Tarte LipSurgence - Collection

Sooo, I know I typed "collection" but really, I only have 2 (for now). I am really in love with these lip crayons!! I have Frisky - Natrual Lip Luster, and Fiery - Natural Matte Lip Tint. There is one thing you all need to know, I have never been big into lipsticks, I have very few, but I am a huge balm and lip gloss girl. OK, with that said let me tell  you a little about both products: they have a light minty smell (nothing like CO Bigelow lip products), and because of the peppermint oil in the product you get a very very mild tingle that goes away very quickly. The packaging on these bad boys, is adorable, it is a twist up crayon with the outside packaging being a fairly accurate representation of the color of the product (the luster has a glittery packaging; and the matte has a matte-rubbery packaging), the covers are on these pretty tight so do be cautious when opening them because you don't want to knock the tip right off as you're eagerly opening it.

Left to Right:
Fiery - Matte
Frisky - Lip Luster

Tarte claims that with regular use of these little guys, you see an improvement of lip moisture up to 6,000% - I really don't know what to say about that one, I don't think any of us with or without a chemistry set will even want to know how they came up with that number, but in layman's terms this means that it's moisturizing (period, point, exclamation point).

W/ Flash - Top: Frisky; Bottom: Fiery 

W/o Flash - Top: Frisky; Bottom: Fiery

Lip Luster - Frisky: this is a very light wash of color as you see in the pictures. It is a very pretty almost hot pink with gold flecks in it. Unlike other glitter-containing products, you don't feel any gritty-ness on the lips because of this. Quite the contrary actually, you're lips are very comforted with this product on, it goes on very smooth and leaves a nice glossy finish. As far as staying power is concerned, it's virtually non-existent, it wipes off very easily and all that is left behind is some glitter, but I don't mind because I really love this color and product and it feels so good. The only other negative is that there is no SPF in any of the LipSurgence products, and I can understand why that is as Tarte's claim to fame is naturals, and frankly SPF is not easy to come by naturally, so there is some give and take with that.

Frisky w/ Flash

Frisky w/o Flash

Natural Matte - Fiery: this is very deep rich 1940's red. It is a great fall/winter or evening color. It is not like the lipluster, because, that's right people, it's Matte. Anything with a matte finish (at least those that I have tried) tend to be drying. Now, in the case of the Tarte Matte shades it is not drying, although it is not as moisturizing as the lip luster, it still comforts the lip avoiding drying and settling into creases. Unlike the lip luster, this Matte shade has incredible pigmentation and staying/staining power. This particular shade did feather along the edges a little on me, but that was after a long evening that included dinner where I wiped my mouth several times; lets put it this way, I could have very easily ended up with fruit punch mouth but with this product I didn't (Yay!!).

Fiery w/o Flash

Fiery w/ Flash

If I were you, I would definitely invest in a couple of these, they are really great, and I do plan on getting more. They do cost $24 each (which is a little pricey). You can purchase them from: Sephora, Tarte Cosmetics, or Ulta. (I'm sure other websites and stores carry them but these are my main 3)

Anything I missed? Let me know if any of you have these products and what you think, or have any recommendations for me? :)

Love - Helen

Application Tip: I have heard a lot of complaints about how these products don't keep their tips. I have not had a problem with that because I reserve the tips only for precision, such as lining my lips. Otherwise, I use the sides of the tip to fill-in the color on my lip, that way you keep the tip as you continue to use the product. (Hopefully that makes sense)