Hello ladies,
It’s time to review an eyeshadow palette again! This is the palette I have been using for the last week – ever since the order got delivered. This was my first experience shopping with Tarte – both, in terms of the first time that I bought a Tarte product and also the first time that I directly shopped from Tarte Cosmetics website. Though I had “almost” purchased the Tarte Tartelette in Bloom palette at least a dozen times, but something made me stop each time. I used to love the packaging on that palette even though I have seen only pictures and not the palette itself. Finally, I gave in and picked up my first order from Tarte, which contained this fairly new palette and some base products. So, let us find out more about this palette.
Product Description:
What it is: A portable, tarteist Pro palette with six exclusive, metallic and matte shades that are enriched with Amazonian clay. Feel like a makeup artist wherever you go with this high-performance PRO palette. It includes four new, long-wearing matte and metallic eyeshadows that are infused with Amazonian clay for smooth blending and flake-resistant wear, and two iridescent shades with a micro-shimmer, duo-chrome formula. Each shadow is loaded with deeply concentrated mineral pigments with a smart-blend technology to leave you with the same even, intense payoff as the original tarteist Pro palette—now with natural-looking, artistry shades for a complete, travel-ready collection. This palette contains:
– 6 x 0.03 oz/ 0.86 g Eyeshadow in Drive (nude), Stylin (brown), Boss (bronze), Hype (gold), Crisp (chestnut), Dominate (shimmering raspberry). It is formulated without parabens, phthalates. What else you need to know: This product is dermatologist tested, ophthalmologist tested, and safe for contact lens wearers.
Price:
USD 23 for 6 X 0.85 gm of product.
Packaging:
The palette consist of a cardboard packaging. It is black in colour with gold detailing and a velvety smooth finish. If you touch it while your hand has some eyeshadow, it instantly sticks to the palette and is difficult to get rid of. There is a decent sized mirror, which is big enough to actually be used on-the-go. This is one of the newest offerings form Tarte and the “Pro to Go” range is supposed to be the travel-friendly range, which means that the palette is small. Actually, it is really really small, the size of a credit card. The eyeshadow wells are the size of blazer buttons. While it isn’t so small that it would be difficult to dip your brushes into – let me just say – be aware of the size before purchasing.
There seems to be some market for these small palettes because a number of companies are coming up with their version of it – from Pro to Go from Tarte to the dismal Too Faced Chocolate Chip palettes to the plethora of Smashbox palettes (I reviewed Ablaze for you some time back) to Viseart’s Petite pro palette (soon to be reviewed)!
The other thing about a travel-friendly palette – “Pro To Go”, apart from the convenient size is that it needs to be sturdy enough to manage travel. It needs to be able to withstand a bit of movement – else, it isn’t really good “to GO.” Considering my palette – packed by the company itself – reached me with one of the shades broken, says how sturdy (or not) the packaging of the product is and how likely it is to withstand travel. This comes as a surprise to me – from another aspect. Yes, there are times when you receive a powder product which is broken in transit, it is understandable. More often than not, this would be a scenario when the pan in question is either too big – like a blush palette or the new highlighter palettes, doing the rounds. Or if the pan is too big (in diameter) as well as too thin (the amount of product does not run deep) – as in the case of Jeffree Star’s Skin Frosts. However, in this case, the pans are extremely small and the packaging around is cardboard, which should ideally provide buffer and prevent the powders inside to shatter. Surprise! Surprise!!
My Experience with Tarte tarteist Pro To Go Palette:
As I have mentioned earlier, this is literally my first purchase from Tarte, so I had no other palette from their range to compare to. The palette has 6 shades – 3 mattes and 3 shimmer shades. The palette is definitely warm toned. Overall, the range of shades seemed good, especially of our medium skin tone since there are shades which are light enough to work for setting the primer and their are shades dark enough for a smokey eye look or for really darkening the outer V.
Let us discuss the shades in detail now:
1. Drive: First shade in the top row. This is a creamy matte beige shade with a subtle hint of pink in it. The shade has a smooth, satiny texture with a little powdery kick up. The shade has good pigmentation; however, it does sheer out easily. This is great when you want to use it to set the primer because you don’t really want the shade to show up. However, when using this shade as part of the eye look, I feel it applies well but once you try blending it with a mother shade, it sheers out and needs to be reapplied.
2. Stylin: Middle shade in the top row. This is the darkest shade in the palette, a deep brown with hints of taupe and purple. The texture was consistent with the shade Drive – it was smooth, satiny with a little bit of powdery kick up when your brush touches the pan. The shade had good pigmentation – you get the darkness and depth of the colour that you see in the pan itself. It was easy to blend.
