My Problem with Tarte

Pictured above is the Taretlette 2 Tartelette in Bloom palette. I bought it in... March maybe? Around my birthday. I had a gift card. In any case, since that time, I've used it maybe twice. Purchased at the same time was the Too Faced Chocolate BonBons palette, which I reach for all the time. So, why don't I use it as much? It's a nice palette, sure. It's got some really pretty warm tones and a maroonish color, which I'm all about. It blends well. And it smells like chocolate (so does the Too Faced palette). I forced myself to use it recently and remembered why I don't really reach for it. I got a reasonably maroon smokey eye using the cream shade in the middle row, and the bottom row colors. Everything was fine until I went for Funny Girl, the shade that's circled. This color is fucking impossible. It's so damn stiff in the pan that you have to grind your brush into it. Used dry, there's little color pay off. Used wet, there's some color pay off. But overall, it's a shit eyeshadow and I expect more from a prestige brand. The other shimmer in the palette isn't this awful, so what the hell, Tarte?

Complaints about that one shadow aside, if you look at the palettes Tarte puts out, they're all the same. You literally only need to buy one Tarte palette because they're virtually identical. This palette isn't even very different from the original Tarte palette, except this one is more warm where the other was more cool (and apparently all matte). The Young, Wild, and Free palette, the Grav3yardgirl palette, Tartelette Tease palette, Showstopper palette, even their contour palettes all look the fucking same. There's no variety, no originality, no change. It's neutral palette after neutral palette and it's fucking boring.

Honestly, you get 12 shadows for $45, with one shadow that's absolute shit. Personally, I'd go for a Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette; you get 16 shadows for $49 with nice warm tones and in my experience, Too Faced shadows blend like a dream (I don't personally own this palette but I've played with it in Ulta). The collections and collaborations they come out with are also a lot more imaginative and varied (I'm still kicking myself for not getting the Ulta exclusive holiday palette).

I'm still going to make myself use my Tarte palette, because I bought it, and there are genuinely some really nice shades in it, but it's certainly not my favorite.