I usually ditch darker smokey shades and crisp cat liner looks when summer rolls around and opt for sheer washes of gold, beige or tan on my lids instead — most of the time — maybe also with a splash of teal along my lash lines for oomph.
Tarte’s new limited edition waterproof Aqualillies palette ($38) could easily keep this particular surf baby singing through summer with its mix of six summery powder eye shadows, all of which should be neutral enough for most guys and gals and skin tones from cool to warm.
Most of these colors, all but the dark brown shade, apply with sheer-to-medium pigment on my tan NC42 skin, making this a perfect palette to reach for when I feel like a light wash of color.
And they can handle more intense eye looks, too, as long as I tap any excess powder off my brush before applying (to prevent any unwanted fallout), and use a few layers to build up the colors.
“Make a splash this summer with tarte and the Aqualillies! This limited-edition waterproof palette, inspired by America’s most glamorous synchronized swimming group, includes 6 new eye shadows, bronzer, highlighter, and a limited-edition Amazonian clay 12-hour blush. All show-stopping shades are tucked inside a classically elegant, mirrored compact.”
Along with the eye shadows, Tarte also tucked in a coral matte blush, a shimmery champagne highlighter and a matte tan bronzer, to round out your look out.
Everything in the oversized palette is also powered by Amazonian Clay — one of Tarte’s favorite ingredients.
On my combination dry/oily skin, with the help of a good primer, I get between 8-10 hours of wear time from these pieces on both my eyes and cheeks.
Pretty great.
So what’s in a name? Well, the Aqualillies are a synchronized swimming team, and they teamed up with Tarte to launch their very own collection (the aptly named Aqualillies for Tarte).
Everything in the seven-piece release, and that includes this palette, is conveniently waterproof.
I would have loved to go swimming to test this theory, but no such luck. Our neighborhood pool hasn’t opened for the season yet, so I splashed some water on my eyes and face instead. 🙂
Yup! — the products seemed waterproof enough.
I wouldn’t expect them to stay put through a full day of surfing, but I bet they’ll make it through a pool party and a quick dip to cool off.
Ingredient List
Eyeshadows, 0.04-ounces per pan
Hammock: talc, boron nitride, polyethylene, silica, dimethicone, oryza sativa (rice) lipids, water/aqua/eau, phenoxyethanol, sodium dehydroacetate, VP/hexadecene copolymer, sorbic acid, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, ethylhexylglycerin, kaolin, mica, tin oxide. May Contain: titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), manganese violet (CI 77742).
Bikini: mica, talc, dimethicone, oryza sativa (rice) lipids, polyethylene, boron nitride, silica, water/aqua/eau, phenoxyethanol, sodium dehydroacetate, VP/hexadecene copolymer, sorbic acid, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, ethylhexylglycerin, kaolin, tin oxide,. May Contain: titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499).
Barefoot: mica, talc, oryza sativa (rice) lipids, dimethicone, polyethylene, boron nitride, silica, VP/hexadecene copolymer, water/aqua/eau, phenoxyethanol, sodium dehydroacetate, sorbic acid, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, ethylhexylglycerin, kaolin, tin oxide,. May Contain: titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499).
Parasol: mica, talc, polyethylene, dimethicone, oryza sativa (rice) lipids, boron nitride, silica, water/aqua/eau, VP/hexadecene copolymer, phenoxyethanol, sodium dehydroacetate, sorbic acid, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, ethylhexylglycerin, kaolin, tin oxide, carmine (CI 75470),. May Contain: titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), manganese violet (CI 77742).
Sun Deck: talc, boron nitride, silica, polyethylene, dimethicone, oryza sativa (rice) lipids, water/aqua/eau, VP/hexadecene copolymer, phenoxyethanol, sodium dehydroacetate, sorbic acid, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, ethylhexylglycerin, mica, kaolin, tin oxide,. May Contain: titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), manganese violet (CI 77742).Poolside: talc, mica, dimethicone, oryza sativa (rice) lipids, polyethylene, boron nitride, silica, water/aqua/eau, phenoxyethanol, sodium dehydroacetate, VP/hexadecene copolymer, sorbic acid, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, ethylhexylglycerin, kaolin, tin oxide,. May Contain: titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491), ferric ferrocyanide (CI 77510).
