Tarte for True Blood ♥

Hey Ghouls;
Just a little bit of personal info here, i'm in love with Vampyre, and i'm not talking about glitzy teeny bopper fan idols (no offence to anyone) and i'm not talking about depressing emo vampires. I'm talking about Anne Rice, the vampire Lestat, sexy, gory and down right awesome Vampyre.
So naturally when the True Blood books came out i was very much into them, the tv series didn't quiet do the books justice however I fell in love with that as well.
As you can imagine when i discovered that Tarte had partnered with True Blood to form a limited edition make up collection, i literally just had to have it. This need was enhanced on my visual of the palette that had been corseted in two of my favourite colours, red and black.
Unfortunately being in Australia and Tarte being an American brand i could only find the items on Ebay; so unfortunately i won't be able to link you to where i bought mine i will link the Tarte website for those of you in countries that they do ship to.
The collection is entirely limited edition and includes a Palette, a cheek stain and a lip stain.

As usual i'll start with packaging which has to be my favourite part of these products.

 Both the Palette and the lip stain have plastic box packaging and another bit of personal info here, I'm a complete klutz so it takes me forever to get the lip stain out of it's packaging, I'm actually struggling with it right now. 
After removing the lip stain from the box it is in the same packaging as the cheek stain; both are black tubes with chrome finish lids in a dark grey silver, you can actually see yourself in them which i find extremely cool.
The writing on the tubes is red with the exception of the True part of the True Blood logo. The Cheek stain being of wider circumference has Glamour Me printed on the back of the tube, however the lip stain has Glamour Me printed on the clear plastic box.

On to my favorite part of the collection the Palette. As i said before the Palette also has a plastic box, though no quiet as hinder-some as the lip stains one. The palette box easily slides out of the plastic container; with it comes a dark grey paisley patterned card, featuring the words Glamour Me (hoping you all get the reference here, if not go watch true blood) on one side and a chart of everything in the box on the other. Inside there are tutorial hints from the True Blood makeup artist Brigitte Ellis.
The Palette itself features that gorgeous previously mentioned corset pattern and on the inside has embossed paisley print surrounding the eyeshadows.The bottom section contains a draw with the text 'Open After Dark' on it, a small loop of ribbon extends from the bottom so you can open the draw.


The Cheek Stain
The lid for the Cheek stain is a screw top, so once unscrewed you are presented with a hard clear plastic lid which unless you have long nails (thank ghoul i do) it rather frustrating to remove. I've never bought a Tarte cheek stain so leave a comment if you know that this is how they package all of their cheek stains.
After removing the plastic lid i would've been a little confused (if i hadn't have watched another review) as to how the cheek stain pops up, this could just be my ignorance, i'm not really one for blushes of any sorts. The cheek stain has a press up button on the bottom of the container.
The color in the tube is a very pretty blend between a crimson and a retro red with gold sparkles. When applied the color is a sweet rather natural blushy red/pink color, i know this is the color i turn when i blush, though i am extremely pale. I have heard a lot of reviews claiming that the gold sparkles don't transfer to the skin however this is not the case for me, in fact i love the gold shimmer appearance when the light hits my skin, not to heavy just there enough to give you a bit of a glow. Another thing to mention is that the cheek stain has a fragrance that is really hard to put a finger on and is not detectable once applied, i'm going to go with lemony citrus but if you have the product and have another suggestion please comment because it's driving me insane.
Alright onto the lip stain.


The Lip Stain
The lid for the lip stain simply slides off and i really like the crayon appearance of this lip stain, again i've heard this is how most of the lip stains by Tarte are packaged but most of my lip stains are in liquid form so this is a first for me. The product twists up, which could be a future problem when the point of the lip stain is lost. In the tube the product is a slightly coppery strawberry red with a very subtle golden tint. This time when applied the golden tint does not transfer (at least to my lips) and when swatched the color is very similar to that of the cheek stain just opaque. On the lips you get a different result because the stain is blending with your natural lip color, i tend to get a bit redder than the swatch. The lipstain has a pretty minty smell though i can't stand too much of it.

Swatches for LS and CS:

Palette
Putting aside the Palette's gorgeous appearance, when you open the draw there are three items presented in a furry red plastic setting. Which i love running my finger over :).
The first product in the draw is the Tarte, True Blood primer, which i have heard a lot about. The primer is in a simple black tube with a black lid unlike the cheek and lip stains. On the back it reads '51% decrease in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles' I haven't noticed that much difference between this and my Urban decay primer potion, they both last a night of clubbing and go on rather smoothly, so i probably wouldn't get the primer simply for that fact. Like the Urban Decay Primer Potion, the Tarte True Blood Primer has a doe foot applicator.