3. Boss: This is the third shade in the top row. This is the shade which came broken in my palette. I have reset it using isopropyl alcohol. However, I walk on eggshells when I have this palette in my hand. This is a deep metallic bronze shade with excellent pigmentation. The texture itself feels buttery smooth but a little thick, not as thick as the Natasha Denona or Juvia’s Place shimmers, but it isn’t as light as KVD Metal Crush either. I found this shade to apply more easily on its own – rather than on top of a matte shade. So, if I incorporate it in a look on its own and blend out the edges, it’s great. If I apply it as a pop of shimmer on top of an existing matte look, it does not see to adhere as well.
4. Hype: This is the first shade in the bottom row. This shade is well named “Hype”. It is definitely the best performing shade in the whole palette. It is a highly metallic warm gold with a slight copper/peach tinge/shift. A little goes a long way with this because it’s super pigmented. The texture feels dense. It reminded me of the high shine and dense metallics in Natasha Danona’s line. However, it did not seem to emphasise texture on the lids.
5. Crisp: This is the middle shade in the bottom row. This is the third matte shade in the palette – a medium dark orange-toned brown. Again, the texture is creamy, satiny smooth and finely milled. this one seemed to kick up much more powder than the other two matte shades in the palette. This is the perfect crease colour doing rounds nowadays – a warm orange-toned brown. No palette seems complete without this or similar shade in it.
6. Dominate: The last shade in the bottom row. This is the shade which adds a bit more dimension to the whole palette by shifting it from the more neutral tones. The shade is the third shimmer shade in the palette and is similar in texture and pigmentation to the shade Boss, rather than the shade “Hype.” It is a plummy shimmer shade – not quite as high shine/metallic as “Hype”.The texture is again dense like Boss. However, this shade was easy to work with on its own or layered over a matte shade.
Texture: I have discussed the texture of the individual shades while discussing each of them. The mattes are extremely finely milled, smooth but tend to be powdery. The shimmer shades are smooth with a dense texture. All shades were easy to work with and blend out. The only exception was “Boss” – which, as the name suggests, preferred to work on its own rather than over something else! 😉 Also, the rest of the shades work well together and are easy to blend.
Pigmentation: I have discussed pigmentation with individual shades. Most of the shades worked well with “Hype” being a clear winner where a little really went a long way. “Drive” tends to sheer out on blending but isn’t too bad to work with. Also, as I have mentioned already – if you are using it to set the eye primer – it does help that the shade sheers out. Another thing, I do like the fact that the shades apply true to pan. I have seen palettes where you need to keep going back to ensure the shade shows up similar (not even same) to the shade in the pan – this wasn’t the case with this palette.
Staying Power: Disclaimer – I apply my eyeshadows with a primer because my lids are way too oily. Without a primer, the shadows don’t stay more than 3-4 hours on my oily lids. With a primer, I get about 7.5-8 hours of wear time.
Pros of Tarte tarteist Pro To Go Palette:
- Interesting array of colours, not unique but easy to work with.
- A good mix of shades which allow you to do a complete look.
- Good variety of textures – 3 basic warm toned mattes and 3 metallic shimmer shades.
- Smooth texture.
- Decent wear time with primer.
- No creasing.
- The colours blend easily and mesh very well together – except for the shade “Boss.”
- Did not irritate my eyes.
- Possible to do – daily office look or a more fun look – despite the limited shades in the palette.
- Decent price point.
- A good pick for someone new to wearing eyeshadows – lower price point, still a decent mix of shade and good quality.
Cons of Tarte tarteist Pro To Go Palette:
- The packaging though seems decent and sturdy, I now handle my palette extremely carefully – lest it fall.
- The matte shades can be powdery and kick up dust – resulting in wastage of product.
Would advise tapping the brush before application – especially mattes – to avoid fall out.
IMBB Rating:
4/5
I do like this palette despite the state it came in. I think the product is of good quality, the mix of shades and the fact that it has a mix of textures that allow you to be able to do a full look with just one palette. Considering there were only 6 shades to play with, it would have been relatively easy for some basic shade to go missing. However, I think the palette is well thought of and executed. The extra pop of colours allows for the palette to add variety to the looks one can create with it.
Do I Recommend Tarte tarteist Pro To Go Palette?
Definitely.
Is it a must have? I don’t think it is a must have palette since the shades aren’t unique and even the plummy burgundy shade has been done often by others. So, if you have been a palette hoarder since a while, you will probably have all these shades a number of times, already. And may not find this palette calling your name.
Who would benefit from buying this?
Someone new to the eyeshadow game but wants to buy something better than what the drugstore offers, but not wiling to put down $40 or so for a palette which they may/may not use. This could work well for someone who is an occasional eyeshadow wearer. So, while the person may not use eyeshadows too often, it would help to buy this palette instead of buying a couple of individual shadows – since it has the base shade, the transition shade, etc too. Someone who travels – The palette size is conducive to travelling. Does it withstand the vagaries of travel, I guess the jury is still out on that.
If you have any more questions pertaining tot he palette, please feel free to ask through the comments section.
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