Tarte Full Blossom Natural Cheek Stain (Paraben/Phthalate Free)

I’ve been on a real cream/gel blush kick lately.  I’m not sure what inspired it.  Okay, yes I am.  It’s to do with my perpetual obsession with how large the pores on my face look–anyone who suffers from Rosacea is probably familiar with the unattractive orange peel texture your skin can manifest over time.  Anyways, I think I remember hearing or reading somewhere that cream/gel blushes are friendlier to large pores than powder.  Maybe?  I could also be having sleep-deprived hallucinations.  Who knows.  I do know that the desperate hope for my pores to appear smaller was what made me crazy enough to pony up $28 for this cheek stain.  And also the fact that it’s one of Tarte’s new ‘natural’ cheek stains that are paraben, mineral oil, preservative, and phthalate free.  Was it worth it?

The packaging for Full Blossom (can’t speak to Tarte’s other cheek stains as this is the only one I own) is pretty darn cute.  Pink push-up pop type tube, silvery lavender cap.  I like it much more than I like some of Tarte’s other packaging, which can look downright ghetto-fabulous what with all the quilted vinyl (is it vinyl? I think it is) on some of their products–A-list palette, I’m looking at you.  So the packaging at least was a pleasant surprise for me. 

The product itself looks absolutely delectable once you pop the cap off.  It looks like creamy-swirly strawberry goodness.  Sort of like a lifesaver pop.  There also appears to be enough of the blush to last just about forever, considering how many other blushes I own and how large the tube of Full Blossom is.  One more point in favor of the crazy price tag. 

Of course I had to put this on right away, never mind that my face was butt nekkid (unwashed, even!) and the Full Blossom was absolutely frigid from its winter journey.   Dirty skin and cold blush stick be damned!  On it went!  Surprisingly, it spread fairly well despite how chilly it was.  It didn’t feel so much like gel as cream when I rubbed it in with my fingers.  It went on a nice medium pink shade, no shimmer or glitter.  Seems to be fairly pigmented, so I wouldn’t want to try and apply this without a mirror.  My immediate reaction when I looked at myself after applying it was that it gave me a nice natural looking flush.  When I looked closer my skin still had noticeable pores.  Damn.  But to be fair, I didn’t prep my skin the way I should have before I tried this out. 

Another thing I’m not sure if I care for–as I’m sitting here a few hours after the first application I can still feel the product on my skin.  As in, I could probably still spread it around some more if I wanted to.  It never ’sank’ into my skin–I’m thinking this might not be good since most of us don’t want our makeup transfering to other people/objects or smearing around after we put it where we want it.  Maybe after I do my makeup properly and set this with powder that will change.  I really hope it will, because the color is lovely.

The bottom line: Points for the shade, packaging, paraben/phthalate free nature, and amount of product.  Minus points for how it made my pores look and for seeming to sit on top of my skin.  Do I think it’s worth $28?  Maybe.  Time will tell.  I’ll come back and update this post after I have a chance to try this out with primer, foundation, and powder.  For those of you lucky enough to be blessed with great skin, this will probably be a lovely everyday blush for you if you don’t mind (or can somehow fix) the fact that it doesn’t stay put after being applied.

Cheers!