The second product in the draw is the Tarte for True Blood Mascara. It is also packaged in a black tube however this tube has snake skin printed all over it, which makes it stand out in the draw. On the back it reads 'Increases lash volume by 424%' at this point in time i can't really remember whether or no i've seen any difference in lash volume so i'll get back to you on that.

Now I have naturally really long eyelashes so i generally only use mascara to darken my lashes, however most of the brands i have tried tend to clump way to much on the wand, i'm currently using the Australian Designer Brands mascara because it has a short bristled plastic wand that i have not yet seen get clumpy. However that may change. The true blood mascara has a shortish bristled wand that is (correct me if i'm wrong) some form of synthetic hair, this wand is much softer than my Australian DB mascara and i am extremely happy to say DOES NOT CLUMP :) this is my new go to mascara when i'm going out somewhere other than just everyday because i really really love it but at the same time i don't want to run out.

The final product in the drawer is a black retractable eyeliner, again this is in a thin black tube, no patterning. The eyeliner reminds me of the cheap retractable eyeliners you can get in the $2 store here in Australia, it's a wind up gel eyeliner, unfortunately DO NOT wind up too much as at least mine anyway won't go back into the tube. The product itself lasts a decent amount of time, again it can with stand a night of clubbing, it doesn't smudge and leaves a hard line and i found it works great on my water line - unlike others that simply wipe off.
These three products are part of Tartes permanent collection just without the True Blood logo.


So now onto the part i know you've all been waiting for, the eyeshadows. :)
There are 17 eyeshadows in the Palette, i'll write them down in the order they are on the palette and give you a quick description. (Note: Camera went flat will upload proper swatches ASAP, for now please view Dustin's review video)

-The Light
 A very pale peachy cream color, for those of you who know the Crayola Crayon colors i'd say this is close to the Almond. This color blends out to the point where only the frost finish is seen on my pale skin.

-Fairy
Again a very pale pink shadow, it is almost a pink version of The Light. This is my highlighter as it really works well with pale skin, again it blends really well with pale skin.

-Dusk
This is the first of the four Matte shadows in this collection. It is a warm toned light brown.

-Dawn
A shimmering pastel yellow gold color. There is a bit of fall out with this color Not much else to say

-Werewolf
The second of the Mattes, this is a medium earthy brown.

-Waitress
A shimmering peachy color, the shimmer does make this product very fall outy and is definitely the hardest of the bunch to work with because of the loose flaky texture. Still a nice color and with a bit of effort you can make it work.

-Nocturnal
A matte black sprinkled with midnight blue glitter, i've heard a lot of people complain that when swatched and applied the blue glitter just doesn't transfer. I find that the blue glitter transfers well, again this could be my skin type but the blue definitely turns up and i have been complimented a hundred times on it.

-Charmer
A coppery apricot color, again it has a very frosty finish, in certain lights the yellow tones pick up more, in others the pink.

-Glamour Me
A deep plumish purple with a slight satin finish, very pigmented

-Stake
The third Matte in the bunch, Stake is a very true grey shade, without leaning to any other color, i have many greys that end up too blue in some lights but this is true grey through and through.

-Bayou
A gold shimmer, like dawn this also has undertones of yellow however this shade is truer to gold color and not pale.

-Telepath
A pinky rose color combined with silver glitter, a little bit of fall out with use however not like Waitress.

-The True Death
A bright and very true silver color, the pigment payoff on this is amazing and definitely grabs attention.

-Immortal
Another Matte black loaded with glitter, this time silver, in the pan this almost reminds me of the night sky. Again i've heard that like Nocturnal this shadow leaves the glitter in the pan however again i find the glitter does transfer onto your skin; when swatched this is a much dark black than Nocturnal

-Moss
An evergreen green that can depending on the colors you pair it with look more emerald this is one of my favorite colors and it also reminded me that i have very few green eyeshadows in my collection. This has a satinish finish.

-Legend
The final Matte, it is a soft black leaning more towards a charcoal color. Very strong color payoff

-"V"
A red burgandy shade that is littered with purple undertones. Cooler toned red.

Well that's it thank you for reading, i hope you found this entertaining and helpful.
Until next time,
Ashiie Imperfect xx

Lime Crime Lipstick: Haul and Review

Hey Ghouls;
I was at University today, wearing one of my favorite lipsticks and I had a lady ask me where she could get such vibrant colors; after informing her of the brand I was using and where she could get it. I decided that Lime Crime lipsticks would be my next review; which is perfect because a few weeks ago the two lipsticks from the new limited edition Lip Noir collection i didn't have arrived in the mail.
This is a review for the lipsticks only and is my experience.
I also will not tolerate comments hating or insulting me for my experiences or opinions.
I WAS NOT PAID FOR THIS REVIEW.

