Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette Volume III Review & Swatches
Contrary to its selection of sandy, beachy shade selection the new Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette Volume III ($36) is a Fall 2017 launch that arrived last weekend during the Sephora VIB Rouge Event in stores and online.
Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette Volume III has been called a “highlighting eye palette” by Sephora and is said to have “eye-illuminating effects” thanks to oxygenated light-reflecting spheres which act to highlight eyelids for a smooth, even texture. Ok, let’s break that down for a second…Basically, what they are trying to tell you, is this palette has contains eight metallic shades that have an almost foiled finish.
Like many of you I liked the original Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette and also, had a fairly good run with the Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette Volume II. Which obviously led me to the purchase of Volume III. One thing that I think deserves mentioning is that the original releases or at the very least Volume 1 was marketed as a limited edition palette and it’s still very much available. I noticed they didn’t say the same for Volume III. With limited edition being thrown around so loosely nowadays I’m happy for once they are not promoting as a “YOU MUST BUY THIS NOW BEFORE IT IS GONE FOREVER!”
Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette Volume III is exclusively available at Sephora.com and will launch shortly at Sephora stores. Rainforest of the Sea is Sephora’s exclusive collection where as Ulta gets the Double Duty Beauty Collection.
As with past launched this comes housed in a compact that’s a little smaller than a CD that includes a generously sized mirror inside as well as a mermaid scale-like design decorating the front. Inside you’ll find eight eyeshadow all of which are 0.05 oz in size. Thankfully the price and size of the eyeshadow has not changed over the past three releases and maintains a relatively nice, mid-range price of $36. You’ll get a step-by-step get the look guide that includes instructions to create two different looks one of which is called mystical mermaid. Tarte is working hard to sell you that mermaid and unicorn trend.
For me Rainforest of the Sea Volume III comes a little too closely to the release of the Tarte Make Believe in Yourself Eyeshadow Palette which literally just launched a few short weeks ago and quickly went on sale. The reason I say this is because we got a good range of metallic shades in the Make Believe in Yourself Palette and a few of those shades and the formula from that palette seems to be rehashed in this palette. If you took Volume 1, Volume 2, and The Make Believe in Yourself Palette you might be able to duplicate a lot of the looks you create with Volume III. I wouldn’t say these shades are exact dupes of colors found in those palettes but if you have those palettes already you can probably create similiar looks using them without every having to buy Volume III.
Tarte’s softer and silkier eyeshadow formula is well known but the Rainforest of the Sea Palettes rely on a different texture which is a gel powder that has a creamy consistency which applies best with your fingers or a sponge tipped eyeshadow applicator. I’ve always had great success with application and really enjoy this texture. I think the Make Believe in Yourself Palette was a smidge different in comparison as it was a little creamier and had a foiled finish without the addition of water. It was very metallic but it wasn’t frost. Volume III seems to favor the same formula and application technique but the main difference was the fact that these looked very, very frosty on my eyes. There’s a lot of micro-shimmer in the finish which thankfully didn’t cause fall out but does create a very metallic frosty look on my eyes which I ended up hating. They seem like they are more shimmery than any of the past palettes from this line. That’s not to say there aren’t some keeper shades here! I adored Malibu and Jewel both of which seemed like they weren’t as frosty as the lighter shades.
Something to also keep in mind is that this palette is the lighter of the three variations. There are some darker shades here like Malibu and Jewel but a majority of the colors are sheerer, lighter golds and creams. I think I’d enjoy these shades a lot more if they weren’t frosty as they are a good line of colors that will brighten up the eye area very nicely. There is one odd matte shade here which can be used as a color wash for the shimmery, metallic ones.
Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette Volume III is something you have to experience for yourself I think. I was a little surprised I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. These shades are just a little too light and a little too frosty for me. I felt like the finish made the colors appeared caked on and frosty. If you liked foiled, metallic eye looks you might just adore this one but for those who aren’t quite keen on that finish or anyone who disliked the Make Believe in Yourself Palette you might want to skip out on Volume III.
Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette Volume III is available now at Sephora.com.
What did you think of it?