Tarte Cosmetics Double Duty Beauty Eye & Cheek Palette Reviews

Today I’ll be reviewing Tarte Cosmetics’ Double Duty Eye & Cheek Palettes in Classic Courage and Sultry Star Power.

***Update 1/2018: I am selling these barely used/like new palettes to make room in my makeup collection. Please contact me for details at completenaturalclarity@gmail.com***

Tarte Cosmetics is a mainstream brand that is well known, as they can be found at stores such as Ulta and Sephora, as well as their site: tartecosmetics.com. This is the first line of products that I’ll be reviewing under the “Cruelty-free” line of cosmetics, as opposed to all-natural, although Tarte does include some natural ingredients in their products and they are completely free from the following ingredients: “ALWAYS FORMULATED WITHOUT: parabens • mineral oil • phthalates • triclosan • sodium lauryl sulfate • gluten”

Tarte is one of my secret obsessions in the makeup industry because they come out with the cutest, most attractive packaging that is most similar to mainstream, conventional makeup products. Their packaging is always very pretty with an edge and I’ve amassed quite a collection of Tarte Products. Their formulas do, however, vary from product to product and some products are made in the USA, while others are manufactured in China. There has been a big upheaval because Tarte relatively recently was bought out by a Japanese brand called Kose that does test on animals, however, Tarte Cosmetics has remained a cruelty-free company themselves, even though they are now owned by a non-cruelty free parent company.

There is a lot of debate in the cruelty-free beauty community about whether or not it is okay to support cruetly-free brands that are under the wing of a non-cruelty free parent company, since some of the proceeds from the cruelty-free brand are still going to support the non-cruelty free parent company. However, my personal view is that I believe consumer demand is very powerful and in order to keep cruelty-free companies afloat, we need to support cruelty-free companies, regardless of the status of their parent companies. (You’d be AMAZED how many mini/big companies are owned by huge non-cruelty free brands such as Loreal). The more we support cruelty-free companies with our money, the more we show how important it is for the company to remain cruelty-free.

Only supporting cruelty-free companies is so important because the animal testing and overall treatment of animals for the sake of testing cosmetic ingredients is absolutely horrifying, to say the least. Please research this if you are unaware of how animals are brutally treated for the sake of a makeup product. The MAJORITY of drug store makeup brands, cheap makeup makeup brands, are NOT cruelty-free. If a brand is sold in China, China mandates that all of their cosmetics are tested on animals in order to be sold in China, therefore any products sold in China are automatically not cruelty-free.

Leaping Bunny is a great resource to google to look into brands that have maintained a clean cruelty-free status. It’s sad to know that there are also many brands that claim to be cruelty free and simply are not.

On to the review at hand!

Today, I will be reviewing two Double Duty  Eye and Cheek palettes that have been recently released by Tarte last week.

May the Starlight Be Your Spotlight aka Sultry Star Power Palette

Eye & Cheek Palette

The palette is beautifully packaged in a sturdy purple compact with a sheen.

Back of palette:

The palette has a sturdy magnetic closure and is fairly thick, which means it should hold up very well during travel.

The palette contains a very nice sized mirror.

All of the names of each shade are included in the palette!

The palette contains five eyeshadows and one full sized blush.

From top to bottom:

Star Power Blush–Mid-tone dusty rose with some warmth and slight shimmer that is more apparent in the pan than on the skin. Beautiful color! This shade is pigmented, smooth, blends easily, and would suit many different skin tones.

Stiletto Eyeshadow–Matte Black–not the most pigmented of black shades. I had to layer when I applied this as a liner. You can see the slight patchiness in my swatch.

Twilight–a mid-tone taupey grey–great crease color or to darken the outer V.

Sparks Fly–a mid-tone beautiful bronze with some plum undertones and a golden sheen

Ladies Night–a light-medium taupe with mauve undertones, which is a beautiful transition color or a light crease color for soft, natural looks.

Glimmer–A light, shimmery golden, pink champagne color that is quite shimmery, but looks beautiful in the inner corner, center of the lid, or all over the lid.

The only shade this palette is lacking is a basic matte pale ivory color for a soft brow bone highlight and and all over the lid shade to set eye primer. You can use Glimmer for this purpose, but you’ll get more of a shimmery look, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

Overall, this is a great palette to use for soft, neutral looks or to amp up your look for a full on smokey eye! My only complaint is that the shades kick up quite a bit of powder when I was swatching them and when you place your brush in the pan. The palette has a slight vanilla scent, which seems to be something Tarte is including in most of their new palettes.

Look with me wearing all of the colors in this palette:

She Dreamed She Believed & She Succeeded aka Classic Courage Palette

Double Duty Eye & Cheek Palette

From Top to Bottom:

Courage Blush: A warm pink/rose, peach nude that is matte. This is a beautiful everyday color for Spring! It adds the perfect flush to the cheeks to make you look healthy, awake, and alive. Great for the office, or for smokey eye looks.

Trailblazer: A mid-tone warm matte sable brown that is great for the crease and can also double as a brow powder (depending on your hair color).

Lucky Penny: A rose-gold, bronze shade with a hint of plum that is mid-tone with golden sheen.

Smile On: A deep warm brown shade with golden sheen and a bit of a red undertone. This would make a great liner or a deeper color to add to the outer V to deepen up your eye look.

