Sep 6, 201614 min read

Tarteist Pro Amazonian Clay Eyeshadow Palette Swatches, Review + Full Chem, Marketing and Price An

Heyyyy Beauties

Tarte Cosmetics recently released a Pro Eyeshadow Palette and today, I am going to be talking about it. I am going to do a review and overall summary of the palette and then go through and swatch every shade (I will do this row by row and then include swatch comparisons of all rows).

After that, I am going to talk about the palette in more detail, and am going to go through a chemical analysis, marketing analysis and price analysis. At the end I will include links to my related posts and where to buy links.

Tarte Pro Eyeshadow Palette Description/Review

The Tarte Pro Eyeshadow Palette contains 16 matte shades and 4 metallic/shimmer shades, giving the palette a total of 20 shades. Each shadow contains 1 gram (0.035 ounces) of product, meaning the net weight of the palette is 20 grams (0.7 ounces) of product. It is made in the USA and has a shelf life of 12 months.

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The formula is pretty consistent, but most shades have slightly different formulas. The matte shades are buttery, pigmented and glide on easily, with the exception of a few (Smoked, Vamp, Drama and Punk) which I found a bit harder to spread, especially doing arm swatches. Some of the shades also had a bit of kick up and fall out, particularly the soft, buttery shades but it’s nothing crazy. The four dry shades that I didn’t like don’t have fall out like the other shades because those shades are soo dry, so in this case, a bit of kick up is good because it means the formula of those shadows isn’t super dry.

The 4 bad shades do go onto the eyes okay, but they are slightly harder to blend and are not as good as the other 12 matte shades. I couldn’t find anything in the formula of these 4 shadows to explain the difference in quality so I would probably put it down to them being dark shades and that they probably have different concentrations of certain chemicals than the rest. As I said, all of the other mattes blend perfectly and have a really good formula.

The shimmer/metallic shades are really pigmented, smooth, buttery and easy to apply. I do find that you will need an eyeshadow/glitter adhesive to really get a bold pop of colour with these shades, but that is VERY common in almost every shimmer eyeshadow I have tried.

I am going to go more into the chemistry and formula aspect of things at the end below the swatches.

I find this palette to be a very versatile, every day palette that lives up to it’s pro name. There is enough mattes and enough shimmers to create SO many different looks and if you only had this eyeshadow palette, you really wouldn’t need any other palette because it has everything. The cost of the palette is a bit more than usual, but considering how many different shadows you get and the fact that there are enough matte and shimmer shades to create multiple looks, I would say it is priced accurately. The formula is packed with high quality ingredients and the packaging is also very sturdy and comes with a large mirror, so that has to be factored into the final price of things (more about this in the price analysis section under the swatches).

The Tarte Pro Amazonian Clay Palette costs $82.00 AUD ($62.00 USD) and can be purchased from Tarte Online and Sephora (non-affiliate links at end)

Now, let’s get onto the shades and swatches in the palette babes!!!!

Tarte Pro Eyeshadow Palette Shades + Swatches

Row 1 in Palette (Mattes)

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Shade 1– Classic- White Cream Matte Shade. Classic can be used on the lid as a base or finishing colour and can also be used as a crease or brow bone shade.

Shade 2– Innocent- Light Orange Brown/Soft Peach Matte Shade. Innocent is a really nice crease and transition shade which can also be used on the lid. This shade is a really good starting transition shade that can be applied under the next shade to build dimension up.

Shade 3– Whimsy- Orange Brown/Brick Matte Shade. Whimsy is a really beautiful crease shade (or transition shade) and can also be used on the lid, but my favourite is in the crease. After I go into the crease with Innocent (above), I start to go into the crease with Whimsy.

Shade 4– Smoked- Brown Black/Dark Brown Matte Shade. Smoked has a different texture than the other shadows and it is dry, patchy and hard to spread. There isn’t any fall out from this shade and it is pigmented but it’s just terrible to try and spread out.

Row 2 in Palette (Mattes)

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Shade 5– Vintage- White/Ivory Matte Shade. Vintage can be used as a lid shade (base or finishing), as well as a brow bone shade.

Shade 6– Fierce– Brown Grey/Cool Plum Matte Shade. Fierce can be used as a lid or crease shade. It would also be a good shade for starting a smokey eye look.

Shade 7– No Filter- Plum/Purple Mauve Matte Shade. No Filter is a nice lid shade and can also be used in the crease. It is also a nice shade for a smokey eye. No Filter does come up slightly more brown on the eyes than in the pan .

Shade 8– Vamp- Blue Toned Dark Plum Matte Shade. Vamp can be used on the lid or crease to create a smokey eye. This is another one of the shades that were more dry, patchy and hard to spread than the other mattes, but it still does come up.