Blush in Captivating, 0.23 ounces
Ingredients: talc, boron nitride, zinc stearate, dimethicone, oryza sativa (rice) lipids, water/aqua/eau, phenoxyethanol, sodium dehydroacetate, VP/hexadecene copolymer, sorbic acid, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, ethylhexylglycerin, kaolin, carmine (CI 75470). May Contain: titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), manganese violet (CI 77742), Red 30 Lake (CI 73360), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140).
Highlighter in Champagne, 0.14 ounces
Ingredients: talc, mica, dimethicone, oryza sativa (rice) lipids, zinc stearate, boron nitride, water/aqua/eau, phenoxyethanol, sodium dehydroacetate, VP/Hexadecene copolymer, sorbic acid, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, ethylhexylglycerin, kaolin, carmine (CI 75470). May Contain: titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499).
Bronzer in Park Ave Princess, 0.13 ounces
Ingredients: talc, boron nitride, zinc stearate, dimethicone, oryza sativa (rice) lipids, mica, water/aqua/eau, phenoxyethanol, sodium dehydroacetate, VP/hexadecene copolymer, sorbic acid, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, ethylhexylglycerin, kaolin,. May Contain: titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), manganese violet (CI 77742).
I like what Tarte and the Aqualillies have done with this palette. It may not be the best palette for bold eye looks, but it made a splash with me. If you like sheer eyes and softly contoured cheeks, you might like it, too.
PRICE: $38
AVAILABILITY: Available now at Sephora stores and also online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+ (the eyeshadows might be too sheer for some)
Summer approaches. 🙂 Have you made any plans for trips or anything? El Hub and I would really like to make it back to Kauai this year, but we’ll see. That would be nice.
If we do go and end up staying at the same hotel, I hope I get to see Tortie Girl and Tabby Mac… They were two of the hotel kitties I befriended last year while we were there.
Onward to Wednesday! — but first, sleep. I hope. I really need to get some sleep tonight.
Oh, insomnia, why dost thou torment me so?
How’s it going out there tonight? What are ya up to?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Not only are the colors stunning, so is the packaging. It’s so pretty!
Love the packaging and the colors!
(The teal eyeshadow swatch slightly disappoints me. Glad to hear the color is buildable though 🙂 )
Hi Let,
It has more oomph when applied wet…more of the gold pearl shows up, and it’s super pretty! 🙂
Ooh I didn’t know that the shadows could be applied wet. Thanks for the info! I bet it’s really pretty 😀
So happy to finally see a look with this palette. I’m a big Tarte fan and I’m definitely grabbing this.
Hi Chris,
Yay! I’m glad you like it. You’ll have lots of fun.
I’ll be visiting Kauai this September. Any “musts”?
And, what should I bring for makeup?
Hi Nicole,
I really enjoyed kayaking and hiking to Secret Falls:
https://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/just-for-fun/kauai-day-5-jungle-hikes-kayaks-and-kee-beach/
The Na Pali coast is also a must:
https://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/just-for-fun/kauai-day-3-bumble-and-bumble-and-a-boat-called-sea-breeze/
As for makeup, I mostly ended up wearing the stuff in the second pic in this post:
https://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/just-for-fun/kauai-day-2-snorkeling-sweet-treats-and-a-savory-pie/
Let me know if you have any other questions! Happy to help and I’m very excited for your trip.
Lovely palette. Tarte always stuns me with its LE collections.
Hi Eesha,
Yup, they’ve got some really pretty LE things.
SUCH a cutely patterned palette! I would buy it just for that! But thankfully, the shades inside are beautiful as well. I like me some sheerer shadows so I can dig this. Plus I’ve been wanting to try Park Avenue Princess for a while now and who doesn’t love a pretty coral blush?! This palette WILL be mine!! 😀
Nice, I hope you love it!
Wow – Hammock is super pigmented, or at least it looks that way in the swatch. Of course, you’re a blending genius, so it’s awesome in your eye look. 🙂
No firm plans on summer trips this year but, we had a bit of snow on Monday so it’s not quite spring here yet.
