Tarte Color Wheel Blush Palette First Impressions

Being the blush junkie that I am, the Tarte Amazonian Clay Color Wheel Blush Palette ($44) was one of the Holiday 2016 releases that I was most excited about! I am a huge fan of Tarte's blushes and own all of the shades in the permanent collection, as well as other holiday palettes from years past, so clearly I don't need any more...however, the idea of having ten shades all in one travel-friendly compact is definitely appealing!

Let's take a look!

The Color Wheel palette comes in a round compact that's the same size as their Contour, Color Correcting, and Cream Blush palettes. The only difference with this one is that there's no mirror...there are blushes on both sides of the compact.

The blushes are not full sized, but are about the size of a silver dollar. I know that some people felt disappointed by the size but Tarte's blushes are so pigmented I haven't hit pan on any of mine yet...they last a really long time so I know these will too. Tarte also included five warm and five cool shades so no matter what your skin tone, you have lots of variety.

On the bottom side of the compact, there's a highlighter and four blushes.

• Crafty is described as a pale pink highlight but on my skin, it shows up as more of a cream color. 
• Concept is a pink nude
• Icon is a dusty rose
• Montage is a pink mauve
• Ironic is a berry rose

The blushes are nicely pigmented, similar to the Tarte blush singles. The formula feels a little bit different...they seem to kick up a little bit more powder than the originals but I feel that the quality is just as good. They're long-lasting on my skin and blend beautifully...I like being able to start out sheer and build up the colors.

I was a little bit disappointed in the highlighter though. If you've tried Tarte's Exposed highlighter single, you know that it feels very finely milled and soft to the touch. This one feels drier and the glitter particles feel slightly gritty. It also goes on pretty sheer (I built it up a few coats in my swatch photo so you could see the color, but I didn't need to build up the blushes).

The top of the compact also has a highlighter and four blushes in both warm and cool colors.

• Idol is a nude shimmer.
• Mod is a peach coral
• Deco is a poppy pink
• Surreal is a hot pink
• Culture is a coral shimmer

Again, the blushes are beautifully pigmented and smooth. Culture is the only blush in this palette that contains shimmer and it feels a little gritty, similar to the highlighters and kicks up a little more powder than the others, which are more compacted.

The Idol highlighter is similar to Crafty above, in that it goes on a little bit sheer and feels a bit drier than the blushes do.

Overall, I am in love with this palette despite the highlighters being a bit on the sheer side. It contains every blush shade I would ever need in one complete palette, in both warm and cool shades. It's perfect for travel and also those lazy days when I don't feel like digging through my blush drawer to find a shade.

The Color Wheel also works for everyone, no matter what your skintone. I'm really pale and can make any of these colors work...from the lightest shades to even the darker shades by applying a small amount and blending out. But deeper skin tones will find that they can wear most of these shades as well because they're so pigmented and buildable.

Grab yours now at Sephora.com


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