Tarte Cheek Stain in True Love

I've been calling July my bad skin month...it's been really patchy and break-out-y. So I thought maybe on days when my skin is being particularly peculiar that I would use a cheek stain, however I really suck at using the normal sort of cheek stain (think Benetint and such)... I just can't get it to blend quickly or evenly and I don't like the idea that my fingers will be stained all day as well.

I used this 3 days in a row last week which is quite a feat for me since I am so flaky! I just can't stick to one thing, I always have like 5 things I want to use! But it was just so nice and worry free and gave me the best natural glow. I had to force myself to go back to my other (powder) blushes just because I have to use them haha.

The Tarte cheek stains are gel and thus more of a cheek balm...the whole thing in general reminds me of a balm since it's in a stick. You can probably use it on your lips, but I haven't and I am probably not going to...it's a really large stick so it'd be quite awkward to use. However for the cheeks I like that it's pretty fat since you shouldn't really rub this stuff in, more like pat it around and blend the edges (unless you want a super duper sheer look). It's slightly sticky to begin with but after a little while it dries down and is only the slightest bit tacky, but not enough that you can really tell, you really have to be feeling for it. I get a great, lasting wear to this stain...once it's on you it's on you really good however it does come off rather easily with water and such so it's probably best to just not wear it if you are planning on going to the beach or the pool or somewhere else wet!

True Love is a watermelon pink that looks vibrant in the tube, but due to the stain's sheer nature looks very very natural when worn. It's perfect for my skin tone and maybe somebody a bit darker than I, but if you have a really deep skin tone it probably won't show up much. I love how buildable it is because you can use it with any lip/eye combo you want! If you want bright eyes or lips, tone down the stain...if you want bright cheeks put a few layers on and don't rub it in too much!

The swatch on top is heavy on the left and then heavy but blended on the right.