Product:  Spring Greening reusable straw palette from Tarte Cosmetics.

The Spring Greening palette includes:

Eyeshadow

• Sparkling copper peach
• Sparkling vibrant teal
• Sparkling golden bronze
• Sparkling soft pink
• Sparkling golden lime
• Sparkling lilac

Lipgloss

• Sparkling bubblegum pink
• Sparkling nearly nude
• Sparkling brilliant peach

There’s a natural bamboo brush included.

The cosmetics are housed in a compact composed of sustainable straw. The foam tray within the compact is constructed of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA), a post-consumer recycled material. When you’re done with the makeup, the tray easily removes and you can use the straw compact to carry items in your bag.

ABOUT THE COSMETICS:

This makeup is butylene glycol free, petro-chemical free, paraben free, phthalate free, gluten free, GMO free, propylene glycol free, and sulfate free. Natural fragrance is used in the lipgloss, while the eyeshadow is fragrance-free, and all of it is cruelty-free. The lipgloss is infused with Tarte’s super fruit complex…

“The tarte t5 super fruit complex is a proprietary blend of the five most active superfruits: goji, acai, maracuja, acerola and pomegranate. The first blend of its kind, the t5 super fruit complex is loaded with naturally occurring, antioxidant rich nutrients and vitamins that have been known to deliver refining, anti-aging and skin-restorative benefits with each application.”

WHAT I THINK:

First of all I’m totally obsessed with the lipgloss. The color tints of each gloss are perfect – while they’re not bold colors, they really add a natural, shiny, glittery smack of sheer color to your lips. I loved all of the colors but the sparkling bubblegum pink was my fave. Something great about these lipglosses is they look fab when used over another lip product – for example your favorite eco-lipstick. When used as an over gloss they don’t change the color of your lipstick, but add a nice glitter glow. Also they all taste great – not cosmetic-like at all.

I’m not a huge eyeshadow person, mainly because shadow always seems like overkill (or too bold in color) to me. In this case, I actually liked the colors included in the kit. They’re very light and add some color but not too much. They mix and match well too PLUS if you mess it up, they easily blend away, leaving only a trace of glitter, they don’t rub in strong to your skin, like some shadows. Lastly, a little goes a long way.

I love that the case is fully made with recyclables and is recyclable. It’s the perfect size for business cards, spare cash, or other little odds and ends you need to carry around.

I like that their packaging is small and recyclable and is labeled as such so people know they can recycle it.You can even send your empty containers back to Tarte and they’ll give you a percent off your next purchase.

Tarte has a good website too. They fully explain their skinvigorating ingredients and disclose all ingredients both on their packaging and at the site.

Tarte’s greenness goes beyond their products. They hold eco-ethics in the workplace as well, offer green tips at their site, and are a member of The Natural Products Association.

ANY NEGATIVES?:

It was hard to find too many negatives about these products. I suppose it would be cool if they used all organic ingredients. Also, some green makeup companies use only ingredients you can pronounce and understand – Tarte is not quite that extreme. They do use some chemicals. Skin Deep rates Tarte products mostly in the moderate hazard category. To learn about Skin Deep ratings click here. SO you can get greener, more organic, more natural cosmetics, but overall, this company is trying hard to be green and succeeding far better than others.

OVERALL SCORE:

Four out of five little trees!

Tarte loses points for not being totally organic and for their moderate score at Skin Deep. However, overall I do recommend their products. I’d absolutely buy the lipglosses again (or BEG for it as a gift) because they rocked. I wouldn’t buy the eyeshadow because I just don’t wear it, but if I was giving a gift, I would purchase shadow from Tarte, due to its chill application and the pretty colors available.

Visit Tarte Cosmetics to learn more about the Spring Greening reusable straw palette.

[image via Tarte Cosmetics]

Post from: Blisstree

Green Beauty Review: Tarte Cosmetics

Because now that I have tuned into things like phtalates and parabens and tried to erase them from my beauty regime, I am having a very hard time figuring out whether or not some of my basic staples (like Clinique’s dramatically different moisturizer) is potentially doing me more harm than good. Ingredients aren’t always obvious, especially in products that claim to have super secret special formulas that make them great.

Do you have that same problem?

The latest issue of Self magazine (July 2008) reports that, 61% of all women agree that is it difficult to tell which beauty products are natural or organic.

I couldn’t decide if I was relieved to learn that I wasn’t alone, or if that number of confused consumers was simply unacceptable. I think both.

Luckily, Self also suggests some sites that can help you find your new product – one is www.GreenerChoices.org, another is (of course) www.Self.com.

I have another one to add to the list – b5’s own Pretty by Nature.  Noel Boehm brings a bit of green to the Beauty & Style channel and assures us that being earthy and crunchy does not mean you can’t look and smell good too.

Post from: Blisstree

Do You Know What You’re Putting on Your Face?

I was skeptical when I started seeing their new “greener” focused ads around Earth Day, but then I took a look around the new Paul Mitchell Head for Change website. It does what all good marketing websites do – highlights their new tea tree shampoo and conditioner and other products, but check out the “planet” section. Each page there contains environmental myths and facts (i.e. myth: planting a tree makes a city look good but won’t do a thing for me/fact: one mature tree can make enough oxygen for four individuals), a statement about what Paul Mitchell is doing to help the situation (Working with American Forests to plant a tree for every bottle of product sold) and a list of how readers can “Act Now.”

You can enter your email address for a chance to win some free samples (I did.) Or you can wait until Tuesday and go to www.dominotogo.com to enter its “Head for Change” contest where you can win a package that includes Paul Mitchell gear and all other kinds of green goodies (organic bedding, consultation with a green expert, $500 wardrobe from a green clothing line and more).

Post from: Blisstree

Paul Mitchell’s “Head For Change” Campaign