Tarte Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Eyeshadow Palette

The palette we're looking at today, Tarte Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Eyeshadow Palette,  is somewhat of an alternative to the one from yesterday, Viseart 01 Neutral Matte. Let's make it it clear, though: this is not a duplicate or even similar, but both are high quality matte eye shadow palettes that offer twelve neutral everyday colors in a somewhat close ballpark.

Tarte Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Eyeshadow Palette stands fully on its own. The texture of the eye shadows is incredibly creamy (far softer to the touch than the Viseart, for better and for worse. It means that the powder is not pressed very tightly). The softness is what caused the cloudy mess you see above as a result of shipping from Sephora. It's not a huge deal, and the silkiness of the texture makes up for it. The colors are somewhat cooler and generally lighter than the Viseart, thus I see them as complementing each other more than competing. In any case, if you're mixing them take care care not to over-blend, since the Tarte colors can create some muddiness if overworked.

A couple of words regarding size/weight/value. Some people consider the Viseart to be incredibly expensive (~ $80) for a smallish palette in a simple plastic packaging. Now, the Tartelette is considerably more impressive, even though the dimensions of the palette are only slightly larger. The compact is heavier and has a satisfying heft. However, when you check the actual amount of product, it gives considerable less than Viseart. Compare Viseart with 24 grams/0.840 oz to Tarte's 18 grams/ 0.636 oz. Value is up to you to decide, of course.

Here's what you get in this Tarte palette:

1 (Free Spirit) A basic ivory
2 (Force of Nature) A warm nude with a peachy tinge
3 (Dreamer) A basic medium brown, perfect as a crease color.
4 (Multi-tasker) Bittersweet chocolate
5 (Caregiver) Shell pink. Completely useless for me, but the pale cool-toned among you will probably love it. A bit less matte than the other ones, which nearly cost me my sanity when trying to photograph it.
6 (Natural Beauty) Mauve
7 (Best Friend) Berry-flavored yogurt.
8 (Bombshell) The people at Tarte claim it's a dark plum, but on my skin and lid it's brown. An espresso color, to be exact.
9 (Super Mom) Light beige, somewhere between ivory and champagne.
10 (Wanderer) Warm tobacco brown
11 (Power Player) Taupe, yay!
12 (Fashionista)  A true black, quite explosive, to be used with a small delicate brush.

So there you have it. This is an excellent palette even if the colors are not exactly original. Personally I may prefer the texture of the Viseart better, because it allows more precision, but Tartelette is still so lovely, smooth and easy to work with that I find it a true staple (especially if you're sane and don't have several drawers full of eye shadow palettes).

Tarte Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Eyeshadow Palette ($44) is available at Ulta, Sephora, and directly from tartecosmetics.com.