Tarte Stroke of Midnight Brush Set Review

The Tarte Stroke of Midnight Brush Set ($44) is a limited edition makeup brush set that launched with the Tarte Holiday 2015 Collection. This set includes five full size brushes that come housed in a really pretty zippered sequined brush box.

At a glance this is an excellent value and a great way to introduce new users to Tarte Makeup Brushes or to extend your own collection.

Let’s take a look!

I think one of the first things that caught my eye about this set was the fact that it came in such great packaging. Not everyone is into Tarte’s Holiday packaging this year! I’m hearing a lot of rants regarding the sequins but personally I love them!

The brushes come housed in a zippered brush box or a makeup case of sorts that’s decorated with rose gold, black, silver, and gold sequins. You can store the brushes in it or remove them to store other makeup or jewelry inside the case. It’s a very pretty presentation in my opinion! The five brushes all have a limited edition gold handles with the Tarte logo printed on the top part. I think one of the things I noticed first about the brushes was the fact they were so heavy. They are quite well made in regards to the handle and they aren’t a flimsy or light.

Brushes include:

• Tarte The Buffer Airbrush Finish Foundation Brush
• Concealer Brush
• Eyeshadow Brush
• Complexion Brush
• Blush Brush
• Sequin Brush Box

I have a lot of makeup brushes and I really don’t need more but around the Holidays there are so many great gift sets at such wonderful values it really is hard to say no to them. I think the Tarte Stroke of Midnight Brush Set is a particularly nicely presented set and something that sets it apart from other brush sets is the fact they include five full size brushes and also the fact they didn’t cheapen the brushes up with weak or flimsy handles.

But….

I was a little surprised how dense the bristles were. The Buff Airbrush Finish Foundation Brush is a brush I already own and the bristles are very soft but sadly in this set the bristles felt a little stiffer. It’s debatable whether that’s an issue considering it is a complexion blending brush and in most cases a brush like that is best with dense bristles. I just felt like the bristles were considerably different than the original brush and it surprised me. All the brushes had this issue aside from the Complexion Brush which did in fact have soft bristles but it kinda reminded me of a tickle brush or something and I thought it was difficult to use with loose powder since it flopped around a good deal.

Honestly, they put a lot of effort into the entire presentation of this set including gorgeous handles but for some reason the bristles of the brushes just didn’t quite fit with makeup brushes I know, tried, used, and own from Tarte already. Something felt off here. I had no issues with shedding but some of the bristles on the Blush Brush and the Eyeshadow Brush were prone to splitting.

Tarte did a great job with the presentation here and you also have to give the brand props for including not smaller travel brushes with the set but full size ones which at $44 makes this a hell of a bang for your buck!

But I highly suggest checking out the Tarte Stroke of Midnight Brush Set in store if possible as you might agree that the bristles just are a bit off in this set and not quite what we’ve seen from Tarte in the past.

The Tarte Stroke of Midnight Brush Set is available from tartecosmetics.com and at Sephora.com and Sephora locations.