Lime Crime; Candy Future Lipstick.

Lime Crime creates a range of amazing VEGAN lipsticks, that are not tested on animals. (This fact is very important for me personally) As well as Lipsticks, they also have some dazzling eyeshadow powders they call 'magic dust'.
Each of the lipsticks comes in cute packaging, including a box featuring the partial reflective silver unicorn  logo of the company.

The lipsticks themselves don't disappoint with the pretty almost Mauve color and silver unicorn continuing onto the lipstick cases themselves.

Back and Front

Even before you apply the lime crime range of lipsticks, the fun beings with a cute match up of the unicorn across from the lid to the base. The use of a unicorn, the color purple and the holographic silhouetting in my opinion, (this may be completely coincidental) contributes to a fantasy like feel, unicorns being part of mythical legend, purple being a color strongly associated with magic and the silvery holographic can be compared to fairy dust.

The range itself consists of a range of 10 colors at the moment, however four of those limited editions, AND three of the lipsticks i will be reviewing are the limited edition Lip Noir collection. The range of colors is amazing, from stand out colors such as 'Mint to be' a light mint-green lipstick to more natural tones such as 'Coquette.'


So founder Doe-Deere has what she calls the unicorn shipper, which as i said in my introduction i received a few weeks back, (actually nearly a month ago).
The unicorn shipper is a cute little box, purple and white to match the packaging of the actual products. I've head a few people in reviews and so on, talk about getting purple tissue paper in their boxes, well I'm proud to say that i received lime green tissue paper. :) I'm not sure if this is the normal pamphlet they send out on top of my tissue paper i received a Lip Noir Booklet, with the 'tale of lip noir'.
I was surprised to see that one of my lipsticks had a different package to the others i've previously purchased and even the other lipstick that i'd bought at the same time from the same set.
This lipstick box was simply white writing without any of the holographic material on it.

The colors i will be reviewing here are 'RETROFUTURISTIC' and the limited edition Lip Noir Collection which includes the colors 'STYLETTO' (the returning black lipstick), 'CHINCILLA' and 'GLAMOUR 101'

For your benefit, I've taken a photo of the products both with and without a flash, though color will still vary based on your computer screens.

 Retrofuturistic; which is pictured to the left is the perfect pin-up, rockabilly red. It glides on easy and lasts a decent amount of time (with stands night clubbing) before fading, even then the color does stain your lips a little before completely washing off. Also doesn't dry out my lips however for those prone to dry and cracked lips you might want to add some lip balm just in case.
Works really well for traditional pin-up looks and is especially prominent on pale skin like mine.




 

   LIP NOIR                                                            

Styletto; A pure black, i have quite a few black lipsticks, most tend to be on the charcoal colored side of the spectrum, others just fade way too quickly, this is probably my favorite black lipstick, it gives a true black color has a glossy finish and doesn't dry out my lips. It also lasts a night of clubbing.

Chincilla; A very pale grey with purple undertones, i find that the purple does appear more on my skin tone than others. I first though when i purchased this that i would be too pale to wear it however the color does not wash me out like i anticipated and instead works with my skin tone. Beautifully smooth and does not dry out lips, have not tried this one clubbing but it managed to last an entire day of city travel and shopping (which was a rather hot day).

Glamour 101; This is a lovely Wine color, probably the most unoriginal of the set, i haven't got any wine colored red lipsticks however i know a few brands who do have similar colors. This is a gorgeous color, especially on my pale skin again this does not dry out your lips, it hasn't seemed to have lasted as long as the others while clubbing however it does stain the lips if wiped off so you have some color on your lips until you physically wash it off, which i find great since while clubbing i'll lick my lips, have a few drinks and so on.



SWATCHES:

I will be buying from Lime Crime again, i will be purchasing the My Beautiful Rocket and Oh No She Didn't unfortunately I am not too into the lighter pinks and purples so until more limited edition colors are released, (if anyone from Lime Crime is reading this i would really like some darker purples or magenta's) that will end my collection, however i do suggest that you have a good look around the site and find something perfect for you.

 For any of you interested in purchasing Lime Crime lipsticks here is the official visual lipstick guide which is always good to check just in case. :)

Thanks as always, hope you found this enjoyable and helpful.
Ashiie Imperfect xx