There’s nothing better in the beauty world than mini products. If there had been a shop with minis, I’d have been their all-time customer, as I always have a desire to buy everything new but there’s just no sense to buy full-sized products as I’ll never have enough time to test all of them. As a result, all the products end up expired or thrown away.
In a word, if there’s a chance to try a mini of a product, I’m more than happy to do it. This year I really fell for the Magic Star set by Tarte and I liked everything about it: eyeshadow shades, highlighter and minis of lipsticks/mascara/eyeliner. I ignored the blush, as I don’t like it but all the other products were screaming to try them out.
So now I’m going to share my thoughts about the lipstick.
Shade: Castle
Price: on the official site there’s no information about the mini size price tag, though the full-size costs $20.
These are two babes (the second is in the color Myth) that were housed in the set and I was so happy about them.
These are the colors I prefer wearing on a daily basis: no glitter, fluorescent cast or metallic sheen. Just classic and universal colors that will flatter anyone.
In the lamp light the color looks more yellowish.
In the daylight it looks more red-toned. Anyway, the color is warm-toned and brown, it’s dark and intense to some extent, though I wouldn’t dare to say that it’s 100% wearable.
The applicator is standard. It’s firm and looks like any other mass market lipstick applicator.
The doe-foot cut allows me to apply the product beautifully contouring my lips.
The lippie is rather liquid and isn’t moussy or watery. The scent is neutral. I can’t make out what the lippie smells like. For me it’s just a usual cosmetic scent. No berry-like or vanilla notes to it.
There’s always the right amount of product sitting on the applicator to be enough for one (average size, not very plump) lip. To do the other, you need to dip once more.
The formula is buildable though the coverage won’t be opaque then. So I don’t see the point to layer it and always wear the product with one thin layer.
Even though the coverage looks thin and lightweight, this color isn’t finicky at all. It doesn’t look patchy, streaky or anything else.
What I really liked about this lippie is the fact that it didn’t dry out my lips making them look cracked and shriveled. I feel it comfortable even after it totally dried down.
It dries out within 5 minutes, by the way. Before that it can imprint and stain everything but after it dries down fully into a matte transfer-proof finish.
Don’t be afraid to smile widely wearing this lippie as it won’t crack. You can also eat and drink, though fatty food will make it disappear.
By the way, removing this product is some kind of a quest for me: I usually do it with coconut oil, as even my duo-phase makeup remover by Clinique can’t do the job fully.
If you don’t moisturize your lips properly before this lipstick application, it’ll emphasise all the cracks and crevices of your lips. So, 15 minutes beforehand make sure to give your lips good moisture and then apply the lipstick. I use Carmex and then remove the left-overs with tissue. In general I think that if you want to wear matte liquid lipsticks, you have to take care of your lips, otherwise all lipsticks will look awful. 
Staying power: Within a few hours of wear, the product stars fading from the inside of my mouth even if I hadn’t eaten anything. To tell you the truth I can see fading only in macro shots, and there’s nobody to look so close at my lips but keep in mind that if the color had been darker, the fading would have been more visible and obvious. In all the other respects, the product holds very well and doesn’t flake off.
The bottom line: the Tarteist is good in almost all the respects. I guess I’ll buy at least one more color, as there are some divine ones. I’m 90% delighted with the product characteristics.
I give this lippie 8 stars out of 10 and recommend you give it a try too if you love matte lipsticks as much as I do.
