring and Summer until it's gone. The smaller size makes it great for travel and it'll look right at home in my bedroom at the beach house this summer. Ah...I can't wait! 

You can grab yours now at Sephora.com and in Sephora stores March 14th.