And, on the grrrrrr front, I DVR’d the first eps of Walking Dead (Season 3) during the marathon because only the last 4 are available on demand. We watched up to ep 8 last night only to realize that we didn’t have 9 – 12. I’ll have to work on finding them tonight!
OH GAWD, what did you think of season 2? It is my least fave one so far. But season 3…WOW. What part are you at right now? I want to talk to you about it, but I don’t want to spoil things.
A great review and use of the palette – nice to see a fun eye look! As I’m a new-ish reader I’ve been reading some of the Kauai posts you linked to above. It’s a stunning place! Can I ask which hotel you stayed at, it looks perfect.
Hi Janet,
I stayed at Marriott’s Kaua’i Beach Club in Lihue. I really liked it! The pool is great and the hotel’s right there on the beach.
I’m really eying this, but trying to resist. But I like how it already contains highlighter, bronzer, and blush. Great for summer traveling!
Hi Danielle,
Oh, totally. It’s nice to have everything right there at your fingertips.
I think this palette would work for creating sweet beachy looks and the fact that all of it is waterproof makes me even more sure that this palette would work for my future outings to the beach 😉
Love beachy looks, Kelly! 🙂
I’ve been waiting for you to do a review of this! I’ve been dying over the packaging since last week – my main concern is how shimmery the powders are. If they’re like the Naked palettes, then I don’t have a good reason to get this, no matter how sweet the packaging . . .
Hi Hyzenthlay,
The pale shimmers have a very high shine. I find that if I have to go really easy on them, otherwise it’s like WHOA.
Are you on spring break this week? How have you been?
Love the palette – seems like a good one for my active lifestyle. I’ve been wearing a little bit of makeup to martial arts lately to see how it holds up. I use the UD All Nighter spray to keep my makeup from potentially rubbing off (no matter how good it is) on someone else in jiu jitsu. My makeup still looks pretty fresh even after 3 hours of training but I wouldn’t wear makeup everyday to martial arts, just because I do have that worry it will rub off or come off. By the way, loving Sonia Kashuk’s new eye palette in Moroccan Dunes – the colors are perfect neutrals for interviews/work or making eye color stand out. So far, haven’t had to do any touch-ups.
Hi Katherine,
I’m wearing that quad today too! 🙂 Which colors did you use?
I’m not a Tarte fan but this looks great on you!
Thank you, Jennifer!
The palette is nice and all, but.. WHERE did you get those earrings?!
Hi Emily,
They’re by Wings Hawaii. I got them a few years ago:
https://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/product-reviews/i-like-the-wind-beneath-my-wings-hawaii-jewelry/
Karen, I was wondering if you can let me know where this paleette is made? Please?
Love the colors and products in this palette!
I love the kitty pictures. I’m out of town right now, and I’m missing my Quincy and my Jiji!
wow your blending is awesome!!!! i can’t seem to make my shadows look the same way as you do. can you maybe do an eyeshadow application video one day so we can see how you do it???
The blush is really pretty! Can’t say no to coral/warm pink blushes!
I can’t stop looking at your top in this post. It is so awesome and fits the summer mood that this palette has. I think you should share some more fashion posts with us, please!
ditto! Where is your top from, if you don’t mind sharing? 🙂
I bought an Amazonian Clay Blush and a Glamazon Lipstick last week while I was in NY visiting from the UK. I am now completely hooked on Tarte and no way to get it, if only this palette had been in Sephora last week. I would’ve snapped it up in an instant. It is so beautiful!
Oh…MY…..GOD….
I have fallen in love with this pallet and I must have it!
geekypinkness.blogspot.com
I couldnt resist!!
Ive NEVER owned any Tarte products but have been wanting to try the blushes and bronzers. Of course they throw EVERYTHING into one beautiful palette WITH a bunch of pretty neutrals??
Done and bought! The packaging alone had me hook line and sinker! High hopes for this palette and Tarte in general.
I only wish that the teal/blue shade was more intense or pigmented. A fun pop of color is perfect with neutrals but i want it to POP.
The bronzer and sundeck look pretty close in color from the swatches and in pan! What were your thoughts on them when applied? Are they the same or are there subtle, but important and key differences?
Thanks!!!