I have the big collector item on the blog today, a great holiday gift for yourself or someone you love. It’s the Tarte of Giving Collector’s set and travel bag.

I trust that a stock photo is necessary to show you the whole bag when unfold, due to the length of it.

I am travelling soon and totally plan to take this set with me as it has almost everything I would need, makeup wise, plus 2 skin care items. If you choose to take out the plastic molds that hold the items in place, you would have even more space for other things. Or if you already have other makeup in mind, the bag itself is great for your toiletry and miscellaneous items for the trip. Win win situation huh?

tarte still keeps the signature purple colour theme for their holiday releases, but this time without the gold pattern as we saw in the Carried Away Collector’s set last year. The quilted pattern is totally chic and cute all by itself, so I have no complaints.

In the first pouch are deluxe sizes of:
– Pure Maracuja oil, 0.23oz (vs. 1.7oz full size or 0.6oz rollerball)
– Cheek stain in Flush, 0.17oz (1oz full size)
– Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 mascara, 0.16oz (0.24oz full size)
– Maracuja C-brighter eye treatment, 0.08oz (0.35oz full size)
– LE Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush in Memorable, 0.05oz (0.2oz full size).

I don’t have any verdict for the eye treatment yet, as it needs more time to perform. Same as the Maracuja oil, it works well on my hair but I haven’t used it a lot on the face to confirm its effects. The mascara works well on me, but nothing to write home about compared to my regulars.

The cheek stain (swatched on the left) is more sheer than I thought, gives off a light pink tint where you apply it. I don’t think it would work by itself on my cheeks, but as a base for other powder blushes, it makes them look more vibrant and last longer.

The instruction said we could apply it directly on the cheeks but it would pick up my foundation that way, so I opt to use my fingers instead. Easy to blend, no brush needed.

The blush is on the right. Oh Memorable indeed! It is a subtle peachy pink that gives a beautiful wash of colour on the cheeks. In the pan it does not look like anything special, but it is beautiful on. And like any other Amazonian Clay blushes, Memorable holds up to the long lasting power they all have.

On to the eyeshadow palette!

20 LE Amazonian Clay eyeshadows, 0.07oz each, with a clear plastic sheet over them, printed with shades names. I removed it before taking this pic.

Compared to last year’s 26-colour palette, grouped in quads, this year’s groups of 5 speak to me more as I have more colour choices for looks. Especially when we want to get all fancy and use different shades for the crease, the outer V and the transition up to brow bone highlight shade. That extra dark shade on the right guarantees some awesome smoky looks for the holiday 🙂

The first group of 5 eyeshadows, from the top left corner, clockwise: Bianca’s Coloring Book, Anna’s Tea Set, Kate’s Puppy, Tom’s Stuffed Tiger and Daniel’s Teddy Bear.

Bianca’s Coloring Book has the least pigmentation among all shades, I only use it on the brow bone once in a while. Anna’s Tea Set surprised me with that slight duochrome shine, and Kate’s Puppy is a step up from there. Tom’s Stuffed Tiger looks like a silver in the pan but has the grey taupe sheen. Daniel’s Teddy Bear does not need any description, does it?

The second group in the top right corner: Leigh’s Locket, Candace’s Tap Shoes, Claire’s Cashmere Gloves, Maureen’s Soccer Ball and Ali’s Bicycle.

Naturally, my eyes are drawn to Candace’s Tap Shoes and Maureen’s Soccer Ball for their dark look. Ali’s Bicycle is another shade that looks different when swatched, it is a taupe, beautiful on the lids. Claire’s Cashmere Gloves, being the side bar colour, is the single case where it does not look as dark as its counterparts from other groups.

The group in the bottom left corner: Steph’s Pearls, Jess’ Storybook, Sam’s Ice Skates, Meredith’s Hula Hoop and Erica’s Dollhouse, still in clockwise order.

Steph’s Pearls is a better brow bone highlighter, but is a little too strong on my skin tone for that purpose. Jess’ Storybook is a beautiful rose gold I really like. Both Sam’s Ice Skates and Meredith’s Hula Hoop look more purple in the pan but have very different colour tone when swatched (a brown and a plum base, accordingly). Erica’s Dollhouse is a tad lighter than Jess’ Storybook.

Last group: Kim’s Porcelain Doll, Jen’s Jump Rope, Nuria’s Boombox, Staci’s Charm Bracelet and Scott’s Skateboard.

This is the neutral bunch, with Kim’s Porcelain Doll showing a light white sheen, great on the brow bones. Jen’s Jump Rope did not show up on me so it didn’t get used often. Nuria’s Boombox is a good safe-for-work crease colour, pairing with Scott’s Skateboard, a good (matte) transition shade. Staci’s Charm Bracelet has that great metallic bronze payoff, fun on the lids.

The last pouch has 8 Maracuja lip glosses in deluxe size of 0.059oz each (compared to 0.12oz full size), great for your purse.

From L-R: Kam, Finn, Viv, Lizzy, Sully, John, sPence and Ro. Interesting names 🙂

I enjoy the shades this year a lot more, as the glosses seem to have more pigmentation. The cream shades are creamy, and the shimmery shades have beautiful sheen.

Check out the swatches to see what I mean.

The first four shades on the left – Kam, Finn, Viv and Lizzy.

3 shades with beautiful gold and/or silver shimmers – Kam is a darker pink, Viv is a baby pink, and Lizzy is a fuchsia pink (my favorite shade, naturally).

The only one cream shade (Finn, second from the left) is a reddish pink, which I enjoy wearing quite often.

The second group with Sully, John, sPence and Ro is the other way around in terms of finish. 3 cream, one shimmery shade.

Sully is a darker red, leaning plum. John is a beautiful red, a tad lighter than Finn from above. sPence is a pale pink with awesome almost-holographic shimmers, and Ro is an cool nude (not showing up well on my lips, but would look beautiful on naturally pink lips).

The set retails $71 (values $588) on Sephora, Limited Edition. I do think it is worth the money, but only if you need a whole set of makeup.