Today I have a review of a great Tarte product for you…

PRODUCT: rise & shine natural lip stain & lip-enhancing lipgloss – comes in five flavors. I tested berrylicious.

USE: rise & shine is a double lip hit. It comes with a gel-based lip tint and a glossy lip overcoat to go over the tint.

COST: Normally $21 – BUT currently on sale (head to the bottom of this post for details).

INGREDIENTS: See ingredients – they’re fully disclosed on the Tarte website and gloss packaging.

ECO-PERKS:

• rise & shine is butylene glycol free, petro-chemical free, paraben free, phthalate free, gluten free, GMO free, propylene glycol free, sulfate free and made with natural fragrance.
• rise & shine is infused with Tarte’s super fruit complex.
• Not tested on animals.
• The outer packaging is extremely minimal and recyclable, but note; I’m not sure that the actual lip stain container is recyclable.In good news they do have a recycling program for many of their products.
• Tarte fully explains their skinvigorating ingredients and discloses all ingredients both on their packaging and at the site.
• Tarte has eco-ethics in the workplace and offers green tips at their site, plus are a member of The Natural Products Association.

WHAT I THINK:

At first I was a little shocked by how juicy and dark the lip tint goes on. To explain what it’s like I suppose I’d say it’s like paint-on juice. BUT it doesn’t come off. You glide on the stain, then gloss it over with the lip enhancing gloss. The gel-based lip tint (stain) gives your lips a natural berry glow that stays on all day and the lip-enhancing gloss pumps up your lips, making them fuller.

This is the first lip tint I’ve used that actually lasts almost all day. I wouldn’t say 24 hours, but seriously, it lasts most of the day and that’s though eating, drinking, and yes, even kissing. I could not believe how long my lips stayed colored. I did reapply the glossy overcoat. The scent and flavor of rise & shine was nice, not overly fruity or cosmetic-like.

I didn’t like that rise & shine felt a little sticky, but it wasn’t terrible. Also, Tarte scores lower (more negative) than some other lip stains at Skin Deep; typically in the moderate hazard level. It scored high points with my boyfriend though who said, “Your lips look amazing” and he didn’t think the stain was too sticky.

OVERALL SCORE:

Four out of five pretty little trees. I’ve seen better scores on Skin Deep, but overall, Tarte co. has many green aspects and this lip stain works ALL day which is amazing. I’d highly recommend it if you’re looking for color that lasts and lasts.

Extras:

Save money right now! During June, Tarte is having their Waterproof Wonders sale. rise & shine is one of the waterproof items too. You can use the following code to save 20% off any of their waterproof items.

Also read a review of Tarte’s spring greening limited-edition reusable straw palette (I loved the set) and watch for a link to a review soon of Tarte’s natural cheek stain.

Tarte Cosmetics has this lovely little deal happening right now – purchase any product from Tarte.com and get a full size true love cheek stain free. Use the code: LOVE09.

Free is a great price. Especially on such a cool product. Tarte’s popular cheek stain just went all natural and won’t streak, leak or drip like your average stain. This cheek stain contains the tarte t5 super fruit complex, a blend of the five active superfruits: goji, acai, maracuja, acerola and pomegranate. Plus the packaging is fully recyclable. (Learn more here).

Need ideas about what to buy in order to score the cheek stain?…

Later this week, here at Green Beauty & Style Slices, I’ll be reviewing the Tarte Spring Greening reusable straw palette. I haven’t tried everything but being the lip glossy girl that I am, I did take one of the lip glosses in the set for a whirl and I ADORE it. So I’d highly suggest you consider the purse your lips limited-edition super fruit lipgloss clutch (shown above).

I’m not a fan of the gold color of the clutch, but I am a fan of sparkling fruit flavored lips, and this clutch comes packed with 9 deluxe lipglosses in brand new, limited edition shades infused with the t5 super fruit complex. I really like the lip gloss I already tried, the sparkle is noticeable but not too much – perfect. Plus the packaging is recyclable and all the gloss is butylene glycol free, mineral oil free, paraben free, phthalate free, preservative free, propylene glycol free, sulfate free and contains natural fragrance.

Tarte has plenty of other green goodies you might like as well though and their prices are great. Check out their site, choose something cool, and score your free cheek stain.

Later as noted I’ll be reviewing their Spring Greening reusable straw palette so stay tuned.

Winter lips aren’t always the most kissable. Winter air can dry your lips out and even make them flaky. Ick. You can have kiss ready; or pout ready (depending) lips by Valentine’s Day though.

1. Exfoliate: Try one of the following treatments…

• You can use a small, soft, and slightly damp washcloth to rub your lips about twice a week.
• Take a dab of honey and a dab of white table sugar and gently use this to exfoliate your lips. I did this by accident once (I was doing a honey skin pat) but it works well for lips.

• Use an organic lip scrub treatment such as Natural Lip Scrub in Organic Cinnamon (organic, no petroleum – no parabens) or try NVEY ECO Organic Lip Exfoliator which sounds awesome – a blend of cranberry seeds and organic oils that help refine and smooth your lips.

