Tarte Holiday 2012, LipSurgence Collector's Set - First Impressions and Swatches


Here's another installment of the Tarte Holiday Collection that I come to share with you ^.^
I bought the Tarte LipSurgence Holiday Set last year and it did not disappoint! In fact, I got one for my mother as well and we both wore these year round, non-stop until we ran out. I even regretted not buying two sets because the deal is just amazing! You get 5 full size LipSurgence for $34 when one costs $24. It's a fantastic deal, especially for 5 amazing products. The reason why I love these is that not only are they really convenient to use and carry around with you (I adore the twist up mechanism instead of having to sharpen these!), but they feel amazing on my dry lips! If you've read my review on MAC or ZuZu Luxe lipsticks, you'll know that I have a really hard time wearing lipsticks. For years and years, I had to default to lipgloss. The LipSurgences are moisturizing enough that they feel really comfortable on my lips but wear much lighter and for far longer than glosses which tend to feel heavier and sticky (don't get me wrong though, I love glosses, but sometimes you want a different look, different feel, etc). I was so hooked by these that I actually went back several times to the Tarte Counter to check out the permanent collection. However, I kept thinking that I preferred the colors from the Holiday Set better than any of the permanent ones! I'll admit I didn't love every color from the last set equally and that's what kept me from buying a spare set, but if you love at least 2 colors, it's already worth it, then you can just gift the others! Hopefully this will help you decide whether you need one ( or maybe two?) of these ^.~ So without further ado, here are the close-ups (photos on the left have the names of each color) and swatches:






 From left to right: Elite, Sweet, Exposed, Enchanted and Escape.
 One more in slightly different lighting:

I'll be very honest, I'm slightly less tempted to get a second set this year (though, who knows, I might regret this in a few months…) because the colors do look very similar to each other. Don't get me wrong, they are all different in shades and in texture which according to Tarte are the following 3 finishes: Elite & Enchanted are "Tints" meaning they are sheered non-shimmery shades (they pack on a nice amount of color as you can see from the swatches but they have some transparency to them); Exposed is a "Matte", quite pigmented shade, quite opaque; and Sweet and Escape are translucent (somewhat like the tints),  shimmery "Lusters". Sweet has light pink and gold fine shimmer which warms it up and escape has light pink and silver making it cooler.
From my experience with the different textures, they are all moisturizing, though lusters and tints are better at that. The matte formula lasts the longest. All 3 formulas leave a bit of a stain on my lips after they wear off, which I love because my lips are not very pigmented and I look like a ghost if I don't have some color on my lips so I'm always worried that I'll look sickly when my lip color fades, lol! 
I've tested only one color so far, the Lip Tint in Elite. The nice shiny pigmented finish only lasted about 2 hours but the stain (though not as pigmented as the actual color when you first apply it) stayed another 3 extra hours. It did leave my lips feeling incredibly moisturized even after it faded. 
My point about the colors though, is that even though you can tell each one of them apart, they are all varying finishes of pink. Some are slightly more yellow based (Elite and Sweet ), others are slightly more blue (Enchanted and Escape), Exposed is a brownish nude pink but still, they seem too similar to me to merit having 2 of each. That said, I'm very happy with my set, and think this is an amazing deal!! These colors will all serve me very well on an everyday basis.

How about you? Have you given this Holiday set a try? What did you think? 


 INGREDIENTS: (Escape) Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, C10-30 Cholesterol/Lanosterol Esters, Isostearyl Isostearate, Polyethylene, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Castor Oil Bis-Hydroxypropyl Dimethicone Esters, Pentaerythrityl Hydrogenated Rosinate, Hydrogenated Castor Oil/Sebacic Acid Copolymer, Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate, Candelilla Cera/Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax/Cire De Candelilla, Cera Alba/Beeswax/Cire D’abeille, Cera Carnauba/Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax/Cire De Carnauba, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil), Dimethyl Isosorbide, Stevioside, Salicornia Herbacea Extract, Limonene, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-14, Linalool, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Tocopherol, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Mica, Carmine (CI 75470). May Contain/Peut Contenir/(+/-): Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Red 6 Lake (CI 15850), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090).

(Enchanted)
Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceide, Vegetable Oil, Candelilla Cera/Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax/Cire De Candelilla, Cera Alba/Beeswax/Cire D’abeille, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Castor Oil Bis-Hydroxypropyl Dimethicone Esters, Ozokerite, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Stevioside, Salicornia Herbacea Extract, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-14, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Tocopherol, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Red 27 (CI 45410). (+/-): Iron Oxides (CI 77492, CI 77499), Red 28 Lake (CI 45410), Red 28 (CI 45410), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140).

(Exposed)
Octyldodecanol, Candelilla Cera/Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax/Cire De Candelilla, C12-15 Alkyl Ethylhexanoate, Isopropyl Palmitate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Silica, Nylon -12, VP/Eicosene Copolymer, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax /Cera Carnauba/Cire De Carnauba, Phenyl Trimethicone, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Hydrogenated Coco-Glycerides, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Caprylic/ Capric Triglyceride, Propylene Carbonate, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Dimethicone, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbitan Stearate, Benzophenone-3, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Saccharin, Castor Oil Bis-Hydroxypropyl Dimethicone Esters, Retinyl Palmitate, Salicornia Herbacea Extract, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-14, Tin Oxide, Mica. (+/-): Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77489, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Red 6 Lake & Red 7 Lake (CI 15850), Red 27 Lake (CI 45410), Red 40 Lake (CI 16035), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Yellow 6 Lake (CI 15985), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090).

(Sweet)
Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, C10-30 Cholesterol/Lanosterol Esters, Isostearyl Isostearate, Polyethylene, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Castor Oil Bis-Hydroxypropyl Dimethicone Esters, Pentaerythrityl Hydrogenated Rosinate, Hydrogenated Castor Oil/Sebacic Acid Copolymer, Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate, Candelilla Cera/Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax/Cire De Candelilla, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Cera Alba/Beeswax/Cire D’abeille, Cera Carnauba/Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax/Cire De Carnauba, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil), Dimethyl Isosorbide, Stevioside, Salicornia Herbacea Extract, Limonene, Tin Oxide, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-14, Linalool, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Tocopherol, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Silica, Mica. May Contain/Peut Contenir/(+/-): Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850).

(Elite)
Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Olus/Vegetable Oil/Huile Végétale, Candelilla Cera/Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax/Cire De Candelilla, Cera Alba/Beeswax/Cire D’abeille, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Castor Oil Bis-Hydroxypropyl Dimethicone Esters, Ozokerite, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil), Dimethyl Isosorbide, Stevioside, Salicornia Herbacea Extract, Limonene, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-14, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Tocopherol, Linalool, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850), Red 27 (CI 45410), Iron Oxides (CI 77499).

PRICE: $34 (5 LipSurgence with 0.1oz each)

CONS: These aren't 100% Natural or organic.

BOTTOM LINE: As with the Holiday Blush Set, I haven't had a chance to test these out on my lips for possible adverse reactions and wear time, but I will update the post as soon as I've tested all the shades.

WHERE TO BUY: www.sephora.com


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