Tarte Spellbound Glow Rainbow Highlighter - review

Hello!

This Tarte Glow Rainbow Highlighter in the shade Spellbound was actually a part of the limited edition collection. I managed to find it with a huge discount. And now, a year on, it’s back in stores. And I’m ready to review it and sing praises because this is the best highlighter in my collection ever.

Price - $30 (but it can be found discounted)Size - 5.6g

Packaging

It’s cardboard and colorful. Rather cute though. It’ll be a nice option as a present. You won’t even have to wrap it.

Outer appearance

Inside the box, we have this round compact. It’s heavy and ergonomic in my hands.

The top cap offers a soft closure.

The lower compartment has a really handy mirror. The highlighter was protected with a transparent tape which I eventually lost somewhere, alas.

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Swathes

The texture of the product is baked gelee. It isn’t powder or chalky, hence no dusting. The grain is the finest. It shows the smoothest casting. No shimmer or glitter here. You won’t find them even with a microscope.

Let’s have a look at each shade separately. Every stripe is narrow but it doesn’t affect picking up the neat and full color.

 

The blue one:

If I pack the coverage, this color really seems sky blue. But, this highlighter is meant to be blue because when I blend it out, I can’t see any blue undertone or anything. It’s more like a cool-toned and fair casting on my skin which doesn’t appear frosty either.

The pink one:

This one is the perfect pink shade. It isn’t barbie pink or warm or too cold. Again, here we have some fair casting with a barely visible neutral-toned pink undertone.

golden-bronze/beige:

This is a golden shade which is perfect for all fair skin tones. You can barely find one which won’t be too yellow or orange. Such shade may easily stain your skin or apply with a patchy finish that’s visible when you move your head. As for this shade, it’s neutral, not cold or warm.

green-yellow:

Cool-toned yellow in the refill pan but on my skin, it’s more like a casting of a true shade. The glow is very natural for the fair skin color. I can see that it shines a little bit more than the others.

All the shades close, applied with my fingertip:

Full swatch from the entire refill: Natural fair-beige shade for the fair skin tones.

Comparison with separate shades:

Application

It feels as though I have nothing on my brush. Although, a couple of swirls across the refill are enough to polish the product into my skin:

With a brush, mixed shade:

The glow is delicate and daily when it’s mixed into my skin, I don’t even see it, to average and bright when I pack it. Given all that, the finish is always natural and glowing. Even over the fair skin, these shades look natural, not too fair or dark.

This is that very highlighter that glows my skin as though from within. It’s unique in my collection. The affordable highlighters will never provide you with such a finish.

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Comparison of the green-yellow shade with the J.Cat beauty Baked Highlighter in the shade #101 White Goddess:

It felt as though these shades might be similar. I love such green-yellow colors, for me, this golden is for a very fair skin tone.

However, they’re absolutely different.

 

If I add some bronze-gold to this green-yellow highlighter, the shades seem identical but the glow from Tarte is much more active and smooth.

JCat beauty product is powder and it’s chalky-based, so it’s visible on the skin because it applies as though on top of it.

The highlighter from Tarte smells like the sweetest cookie. It rocks my socks off and doesn’t feel odd. The aroma isn’t chasing or potent but I always sniff it before applying it. I can’t help but enjoy its smell.

 

Officially, this is the most pleasant aroma of all the makeup that I’ve ever tried. It wins over even the hyped Physician’s Formula.

As for the drawbacks, I want to list the baking thing here. You see, the surface of the product doesn’t bake after each use but still too often. I guess I might take off a star for that but I won’t. I’m ready to forgive everything for the finish it has.

When I take off that baking with a sticking tape, the product looks like brand new again. By the way, even when it’s baked, it’s still possible to pick up with a brush. The color payoff will be less intense then and that’s all. So, I’ve got two options: either clean the baked surface of it with sticky tape or pack it with a brush for a more visible finish.

Staying power

The product is long-wearing. In the evening, it’s still there on my face, looking as though freshly applied.

 

Makeup

The pure shades are delicate and they don’t offer any active color, so each of them can be worn alone too.

But I prefer mixing them in pairs. However, I still wear them solo too, as well as mix all 4 together.

The shades, blended out in pairs, applied with a brush. From the left to the right:

pink + golden,

blue + pink,

golden + green.

All the shades mixed together:

pink + golden:

golden + green: pink + blue:

I can’t say these shades stand out however, they still have issues in each pair which turns my makeup more harmonious and warm-toned in shade.

The product doesn’t accentuate my skin texture, at least doesn’t make it pop.

The bottom line:

This is my favorite highlighter!

The glow is delicate and vibrant, yet it’s still almost undetectable on my skin. The variety of natural shades is huge, so it’ll flatter any makeup from cool to warm-toned or nude to vibrant looks. Highly recommended!

P.S. I’m not sure if it’ll flatter swarthy skin tones. I guess it’s more for fair-skin colors.

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