tarte Precious Gems Review

When QVC advertised a set of eyeshadows in little shimmery pots of color along with a brush, I was giddy with interest. I had only been using pressed and loose powder shadows up until that point, which worked, but left me wanting a bit more as far as color payoff and longevity. The tarte Precious Gems Waterproof Cream Shadow Collection is infused with Amazonian clay and came in four wearable, neutral toned shades. It cost me about $40 with shipping. The colors are:

shimmering moss, a golden green

plum smoke, a rich plum

pink champagne, a shimmer pink

shimmering golden beige, a shimmer nude

First off, as nonessential information as this might seem, it's crucial - those cute little pots were SUPER difficult to open. It literally took me 10 minutes to get into one. However, after you're finally in, you're good. There is definitely a lot of product in the containers, it has a smooth and creamy feel. I tried applying the shades with and without a primer, and have better results with. Of the four colors my favorites are the pink champagne and golden beige. Next I'd pick the plum smoke. The jury's still out on the shimmering moss. Maybe it's my caramel coloring, but it just doesn't look so hot...

Being a lover of brushes, I first tried to apply the color with the brush on my eyelid, the results were kind of sad. I had to dab the brush into the color repeatedly, but it didn't seem to apply smoothly. It almost seemed like the brush bristles were too waxy for the color to properly adhere, so I tried using one of my e.l.f. Studio brushes instead. The brush pretty much sucked the color right up. I opted instead to use my finger, but the color didn't seem to apply seamlessly, so I used more of a "dab, dot, blend" method which worked fairly well.

Alternately, I will say that the brush worked extremely well when applying the color to as highlight to my brow brown and inner corner of my eye, which I use my two favorites for - but none of that was worth what I paid for it. I personally just don't feel that there's anything spectacular about this collection and I should have just sent it back, but I was determined to make it work. I had never used any of tarte's products before, but given their often rave reviews I am still interested in trying other products in the future.