Tarte Rainforest of the Sea vol. II: Palette Collection Review Series

Ever have a beauty product you didn’t think was going to wow you suddenly become one of your faves? That’s what happened to me after using Tarte’s Rainforest of the Sea Vol. II Palette. I bought this on a whim because it was on sale and when I first looked at the colours I thought they were super basic.

I purchased this palette back in April and shared it in a haul here.  Then in August, I received a second one in my BoxyCharm which I gave to my sister.

What it is

Eight long-wearing, cool-toned shades include four mattes and four lusters that can be worn wet or dry, & you’ll get the antioxidant benefits of tarte’s Rainforest of the Sea™ complex with none of the icky, bad stuff. (Tartecosmetics.com)

Price

Currently, this is on sale for $33.00 CAD (o.4 oz/ 12 g) on the Tarte Website (it’s $47.00 CAD on Sephora.ca). I find this goes in and out of sale on the Tarte Website. This is $3.92 per gram which is mid-range of my palettes (based on the regular price)

Packaging

I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this circular packaging but it is actually really comfortable to hold. When I apply eyeshadow I like to hold this sideways and it makes it easy to get product and use the mirror.

This is in packaging similar to the Tarte In Bloom palette which I’ve revieved in my series here.  It’s a sturdy plastic gold package and I think the coral reef print on the top is pretty.  The size of this palette is about 3.5″ in diameter.

Colour

As mentioned in the description above, these are all cool toned shades. I was drawn to the deep blue shadow in this palette but it’s the brown and beige shades that I use most often. I use conch, marina, seaside and siren all the time. For me, these are my quint-essential everyday shades and they just look really flattering on me. My complexion is neutral, but I do tend a bit cooler so that’s why these types of colours work really well for me.

When I found that I was reaching for this palette more and more over my other palettes I knew that this was spot on for me. The colours are so easy for me to create looks with. Below, I’ve created a really dark smokey look, but for the most part, I keep to a really light look for every day.

The colours are not bold but they are highly pigmented and blend well together. Sunset is a beautiful gold that I will put all over the lid when I feel like a little sparkle and I use breezy when I feel like making any look more smokey.

One draw back is that marina and seaside are very similar colours. When swatched, marina looks caramel and seaside looks like a light brown but it’s a minuscule difference that they look the same on the eye.

Application & Wear

When I look at the palette many of the pans look crumbly and you would think the shadow was more chunky but it’s not at all. They feel so smooth and creamy when applied. Siren can be a bit patchy, but I only use a little bit of this shadow that I find I can blend it out well.

Something that I absolutely enjoy about the application with this palette is that I experience such little fallout. In the look below I experienced none! Yep! I put my foundation on first and then was able to build the dark navy blue into my crease and lid without little bits of it falling on my face.

This is my everyday shadow palette so I have tested it out over an 8 hour work day and it’s held up really well. The shadows don’t budge or move or fade and I usually don’t need a primer.

In the look above, I applied conch all over the lid and blended marina into the outter and inner lid. On the outter half of my lid I blended seaside into a trangular shape and put a little of it in my inner lid. I then used breezy on the outter edge of my lid keeping with the triangular shape and took the tiniest amount onto my inner lid, whatever was let over on the brush I dragged in my lower lash line. Using a blending brush with a little bit of marina I blended out the outter edges of breezy which dragged a little bit of the colour over my crease. I put sunset over the center of my lid using some setting spray for intensity. To end it all off I put pearl under my brow and inner corner of my eyelid. I finished it off with mascara.

The Breakdown

Pros

• great pigmentation
• no fallout
• long lasting

Cons

• not everyone will love cool colours
• siren can be patchy
• marina and seaside are similar

My Thoughts

I really enjoy this palette. If you are looking for a cool toned everyday palette you might really enjoy this one!

Let me know your thoughts on this palette or any other eyeshadows you’ve tried from Tarte.

Lots of Love,

Dal