Rosy Outlook: A light golden peach with gold sheen. It’s almost a very pale rose-gold. Beautiful one color wash! Also perfect for adding to the inner corner or center of the lid to brighten your eye look.

Rise and Shine: A soft, yellow-based ivory beige shade that’s matte and is perfect for setting your eye primer, applying all over the lid and using as a brow bone highlight. You can barely see the swatch on my arm because the shade blends into my skin.

These colors are smooth, pigmented, and buttery soft. However, they also create a lot of powder kick up when swatched and when you dip your brush into the pan. Not a deal-breaker for me, but it is something to consider.

Photo of me wearing every eyeshadow shade in the palette, as well as the blush:

***Note: this particular palette kicks up A LOT of powder! I did one small swipe with my Real Techniques blush brush in the middle of the blush pan and powder went everywhere! Tarte is never consistent with their formulas, so each palette that they release (including palettes manufactured within the US) vary, therefore the quality isn’t always equal. The eyeshadow pans kick up an equal amount of powder, as well. I had trouble blending some of the shades in this particular palette, more-so than with the Starlight palette. The shades are pigmented, though!***

The blush in this palette reminds me a lot of the blush in the Energy Noir palette, except this blush in Courage kicks up a lot more powder and is slightly more rosey in tone.

Side by Side Comparison

Each palette retails for $28 each and can be found on tartecosmetics.com

I love the positive words on each palette, which I find to be inspiring and empowering. May the Starlight be Your Spotlight is more of a cool-toned palette, whereas She Dreamed, She Believed, & She Succeeded is more of a warm-toned palette. It’s up to you which one you feel you’d get more use out of, or maybe you’d like both! I think I’ll be reaching for both palettes quite a bit! I’m very impressed with the overall quality and I love that the formula does not irritate my sensitive eyes or skin.

Ingredients: (Taken from tartecosmetics.com)

eyeshadow: 1g/0.035 Fl. Oz x 5, blush: 5.40g /0.19 Fl. Oz

smile on Ingredients: Mica, ethylhexyl palmitate, talc, boron nitride, zinc stearate, phenoxyethanol, caprylyl glycol, hexylene glycol, caprylic/capric triglyceride, vanilla plantifolia fruit extract, vanillin, sodium dehydroacetate, kaolin, silica, magnesium aluminum silicate (argilla), montmorillonite, carmine (CI 75470), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), titanium dioxide (CI 77891), ferric ferrocyanide (CI 77510).

rosy outlook Ingredients: Mica, talc, ethylhexyl palmitate, zinc stearate, boron nitride, phenoxyethanol, caprylyl glycol, hexylene glycol, caprylic/capric triglyceride, vanilla plantifolia fruit extract, vanillin, silica, sodium dehydroacetate, kaolin, magnesium aluminum silicate (argilla), montmorillonite, carmine (CI 75470), titanium dioxide (CI 77891), manganese violet (CI 77742), yellow 5 lake (CI 19140), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), ultramarines (CI 77007).

rise & shine Ingredients: Talc, mica, silica, boron nitride, zinc stearate, ethylhexyl palmitate, phenoxyethanol, caprylyl glycol, hexylene glycol, caprylic/capric triglyceride, vanilla plantifolia fruit extract, vanillin, sodium dehydroacetate, kaolin, magnesium aluminum silicate (argilla), montmorillonite, titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499).

lucky penny Ingredients: Mica, talc, ethylhexyl palmitate, silica, boron nitride, zinc stearate, phenoxyethanol, caprylyl glycol, hexylene glycol, caprylic/capric triglyceride, vanilla plantifolia fruit extract, vanillin, sodium dehydroacetate, kaolin, magnesium aluminum silicate (argilla), montmorillonite, carmine (CI 75470), titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), manganese violet (CI 77742), bismuth oxychloride (CI 77163), ferric ferrocyanide (CI 77510).

trailblazer Ingredients: Talc, mica, silica, ethylhexyl palmitate, boron nitride, zinc stearate, phenoxyethanol, caprylyl glycol, hexylene glycol, caprylic/capric triglyceride, vanilla plantifolia fruit extract, vanillin, sodium dehydroacetate, kaolin, magnesium aluminum silicate (argilla), montmorillonite, carmine (CI 75470), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), manganese violet (CI 77742).

courage Ingredients: Talc, mica, silica, ethylhexyl palmitate, boron nitride, zinc stearate, phenoxyethanol, caprylyl glycol, hexylene glycol, caprylic/capric triglyceride, vanilla plantifolia fruit extract, vanillin, sodium dehydroacetate, kaolin, magnesium aluminum silicate (argilla), montmorillonite, carmine (CI 75470), manganese violet (CI 77742), ultramarines (CI 77007), titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499).

formulated without parabens, formulated without mineral oil, formulated without  phthalates, formulated without sodium lauryl sulfates, formulated without gluten

Do you think you’ll be picking up either of these palettes? Tarte released a BUNCH of new products this week, but these are the only palettes that contain blushes, so I was most interested in these products. I personally tend to stay away from their liquid cosmetics, due to the fact that the ingredients are questionable and the preservatives are usually high up on the list (you want the preservative to be way at the bottom of the list for safety reasons).

As for Tarte’s pressed products, most rate as low-hazard on EWG’s Skin Deep Database, which is a great web site that rates the overall toxicity-level in products on the market.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope you’ve found this review to be helpful!

Have a beautiful day!

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***All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me with my own money. All opinions are my own.***