Tarte Color Wheel Amazonian Clay Blush Palette

When this popped up on sale early as part of a 2 day long early order window for Tarte's Christmas collection I lept on it! The prospect of getting 10 shades of the amazing Amazonian Clay Blush formula for just $65 was too good to pass up!

First of all, lets talk about the size and get nerdy with it. Each pan is quite small at 2.4 grams. For reference, a regular MAC eyeshadow pan is 1.3 grams, a Stila eyeshadow pan is 2.6 grams and an Urban Decay eyeshadow pan is 1.5 grams. Basically, they are like a large sized eyeshadow pan, measuring 36 mm in diameter. Yes, they are little but they are plenty big enough to comfortably pick up with a regular sized blush brush. You also get 10 shades which works out to 24 grams all together. A full sized Tarte Amazonian Blush is 5.7 grams (about the same size as MAC blushes which are 6 grams) and cost $38 each on Sephora Australia. That works out to $6.67/gram which means you get $160 worth of value in this palette, while simultaneously getting to try 10 different shades for less than the cost of 2 individual shades. It is a bargain any way you look at it!

My Tarte Blush Palette Family!

Sometimes when brands shrink their products down to put in these kinds of palettes the quality can take a hit but that is not the case for these. The formula is exactly like the much larger pans I have in my Tarte Pin Up Girl Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush Palette. They are pigmented, finely milled, ultra-blendable and, I will admit, a little powdery. They tend to kick off a lot of product when you dip your brush in which gets a little messy, but they are otherwise perfect. Oh and these last a really long time on the skin! I found even when I was doing my swatches, they left a bit of a stain on my arm after removing with micellar water.

Alrighty, lets move on to shades. Like I said before, you get 10 shades in this palette which are all limited edition and unique to this palette.

Left to right: Crafty, Concept, Icon, Montage and Ironic.

• Crafty: light champagne gold highlighter 
• Concept: brownish nude with shimmer
• Icon: matte dusty rose 
• Montage: matte mauve pink 
• Ironic: matte warm rose

Left to right: Idol, Mod, Deco, Surreal and Culture.

• Idol: warm true gold highlighter
• Mod: matte coral
• Deco: matte neon pink coral
• Surreal: matte baby pink
• Culture: pinky coral with gold shimmer

I had an immediate thought that Culture looked a lot like Nars Powder Blush in Orgasm ($44) and it is similar, though Orgasm is pinker and Tarte Culture is more pigmented.

Left to right: Tarte Culture and Nars Orgasm.

Long story short, I adored this blush palette from the second I received it. The only thing I don't love are the highlighter shades which don't stack up to my Laura Mercier and Becca highlighters but they are still nice. I admittedly have a lot of blushes but I will still be getting a lot of use out of this one because the shade range is excellent. 

Because it is such great value for money I think this palette would be perfect for anyone actively seeking to expand their blush options, anyone who is interested in the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush formula, or even for makeup artists who want lots of gorgeous, high quality blush options in a compact and affordable palette. Really for $65 with $160 included value, I really don't think you can go wrong with this palette.