REVIEW: Tarte Maracuja Cheek Tint

I don't know if I've told you all enough, but I really like blushes. I saw these Tarte Maracuja Cheek Tints in Sheer Red & Light Nectar at TKMaxx and felt they were right up my alley — fresh colour on the cheeks from a pump applicator (meaning something liquid-y and natural that provides a different finish from powder blush products). Since they were at TKMaxx, I'm not sure if they are discontinued, but let's get into the review first to see if it is something you may or may not be interested in.

My first impression was that I loved them. I used a small stipple brush to work it into the apples of my cheeks and they gave a great natural flush of colour. I already knew from swatching them on the back of my hand they were incredibly long-lasting. These tints stain. My hand was tinged with cherry red and an apricot-y peach colour for days. But the more I wore it, and the more discerning of an eye I used while applying it, the more problems arose.

The consistency of the product is actually a gel, but the colour is by no means sheer. It's very pigmented, and with this pump it's difficult to control the amount of product that comes out. The pump must be almost completely pushed to the bottom of its extent before any comes out, and sometimes not even then despite this being a new bottle.

Like I said, this product stains, so how to apply it without staining either the back of your hand or fingers is a mystery to me. If you have a mixing palette that would be ideal, but I'm not a makeup artist who has that on hand! BUT even if you did, this product applies patchy with a brush. I could not for the life of me get an even distribution of colour no matter how long I buffed; it's like it stuck to my foundation in different areas. The only way I got an even application was using my (colour-stained) fingers and applying it directly to my cheeks, but then it moved my foundation essentially out of its way, and the edges of my blush were extremely obvious. I felt like a doll with round circles of rouge on my cheeks! Good for Halloween maybe, but not every day.

In the photos above, I have Sheer Red on my left cheek (the one showing in the right photograph) and Light Nectar on my right. I applied these with my fingers straight to cheeks — see obvious round patch of blush.

Basically, I like the finish of this gel because it gave a nice plump and glowing effect to the face, but it might not be worth all the work it takes to make it appear natural and seamless. The concept was there, but execution was disappointing. I will keep working with it to see if I find the secret to its application. Maybe a beauty blender sponge?