tarte Holiday 2012 – Girl Meets Gloss Set review, photos & swatches

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase.

A five piece lip gloss set that’s nothing short of divine!

photos: we heart this

I heart tarte (I also heart rhyming). Year after year, they continuously get it right, especially when it comes to holiday gift sets. I’ll be perfectly honest, I tend to purchase my fair share of their full-price single items, but the bulk of my tarte purchases are due to irresistible holiday gift sets. They’re jam-packed with tons of beauty goodies, usually in limited edition shades and all for a fraction of what you would pay on an individual item.

Exclusive to Sephoraicon and QVC, tarte brings us the Girl Meets Gloss gift set containing 5 full-size Maracuja Divine Shine lip glosses for the low, low, insanely low price of $34.50 at QVC ($36 at Sephora).

To put it in perspective, ONE Maracuja lip gloss retails for $21. That means you’re getting $105 worth of product for about 35 bucks. You just can’t beat the value. I’m a bargain hunter, and tarte holiday gift sets are always in my crosshairs.

This latest gloss set includes 5 shades exclusive to this limited edition set:

Bubbly – nude shimmer with just a hint of pink
Curious – light yellow pink shimmer
Preppy – bright pink creme
Chic – dusty rose creme
Sparks – bright cool pink creme

Bubbly, Curious, Preppy, Chic, Sparks

As with regular Maracuja Divine Shine glosses, all feel buttery on the lips, leaving lips feeling soft and moisturized. They also contain Vitamin C and Maracuja oil, which are super-powered nutrients for your pout.

The smell and tingle of peppermint oil invigorates and I think the tingle made my lips plump up a little bit, which was welcome to me because I am allergic to most standard lip plumpers, unless they are peppermint-based. Woo to the hoo, y’all!

I will say, the shades included in this set are on the very sheer side and these glosses seem to require frequent re-application, but with the posh, limited edition golden Ikat pattern on the tube, you kind of feel like showing this off a bit and don’t mind whipping these out of your purse to touch up.

Bubbly, Curious, Preppy, Chic, Sparks

Bubbly, Curious

Preppy, Chic, Sparks swatchesPreppy, Chic, Sparks

Pros:
You can’t beat the value of this set. You. Just. Can’t.
Limited edition shades available only in this set. I’m a sucker for limited edition shades…*sighs dreamily*

Cons:
I wish these were a bit more pigmented and it included a darker shade or two
Limited edition shades available only in this set. If you’re like me and find a shade you can’t live without, you’re going to either have to stock up or accept that one day, you will run out of your precioussss ~ said like Gollum because I’m a nerd.

Am I the only other tartelette out there that stalks tarte’s holiday gift sets and swoops them up the second they become available? We’re talking, I pounced on their holiday gift sets before Halloween had even passed…I think I should probably feel shame, but all I feel is pretty.

we heartsters – Are their any other tarte holiday sets you are excited for this season? Let us know what’s on your wishlist this year!

Bonus Savings: While this set is exclusive to QVC and Sephora, you’ll find tons of other fab gift sets at tarte where you can receive 30% OFF any purchase plus Free Shipping on your purchase of $40 & up! Use code FFDEC at checkout. Expires December 13th.

Krista resides in the middle of nowhere with her bff/hubby, an obscenely big-eared dog, and a puppy that makes feral capuchins seem mellow. She has an irrational fear of ax murder, owns more than one machete for home defense/the zombie apocalypse, and goes to sleep serenaded by the sounds of the Chupagobbler, a mythical turkey beast that roams the woods around her house. She also has an obsessive love of Tom Selleck’s moustache that is, quite frankly, alarming.

Author

  • krista

    Lives in the middle of nowhere with her amazing hubby and two codependent dogs that love to hate each other. She enjoys dance parties of one and last minute road trips, prays for Angela Lansbury's immortality and can never own enough blush. She averages one "Silence of the Lambs" quote a week and feels no shame over this. Perhaps she should. skin tone: NW15 skin type: sensitive/oily favorite beauty product: Blush, lots and lots of blush

13 Comments

  1. I am a huge fan of the Maracuja glosses. They are so pretty and so comfortable to wear. And you can not beat the value found in Tarte’s beauty sets. It is amazing!! And I am in love with this holiday’s ikat pattern. Too cute!! Great review!!

  2. I love tarte’s Maracuja glosses! The minty scent is wonderful. These are only moderately tinted, but they do add a nice little tint to your lips. The click pen style dispenser is something you’ll love or hate. This set is a fabulous value.

  3. The best minty gloss on the minty market! The pattern is fabulous too, I wouldn’t mind it on some accessories…

    BUT, I can do without the click pens. It’s my least favorite method of lipgloss distribution.

    A fabulous set though, beautiful and a heck of bargain.

  4. Minty Market.. that’s just funny stuff @stef.. I love tarte’s Maracuja glosses and minty ones at that.. This sounds like a deal you just can’t pass by and free shipping! Great post @Krista! The click pen doesn’t bother me.. just as long as it works!

  5. As another lover of everything minty and Maracuja , I think this gift set looks like a winner, @krista ! Pretty colors, even if they are on the sheer side.
    Love your Gollum voice, too!

  6. These look like the Stila lipglosses to me…Not a big fan of the click pens, but the colors are very wearable and at that price!? Yes, please!

  7. Oh wow, I haven’t tried these before but these look great! Love the idea of the peppermint oil. I’m also not a huge fan of the click pen but this price is unbelievable!

  8. oh it just looks gorgeous! :O

  9. They look so pretty, I loved my last Tarte lip stick so I’m sure this one would be no different.

  10. Lots of really pretty neutral colors here. I don’t think I would’ve gone for the packaging had I just hear it descibed, but it actually is pretty adorable!

    1. It’s pretty, huh Catherine? Thanks for your comment!

  11. I’m with everyone else–not a fan of the click pens. I’d rather these come in tube with a wand applicator or a squeezable tube. I’d also love if they had these in more pigmented shades and with shimmer–I love a gloss with shimmer. *swoon*

    1. I’m getting so picky in my lipgloss old age. I don’t even really like squeeze tubes anymore either. Give me a doe foot with a flocked wand, she says while shaking cane!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *