Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush: Amused, Blissful, and Exposed

I asked Mary to pick me up some goodies on her recent trip to Las Vegas, including three shades of Tarte's highly-rated Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush. (Thanks, Mary!) It was Tarte's Cheek Stains that really put them on the map, but seeing as I'm not a fan of gel or cream blushes, they were a miss for me. So when Tarte released these powder blushes, I was super-excited to try them. Of course, I got sidetracked with other products and kind of forgot about these ones, so when Mary offered to grab some stuff for me in the States, I jumped at the chance to pick up a few of these babies (she saved me over $25 just from the lower retail price and lower sales tax rate!). Each blush is housed in a mirrored compact with the corresponding blush shade, contains 5.6 grams of product, and retail for $33 in Canada.

Clockwise from bottom: Amused, Blissful, and Exposed

Tarte's Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blushes are solar-baked and, as implied, are infused with Amazonian clay, which Tarte calls "nature's most perfect ingredient." They are supposedly "nutrient rich and skin-nourishing" because of the Amazonian clay, and promise to "restore harmony for a flawless finish that lasts all day." Tarte promises that this blush "minimizes oil in and around pores to balance skin and keep product in place" for oily skin types, "hydrates skin naturally to restore moisture so blush wears better and longer" for dry skin types, "improves the appearance of skin clarity and skin texture" for dull skin, and "gives skin an overall smooth and even appearance" for combination skin types. The shades are "inspired" by their Cheek Stain shades, and most of them are actually named correspondingly. Each blush is imprinted with what I imagine is the Amazon River flowing through tropical rainforest.

Blissful (close-up)

Amused, Blissful, and Exposed

Amused is a medium bright cool-toned passion pink in a matte finish. It has a very smooth, silky texture, and has amazing pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. A little goes a long way here, and it's very easy to over-do considering the brightness of the shade. It is cooler than MAC Dollymix, warmer than NARS Desire, and brighter than NARS Angelika.

Blissful is a medium warm coral-peach with a touch of pink in a matte finish. It has a very smooth, silky texture, and has amazing pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. A little goes a long way here, and it's very easy to over-do considering the brightness of the shade. It is more pink than MAC Pinch Me, brighter than NARS Deep Throat, and lighter than NARS Torrid.

Exposed is a medium soft beige-brown with a touch of rose-mauve in a matte finish. It has a very smooth, silky texture, and has amazing pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. A little goes a long way, but it's hard to over-do because it's such a muted colour. It is more pink than MAC Prism, lighter than NARS Oasis, and less brown than NARS Douceur.

These blushes are absolutely gorgeous, from the texture to the wear to the shades. All of them are so smooth and silky and blendable; they go on like a dream! I've never personally had a problem with the wear-time of blushes because I always wear it on top of primer (MAC Face Protect SPF 50) and powder foundation (MAC Studio Fix Powder) rather than on bare skin, so I can't actually say if this has a longer wear-time than my other blushes. Theoretically, though, because they're very pigmented and they're in a matte finish, they should wear longer. These give me the look of most other matte blushes, but I like that these don't look powdery when applied (they can look powdery in swatches). However, they are easy to over-apply because of the high pigmentation, so I recommend using a lighter hand or a duo fibre brush.

I have combination skin where I'm very oily in the T-zone and normal in the cheeks; I will agree that these blushes do give my cheeks "an overall smooth and even appearance," but most blushes look like that on me, so I'm not sure I really notice a difference with their "Skinvigorating" ingredients. Moreover, a lot of the skincare-like claims with these blushes ("improves skin clarity, elasticity, firmness, and texture") would require using these blushes everyday, like skincare, to really test their efficacy. In the end, I would recommend these for how they look and wear as blushes, since at the core, that is what they are. For those who are looking for some outstanding matte blushes, definitely check these out.