Row 3 in Palette (Mattes)

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Shade 9– Chic- Peachy Pale Pink Matte Shade. Chic is a nice base or finishing lid shade, as well as a nice crease/transition shade.

Shade 10– Profesh- Grey Toned Taupe Brown Matte Shade. Profesh can be used on the lid, as well as in the crease and as a transition shade. It is also good for a smokey eye.

Shade 11– Mod- Pink Red Cherry Matte Shade. Mod is a nice finishing lid shade and can also be used in the crease to smoke it out.

Shade 12– Drama- Dark Purple Maroon Matte Shade. Drama can be used on the lid or in the crease for a smokey eye. Again, Drama was one of the shades that was more dry, patchy and harder to blend than the other mattes.

Row 4 in Palette (Mattes)

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Shade 13– Indie- Light Grey Brown Matte Shade. Indie is a good lid and crease/transition colour.

Shade 14– Bold- Light Yellow Brown Matte Shade. Bold is also a nice lid and crease/transtion colour

Shade 15– Edgy- Chocolate Brown Matte Shade. Edgy is a good lid or crease colour.

Shade 16– Punk- Black Matte Shade. Punk is a good lid colour and can also be used in the crease to create dark looks. All 3 above shades including Punk can be used to create a nice smoky eye. Note that Punk is another one of the shades that I found drier and harder to work with than the rest.

Row 5 in Palette (Metals/Shimmers)

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Shade 1– Ethereal- Bronze Shimmery Metallic Shade. Ethereal is pigmented and can be used as a finishing lid colour.

Shade 2– Glam- White Gold/Champagne Shimmery Metallic Shade. Glam is pigmented and can be used as a finishing lid colour.

Shade 3– Minx- Muted Brown Purple/Mauve Shimmery Metallic Shade. Minx is pigmented can be used as a finishing lid colour.

Shade 4-Trendy- Brown Green Teal Shimmery Metallic Shade. Trendy is pigmented and can be used as a finishing lid colour.

Row Swatch Comparisons

Now that you have a feel for the palette and I have showed you the shades and swatches, I am going to go a little deeper and move on to the analysis part of things. I will start with a chemical (formula) analysis and then I will move onto a marketing accuracy analysis. After that, I am going to do a price analysis in which I will go through every aspect that contributes to pricing to see if that is accurate.

This part may get a little long as I like to be as thorough as possible to provide a full picture of the product. I don’t normally do a full analysis for eyeshadow palettes because most of the time there isn’t much to tell, but I want to include as much detail as I can because the palette is on the more expensive side. There are also some split reviews on the palette, so I want to look at the palette from multiple points of view.

If you don’t want to read about this, have already made your mind up from the above information or don’t have time, thank’s for reading so far and let me know in the comments what you think!

Chemical (Formula) Analysis

The 20 shades in the Tarte Amazonian Clay Pro Eyeshadow Palette all have slightly different formula’s, except for Edge, Punk and Bold, which have the exact same formula. The chemicals in the 20 shadows are arranged in different sequences and some shades contain certain chemical’s that other shadows don’t, which distinguishes them from one another (physically, you can hardly tell).

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In order to really understand how the 20 shadows differ from each other and to see why certain shades are worse than others etc, I went through and highlighted each chemical in all of the 16 formulas with different colors, which allows me to see the similarities and differences in a visual form (I will insert a picture below of all the formula’s marked in colors).I am going to talk about the similarities in the formulas first and then I will talk about the differences in the formula.

Chemicals in all of the 20 shadows include Vanilla Extract, Kaolin, Phenoxyethanol, Talc, Mica (with the exception of the shade Fierce, which does not contain Mica), Boron Nitrite, Zinc Stearate, Hexylene Glycol, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Caprylic Triglyceride, Caprylic Glycol, Iron Oxides and Silica.

Vanilla Extract is a natural fragrance and antioxidant agent with skin conditioning characteristics (more on Vanilla Extract and it’s benefits in the Marketing Analysis section below).

Kaolin is a natural clay ingredient that has strong absorbent properties (more on Kaolin in the marketing section below).

Phenoxyethanol is a preservative chemical that many companies use as an alternative to parabens. It prevents the growth of microorganisms in cosmetics, extending the shelf life.

Talc is a mineral that acts as an absorbent and anti caking agent that can improve the feel of products. It is also a filler and film forming agent. Talc can absorb moisture and oil, which contributes to the skin feeling soft and smooth. Talc can also act as a pigment chemical, helping to absorb oil and prevent shine.

Mica is a silicone mineral that is used as a pigment ingredient. As well as acting as a pigment, Mica reflects light which contributes to the shimmer/glitter finish in products. Mica also acts as a slip agent and helps products stick to the skin.

