Exposé

Hey guys! Today I have a review on a product I've been dying to get my grubby little hands on for the longest time! It is the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush in the shade Exposed. These blushes have been raved about by basically every beauty blogger who has tried them, and Exposed is definitely one of their most notable and popular shades. Tarte is slowly becoming more easily accessible with Sephora planning to ship internationally (I think, not sure what the news is there) but previously the brand was extremely hard to get a hold of. Luckily for me - my amazeballs friend Yas picked up the blush for me during her time in New York!

Swatched, blended

L-R: Tarte Exposed (swatched more heavily), Essence Natural Beauty, Face of Australia Nutmeg, Napoleon Perdis Instyle Cream blush

I absolutely adore the packaging of this blush and I think it's very cute! It's all cased up in a thin, non-bulky 

compact whose exterior is the same colour as the blush inside. It comes with a mirror on the inside and a secure snap closure. The blush pan has a pretty pattern embossed in it and the top of the packaging has the logo as well as a cute vine-thang. 

On the website, it's described as being a 'supremely soft blush' which I don't find to be the case at all. The first thing that struck me about this blush is that it's very hard. The powder itself is stiff and not at all like some other blush formulas that are soft and can often kick up powder. I find its hard formula makes it a little hard to get colour from the blush, or transfer product easily say on a brush or even on your finger - quite a lot of pressure is required. I find the best way to apply this blush is with the Real Techniques Stippling Brush as recommended by Estée. The Stippling Brush's bristles are quite hard and therefore sort of 'dig in' to the powder gleaning more product and colour from it. With that brush, a quick swirl and tap is all I need. I hear a lot of people say these blushes are very pigmented, but personally I don't find that to be exactly the case. Coupled with the hard formula, I find the pigmentation to be good - one of those not too pigmented, not too sheer type blushes. Possibly with a brighter colour, the blush could be more obviously pigmented. Onto the main claim that's in the name (points for rhyming!), I found it's lasting power to be average - definitely not 12 hours by any means. When it comes to blush, it's one of the first things to fade off of my face and this one was no exception. I also think it's down to the rather 'nude' shade but it only lasted maybe, 8 hours tops. 

Exposed has a matte finish and is a rosy brown shade - the kind that goes with basically everything. It also can be slightly sculpting depending on how it's applied. It's a very natural shade, almost like a My Cheeks But Better where it looks natural and muted, but still brightens and gives a lovely flush of life to the face. Compared to other 'nothing-y' blushes in my collection, it's a lot more reddy-pink and I find on me, when applied too heavily it can start to look ruddy, and like natural redness in my skin, so it's best applied lightly to complement the rest of my makeup.I also find that since it is more 'nuded' but with a pink lean, I can only wear it with some base products. I can't wear it with any foundation that has a pink or even neutral tone to it as the pink in the blush really pulls out the pink in the base and makes my whole face look pink (wow, so much pink) and it's really not a good look on my very yellow complexion.

Overall, I am a fan of the blush and have been getting some really good use out of it, however because they have been raved about like none other, I guess I was left a little disappointed with it's not-so-superior lasting power and pigmentation. It also doesn't help that I (personally) can only wear it with certain base products! I do thoroughly enjoy the blush though, and when the time comes, would love to pick up some more!

Have you tried the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour blushes?