Review of Tarte High Performance Naturals, Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Exposed

I can go with or without blush in my makeup regime, but to be honest, with blush on, I truly can create an illusion of higher cheekbones than what momma gifted me with.

I used to buy blush by MAC, but after they stopped selling my particular rose plum color in their stores, and I was forced to seek it online for prices higher than what the stores would sell them for, I gave up on MAC blushes all together. I just could not find the right color, as everything the store seems to carry is almost too florescent on my skin tone.

I began using a neutral plum by Neutrogena, and I liked it enough to buy it twice. However recently I was gifted a small compact of Tarte High Performance Naturals, Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in a color called exposed.
 
Exposed is supposed to be their nude color, but once I popped the top off of this baby I noticed that it looked a lot deeper in red tones with a slight plum undertone. It actually reminded me a lot of the color I once was a fan of in the MAC collection.

I finally got around to trying it just the other day. Supposedly this stuff will stay put for 12 hours, but a lot of cosmetics promise this whole 12 or 24 hour budge free promise, and only a small handful of those promising such tall tales are actually telling the truth. The rest just love to advertise it for the sake of trying to get suckers like you and me to buy in.

What was interesting about this blush though is that it was supposedly baked naturally in the sun. I thought that was sort of cool, but then I started imagining flies landing on my pallet, and I was not so thrilled about their bake in the sun methods. If there was a disclaimed stating it was baked in a fly free zone, I would feel better about the situation. Of course I am only kidding. But truly, Tarte High Performance Naturals, Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush was baked in the sun, not in some furnace. Not that it makes a difference to me anyway.

How does Exposed look?
 
My skin is pretty pale this time of year, and seeing that I have not had time to go pay for a fake tan, I am relatively as white as my Indian skin gets. Oddly enough, that is pretty light. Exposed works for me though, it gives just the right touch of a plum redness to my cheeks as to where it blends without looking too red and dark like most other lighter blushes.

For me exposed works, it gives me a sort of sun kissed redness that is just deep enough to accentuate my cheekbones.

The color is not too shimmery, which I am not a fan of seeing that I use highlighting powder just above my cheekbones, too much shimmer makes me look greasy.

Tarte High Performance Naturals, Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush gives just enough.

The 12 hour promise though is a little far fetched, and it only looks good for about 4 hours till a minor brush touch-up is required.

All in all though I like it a lot. It cost just about what I was spending on MAC, but far more than the Neutrogena blush. In all honesty I would likely not buy it again due to the price and the fact that Neutrogena's blush works just the same and looks just the same on my cheeks.

If you have the money to blow though, and for some reason want this particular brand, than by all means go for yours, as it is some really nice and decent blush.