Boron Nitrite is a mineral skin conditioning, lubricant, opacifying and absorbent agent. Boron Nitrite maintains the skin in good condition as well as helping to make products fully opaque (pigmented) and not transparent (see-through).

Zinc Stearate is a Stearate Salt that has lubricating properties. The Stearate Salts can assist in the opaqueness (pigmentation) of products and reduce transparency (see-through). They can also help stabilize emulsions and contribute to the thickness of lipid portions in products.

Hexylene Glycol is a solvent and viscosity controlling agent that helps to decrease the viscosity of the formula

The formula is packed full of mineral ingredients, including Boron Nitrite, Iron Oxides, Mica, Silica, Titanium Dioxide, among more. The ingredients in the formula, including the ones that are not in each and every shade, are high quality and there are a fair share of beneficial ingredients, which is not typical in eyeshadow palettes (more on this below in the price analysis section).

Bad Shades in the Palette (x 4 )

Out of the 20 shades , I found that 4 shades in particular were not as good as the rest. Smoked, Vamp, Drama and Punk were way more dry, patchy and hard to blend than the rest of the shades. All of these are the last shade in the four matte rows. These shades are pretty dark shades (as you can see above) and they might not be as good because darker shades can be hard to formulate right, especially matte dark shades.

I tried to figure out why these shades were so bad by looking and comparing the formula of Smoked, Vamp, Drama and Punk to the other shades to see what might be the problem. I really can’t find much that’s different and I really do put it down to how dark they are.

Vegan? Cruelty Free?

The Tarte Amazonian Clay Pro Eyeshadow Palette is not tested on animals and is cruelty free, but isn’t Vegan. 11 shades out of the 20 shades contain Carmine, meaning only 9 shades are completely vegan

Carmine derives from the Cochineal Insect and is used as a pigment chemical in cosmetics.

Shades containing Carmine- Whimsy, Smoked, Ethereal, Vintage, Fierce, No Filter, Vamp, Glam, Chic, Mod and Drama.

Shades not containing Carmine- Classic, Innocent, Profesh, Minx, Indie, Edgy, Punk, Bold, Trendy

Formula Ingredient Analysis/Comparison Table

Here are the formula comparison photos of each of the 16 different formulas in the palette. Take note that different chemicals are in some shadows and not in others, etc, which is why I marked each ingredient with a particular colour (so I could see the similarities and differences in the 16 formulas to analyse the formulas)

The Marketing Analysis starts below the photos of the formula comparisons, scroll past these if you don’t want to see how the formulas compare chemically.

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Marketing Analysis

To analyse the accuracy of marketing, I looked up how Tarte describes the palette and the claims they make, and then made up my own questions that I set out to answer. Tarte markets the Amazonian Pro Palette by saying….

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“A pro-level, everyday eyeshadow palette with 20 ultra-pigmented shades powered by naturally-derived ingredients. Features Amazonian clay: nature’s most perfect ingredient for better, longer, truer wear , mineral pigments: soothe and soften skin and vanilla extract: a natural fragrance with rich antioxidant and anti-aging properties

Product performance: Take a makeup artist home with this high-performance PRO palette for Instagram-worthy looks powered by healthy ingredients. It includes 16 longwearing matte eyeshadows infused with Amazonian clay for smooth blending and flake-resistant wear, plus four brand-new iridescent luster shades with a microshimmer, duochrome formula. Deeply concentrated mineral pigments and a new smart-blend technology give you the best in even, intense payoff in a range of natural artistry™, neutral-to-bold shades for all skin tones and skill levels. Formulated without parabens, formulated without mineral oil, formulated without phthalates, formulated without sodium lauryl sulfates, formulated without gluten”

Questions I Have After Reading Marketing

Does each shade contain Vanilla Extract and is it a natural fragrance chemical? Does Vanilla Extract have antioxidant and anti-aging properties?

Each shade in the Tarte Pro Amazonian Eyeshadow Palette does contain Vanilla Extract. Vanilla Extract (proper chemical name Vanilla Planifolia Extract) is a natural ingredient that is derived from the fruit of the Vanilla Planifolia plant, which means that Tarte have accurately marketed Vanilla Extract as a Natural Fragrance ingredient.

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Vanilla Extract acts as a skin protecting and smoothing agent, as well as a fragrance and natural antioxidant agent. The antioxidant properties in Vanilla Extract help to protect the skin from external factors and free radicals. Vanilla Extract also has anti-inflammatory properties which can calm and sooth irritated skin. Other benefits of Vanilla Extract include helping to maintain the skin in good condition and acting as an anti-aging ingredient by avoiding external damage to the skin, which in turn reduces wrinkles and fine lines. This means Tarte have accurately marketed the anti-oxidant and anti-aging benefits of Vanilla Extract. Note- Vanilla Extract can cause allergic reactions to people who are sensitive to it. Also note that because every shadow contains Vanilla Extract, the palette has a very strong smell (which I like), but if you are not a fan of scented shadows you might not like it.

