Experience Heavenly Hues with Tarte Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss Collection
After introducing us to the skin-nourishing properties of Amazonian Clay, eco-friendly makeup brand Tarte Cosmetics has moved on to another as-yet-untapped natural resource with astounding beauty benefits: the maracuja, a species of passion fruit native to Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina, commonly harvested in late August. In the Amazon, a cooperative of women carefully collects the maracuja fruits, cold pressing their seedy pulps to extract the precious oils therein. Rich in essential fatty acids (linoleic acid, which maintains the integrity of the skin, protecting it from excess water loss and suppressing skin inflammations, accounts for 77% of its EFA content) and vitamin C, maracuja oil can help to hydrate, smooth, brighten, soften, and fortify the skin.
Ever on the cutting edge of natural “skinvigorating” ingredients, this season Tarte introduced its first product ranges containing maracuja oil, including the Tarte Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss collection ($21 per gloss at TarteCosmetics.com and Sephora.com).
Why include maracuja oil in a lip gloss? Well, our lips are more prone to chapping, cracking, peeling, and chafing than any other area of our skin — after all, the stratum corneum (the protective coating protecting the epidermis layer of the skin) is substantially thinner on the lips than it is elsewhere on our bodies, plus our lips don’t have sebaceous glands to produce moisture and keep them soft and smooth, nor do they produce melanin to protect them from UV ray damage. By creating a lip gloss enriched with maracuja oil, then, Tarte is hoping to keep your lips hydrated, comfortable,and soft, while also coating them with a pop of high-shine sheer color.
In addition to maracuja oil, the Tarte Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss is formulated with sunflower seed oil, a natural emollient rich in vitamins A and E that help to condition the skin, stimulate cell regeneration, and fend off free radicals; and vitamin E, which acts as both an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory.
Each gloss features a brush applicator tip with a cluster of white bristles and, on the other end, a clickable button that dispenses the color to the brush tip. The product packaging, meanwhile, is one of Tarte’s most impressive to date, with colorful illustrations of scattered marigolds, roses, peonies, dahlias, tulips, petunias, and bell flowers covering the cap and the bottom half of the pen itself. The glosses look so quaint, you’ll feel as much pride displaying these tubes as you would a bouquet of flowers.
The Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss is available in 10 shades: Blushing Bride, a plum-tinged guava red shade; Flush, a raspberry, purple-tinged pink saturated with clear pearl particles; Natural Beauty, a sheer cherry popsicle red; Amused, a sheer hot pink hue; Dollface, a creamy, whitened carnation pink color; Adored, a creamy peachy pink hue reminiscent of a pink grapefruit sorbet scoop; Charmed, a mid-tone,warm pink hue with a hint of golden sparkle; Glisten, a peachy tawny shade with scattered gold pearls; Tipsy, a burnt peach saturated with golden micro pearls for a sunny, beachy feel; and Blissful, a high-shine, sheer coral red worthy of an ocean formation.
After the jump, you’ll find swatches of all 10 shades for your reference. I’ve been smitten with these lip glosses since I started using them (and that’s big coming from me since I’m way more of a lipstick lady than a gloss girl). The color pay-off isn’t huge here (save for Natural Beauty, Blissful, Blushing Bride, and Flush, which are pretty saturated with pigment), so you’ll definitely want to wear these on days when you’re going for a more natural, relaxed look, but the glosses feel incredible on lips. There’s a slightly minty smell to the gloss that invigorates the senses and, right away, your lips will feel soothed.
My only complaint: as with most pen glosses, you’ll have to click the button at the base for what seems like ages before the color is dispensed to the bristles at the tip. Once the color reaches the tip, however, any subsequent application will be a breeze.
Below,you’ll find swatches of the following shades (from left to right): Amused, Glisten, Dollface, Natural Beauty, and Blissful.
Below, you’ll find another photo with swatches of the shades mentioned above. Right away, I fell in love with Natural Beauty and Blissful — in addition to being festive and perky hues, they pack a lot of shine for an icy, gelato-like finish.
Below, you’ll find swatches of the other five shades in the collection: Charmed, Flush, Tipsy, Adored, and Blushing Bride.
Next, you’ll find another photo with swatches of these shades. As you can see, Flush and Tipsy are one of the few shades packed with a lot of shimmer so, if you’re looking for a bit of sparkle, these may be your best choices.