2. Treat: Some people think using lip balm will dry your lips out more than using nothing; however, I think that using a bad lip balm might, but if you use a nice one, it can only help your lips. At least, that’s my experience. Grab a nice super rich lip balm, such as…

• I’ve noted before that I like the Burts Bees bees wax lip balm, but have been looking for a new brand. I’m thinking of trying Red Bee Real Lip Balm. Red Bee sound pretty nice; it’s handmade in small batches with only plant-based ingredients. No pesticides, alcohol, paraffin waxes, or preservatives and it’s available in peppermint, watermelon, strawberry and lemon.  At just $5 a pop, it seems insane not to try this balm.
• A reader here suggested All Good Lips – which I still need to try, but it sounds nice and soothing. Made by Elemental Herbs, All Good Lips is a combo of 100% natural essential oils and is available with or without sunscreen and in original flavor, tangerine or spearmint.
• Try some Homemade Natural Cranberry Lip Gloss.

3. Top your lips off: Of course choose a color that suits your skin, but go for a satin shine or rich glossy finish, not matte, not in winter when your lips need brightening, and absolutely not on Valentine’s Day. The general color rule is that darker, deeper red shades – raspberry and burgundy are good for very pale and dark skin, while bright reds and light berry (think strawberry) are good for medium skin tones. That said, I’m not much for rules. I know what looks best with my skin tone because I experiment and you can too. If you need instant tips, read Choosing Lip Colors, which is short and seems on target.

If you’re planning to glam it up on New Year’s, nothing is better than a little body sparkle. I used to be way into glitter (as in I probably needed a glitter self-help group). You know what though, it’s hard to find natural and organic shimmer products.

If you can’t find a product you like, you can always snag a nice shimmery organic eye shadow – of which there are plenty, and divvy it up on your bod. It won’t be quite as sparkly, but it’ll work; if you mash it up a bit it helps. If you really want to go all destroyer style, mash up your shimmer shadow to a fine dust, then mix a little in your hand with some organic lotion and smooth onto your skin – this helps to distribute the color and shine better.

All that said, there are some good shimmer products available:

Zosimos Botanicals has some pretty cool cruelty free, talc free, Shimmer Dust products going on. The Icy Shimmer Dust above would be a great winter accessory.

Golden Amber Glitter from Nezza Naturals: body glitter balm made with 14 karat gold and amber resin for a sweet earthy scent. Nezza products are free of parabens, sulfates (Sodium Lauryl, Sodium Laureth or Ammonium Lauryl), synthetic thickeners and animal products. No animal testing either.

LUSH has a fairly wide array of fresh and natural shimmer products, such as the neroli, vanilla and rose scented vegan Glitterbug Sparkle Bar above. The Glitterbug bar has a blue-violet-silver tint with loads of shimmer and shine. Simply warm a little in your hands and rub onto your body. LUSH also carries a vegan Candy Fluff dusting powder that looks awesome – gold and iridescent sparkles along with what LUSH notes is a, “Sweet-as-a-strawberry-sundae-topped-with-creme-brule-served-on-a-bed-of-marshmallows scent.” Sounds yummy.

If you’re looking for lip shimmer, I’d try a Vegan Lip Gloss by Gabriel – I’m desperate to try the Ambrosia (shimmer) and Nectar (shimmer) (numbers 1 and 7 in the line above). Not all are shimmery though, but the glosses that are look great. In order from left to right the shades are: Ambrosia (shimmer), Champagne (shimmer), Diva (shimmer), Mocha Ice (matte), Caramel (matte), Venus (matte), Nectar (shimmer) and Passion Fruit (shimmer). These shiny lip glosses are available at Vegan Essentials.

Last up, an entire limited edition sparkly kit – the Sugar Plums Set by Korres. Everything you need for a shimmery, shiny, holiday colored evening.

Included in this kit:

• Plum Lip Butter with Shea Butter, Rice Wax, and a shiny, tinted finish
• Plum Cherry Lip Gloss with cherry oil and vitamins E & C
• Plum Sunflower & Evening Primrose Shimmering Eyeshadow with sunflower and evening primrose oils

The entire set is mineral oil, silicone, propylene glycol, and ethanolamine free and available at Sephora for a limited time.

What’s your fave natural glitter product?

I was looking for a honey scrub, but found this great holiday lip gloss instead at the National Honey Board. Perfect for the season! I’m way excited to try it.

You’ll need to gather:

1. 1 Tablespoon sweet almond oil
2. 10 fresh cranberries
3. 1 teaspoon honey
4. 1 drop vitamin E oil

I’d use organic everything, if you can find it.

To make your lip gloss:

1. Mix all your ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Microwave for two minutes or until just boiling. If you don’t own a microwave, heat your bowl in a pan of water on the stove.
3. Stir well and gently crush the berries.
4. Cool your berries for five minutes. Strain with a  fine sieve until there are no fruit pieces left in your mix.
5. Stir and set aside to cool completely.
6. When cool, transfer into a small portable plastic container or tin.

Awesome recipe! This would also make a cool holiday gift.

There are all sorts of other natural beauty recipes offered like:

• Foaming Vanilla Honey Bath
• Green Honey Glow Mask
• Harvest Pumpkin Exfoliating Mask
• Honey and Oat Exfoliant
• Honey Cleansing Scrub

+ Cranberry Lip Gloss via the National Honey Board