Does Amazonian Clay provide better, longer and truer wear? Does Kaolin assist in smooth blending and make the shades flake resistant?

Kaolin, the proper chemical name of ‘Amazonian Clay’ is a naturally derived mineral ingredient. Kaolin is an absorbent agent that has very good absorbing properties.

Kaolin can help products stay on the skin for longer because of its oil control and absorbing properties. Kaolin absorbs oil which prevents product from rubbing off the skin during the day from sweating and perspiration, etc. It can also make a product waterproof and transfer proof. This means that Tarte have accurately marketed the lasting power of Kaolin.

Due to the absorbent abilities of Kaolin, it can also help product go onto the skin smoothly. However, Kaolin cannot completely ensure that shadows are ‘flake resistant’. The shades in the palette do have fallout (some more than others), and every single shade in the Tarte Amazonian Clay Pro Palette has Kaolin in it so if it completely stopped flakiness the shadows shouldn’t have so much fallout, so I would say this claim is a bit inaccurate. Also, Kaolin does make shadows glide on smoothly but some of the shades in the palette are really hard to move, so again, while Kaolin does help shadows spread easily, it’s not going to make it perfect

Why Does Tarte Use Amazonian Clay (Kaolin) in Their Marketing Strategy?? .

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Something I find kind of weird and have noticed is that multiple products from many makeup brands also contain Kaolin, or Amazonian Clay, but Tarte seem to be the only people to include it in their marketing strategies. Kaolin does the job and is a natural ingredient, but Tarte isn’t the only brand to use it in products and it certainly isn’t exclusive to Tarte Cosmetics. A Marketing strategy used by Tarte includes being a natural brand that uses natural ingredients, so I would say they include Amazonian Clay (Kaolin) into marketing so often to back this up.

Amazonian Clay also sounds very kind of, fancy, and Tarte would use it to draw people in and trick them into thinking that Amazonian Clay is such an amazing chemical (even though they don’t know what it does, or have never heard of it before). Tarte picked Amazonian Clay out of about 20 different names for Kaolin, so that backs up my above statement about the ‘fancy name’ pulling people in . I might do a full blog on this subject one day because there is a lot more I could get into about it.

All in all, marketing of this palette by Tarte is accurate

Price Analysis

The Tarte Pro Amazonian Clay Eyeshadow Palette costs;

$86.50 AUD – $63.07 USD

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I think that the Tarte Pro Amazonian Clay Palette is accurately priced. At first I did think it was overpriced but after I fully analysed it, both chemically and physically, I now believe it is priced right.

For one , unlike many eyeshadow formulas out there, this palette is packed full of high quality ingredients which have beneficial characteristics. Most eyeshadow palettes don’t necessarily have tones of beneficial ingredients because it’s not like shadows are lip or face products, and so they are normally formulated to function and not necessarily to provide benefits.

There are 20 different shades in the formula, and you are getting your moneys worth because the palette is so versatile and contains so many shades that can create such different looks. It is an all in one palette and you don’t really need any more shadows if you have this, so that has to be taken into consideration regarding final cost.

The packaging also has to be accounted for. The packaging is sturdy, has a large mirror and you can tell by the sturdiness and materials used with packaging that it is not cheap, so this contributes to cost. Tarte is a pretty sought over and social media famous brand that have a million beauty guru’s pushing their products, so this could potentially go into the final pricing.

Finally, the palette is made in the USA, which means that it cost’s Tarte more money to manufacture and produce their products, which is obviously a massive part of pricing. This is why products made in China cost less (lower employee payment costs mean lower production costs in China, this is certainly not the case in America though).

Always Remember when trying to determine if a product is priced right is that all companies, no matter how big or small, must break even AND make profit. They need to constantly produce new batches, which involves more manufacturing, lab and ingredient costs (which adds up, it isn’t cheap to produce makeup in most cases). It’s a never ending cycle and brands must make money back to keep their company up and running and to support themselves, otherwise the company will fail and just wouldn’t exist, and the owners would go bankrupt.

When all these things are taken into consideration, I do think this palette is priced accurately and I think it’s certainly worth it for what your getting.

Final Thoughts/Summary

I’m not going to go through a full summary because this post is so long already and contains all the main points, but I really do like the Tartiest Pro Eyeshadow Palette and I think it is worth getting if you feel like you may like it!!!