Tarte Mini Cheek Stains

I have a love-hate relationship with Tarte's Cheek Stains. On the plus side, they are very easy to use, give a natural flush of colour and come in a great variety of shades. The minis are super adorable and convenient to tote around. The base of the minis is fully-enclosed, unlike the full sized cheek stains so there's less risk of leakage from the bottom. These are water-based with no alcohol so they should suit even oily, sensitive skin types.

On the minus side, the quality and texture varies among the different shades. I could never get Cloud 9 and Dollface to show up on me. The cheek stains also 'sweat' in hot and humid climates so they can get quite messy in the summer and I have to check them regularly to see if they are leaking. For that reason, I store my Tarte cheek stains in their own separate compartment so that any leakage does not get onto other makeup. Nevertheless, come every holiday season, I can never resist picking up Tarte's mini cheek stain trio sets.

Today, I thought I'd share some pics of my mini cheek stain collection. Here's the whole line-up: (from left to right) Sugar Baby, Glitzed, Tipsy, True Love, Tickled, Blushing Bride, Enchanted, Merry and Delighted
(With flash)


(Without flash)


(Top row, L to R): Sugar Baby, Glitzed, Tipsy, True Love, Tickled
(Bottom row, L to R): Enchanted, Merry, Delighted, Blushing Bride


Here's some pics of the interior:
(With flash, L to R)
Top Row: Tipsy, Delighted, True Love
Middle Row: Glitzed, Merry, TIckled
Bottom Row: Sugar Baby, Enchanted, Blushing Bride


(Without flash)


Blushing Bride, Sugar Baby and Tipsy are from the Glow on the Gow set from Christmas 2004. Paradise Found was released for Christmas 2005 and it had Flush, Dollface and Snow Bunny but I didn't get this set since I already had Flush and disliked Dollface. The Christmas 2006 The Good Life set had Tipsy, True Love and Glitzed in a gold pouch. And We Wish You Happiness was released for this year's holiday season, featuring three brand new shades, Enchanted, Merry and Delighted. The sets usually retail for US$30 so they are a great way to try out a few shades without committing to a full-sized cheek stain. I've never managed to finish a mini cheek stain, much less a full-sized one. These simply last a really really long time, unless you re-apply several times a day.

My favourites are the non-shimmery red/pink/berry shades like Flush, True Love, Blushing Bride and Tickled which are the easiest to apply and blend, unlike the shimmery shades which are trickier due to their texture. If you're thinking of trying Tarte's cheek stains for the first time, I would highly recommend the We Wish You Happiness set as all three shades are lovely with good color payoff. Merry looks like a cross between True Love and Flush. Delighted is a muted berry with a tinge of brown. Enchanted is a light mauve pink. As I'm not a glitter gal, I'm happy that Tarte did not include a clear cheek stain with glitter in this set or recycle shades from their existing line-up like they used to do. The shelf-life of the minis is listed as 6 months on the packaging but I seriously doubt it's possible to finish these within 6 months unless you use them daily.