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.”

– tartecosmetics.com

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.

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I guess it was a good thing I slicked Tarte’s $24 Energy LipSurgence Skintuitive Lip Tint on my lips before Tabs and I left the house for his morning walk; otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have been able to keep up with him!

Yeah, I have no idea what got into your nephew this morning… Instead of casually strolling along like he usually does, stopping and starting to nibble on shoots of grass and inspect behind tires, he straight-up trotted like a show dog! — with his twitchy tail up, his head held high and proud, and his low-hanging tum swaying back and forth as he galloped around the circle.

I was smiling from ear to ear like a proud stage mom as he pulled me along.

And it was quite a workout, too. The big cup of coffee I had first thing this morning probably helped me keep up with him, but I also think the soft shine of Tarte’s $24 Energy LipSurgence Skintuitive Lip Tint put an extra spring in my step.

Ingredients: Ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, caprylic/caprictriglyceride, vegetable oil/Olus/Huile végétale, candelilla cera/Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax/Cire de candelilla, cera alba/Beeswax/Cire d’abeille, hydrogenated vegetable oil, castor oil bis-hydroxypropyl dimethicone esters, ozokerite, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil, limnanthes alba (meadowfoam) seed oil, mentha piperita (peppermint) oil, dimethyl isosorbide, stevioside, salicornia herbacea extract, limonene, palmitoyl hexapeptide-14, linalool, ascorbyl palmitate, tocopherol, glycine soja (soybean) oil. (+/-): titanium dioxide (CI 77891), red 28 lake (CI 45410), yellow 5 lake (CI 19140), red 27 (CI 45410).

New for spring, this latest member of Tarte’s lightweight, non-sticky family of twist-up LipSurgence pencils is one of those products that changes colors like a mood ring on your lips.

According to Tarte, the Skintuitive formula responds to your personal pH balance and your “energy,” resulting in a personalized shade of pink all your own.

It’s a gimmick, sure, but it’s one of those gimmicks I like, because it takes some of the work out picking a matching lip color, in that you can’t really control what color you’re gonna get. With energy, it is what it is, ya know? Your color is your color, and that’s that.

When Energy touches my lips, BAM! It goes from being a sheer baby pink to a medium rose petal pink in just a few blinks of an eye.

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Blueberry pancakes, eggs, hash browns, refill after refill of piping hot coffee (with extra cream and a teaspoon of sugar)…

Oh, man… My muffin top just quivered with delight. It’s only Thursday, and I’ve got Sunday brunch on the brain! It’s all Tarte’s new $30 Awakening Cheek Stain’s fault.

There’s just something so right about going out for weekend brunch or breakfast noms wearing minimal makeup, ya know? I usually lack the coordination/motivation to do a full-on look early on a Sunday morning, so out come my five-minute minimal makeup routines, like this one here: brows, tinted moisturizer, under-eye concealer, mascara, gloss and barely-there cheek colors like Tarte’s Awakening, a nude pink gel blush that’ll leave your brunch buddies wondering whether you’re wearing any blush at all.

Being a part-time lazy girl, I love this thing. I swipe the stick twice on each cheek either directly on bare skin or tinted moisturizer. Then, I blend in the edges with my fingers and bam! — pinched, flushed cheeks that look like I just finished a brisk walk.

Awakening gets the whole “no-makeup makeup” thing totally right. Just enough color for perky cheeks, and I think the slightly shiny finish, with its faint hint of shimmer, keeps it from looking fake or flat.

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BB creams have been around for years, but it seems like they’re having a moment.

The Sephora by my house even has a special section for ‘em, an area dedicated to BB creams, among them the new Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm, the latest batch of 10-in-1 Beauty Balms from Stila and some older creams from Too Faced and Smashbox.

I perused shelf after shelf crowded with tubes standing at attention, each one promising some combo of sheer coverage and skin care, like anti-aging benefits, priming, moisturizing — you name it.

Tarte’s new BB Tinted Treatment 12 Hour Primer SPF 30 and its white packaging caught my eye (is that “BB” font Helvetica Neue Ultra Light?).

Most of the tubes were smeared with makeup, and dirty, and not in a dirrrrrty Christina Aguilera kind of way. Without thinking, I tried to wipe them clean with my fingers (it was one of those, “holy crap, I’m REALLY my mother’s daughter” moments), but no luck. Apparently, it was going to take a cleanser more powerful than my thumbs.

Just as a heads up, if you decide to bring one of these home, you might not be able to keep the tubes pristine for long.

The product comes in four oil-free shades with broad-spectrum SPF 30 (protects against UVA and UVB rays) — Fair, Light, Medium and Tan — each of which are $34 and can be worn as a primer beneath your regular makeup or all by themselves for light or medium coverage.

Tarte claims all of them will last 12 hours and offer a bunch of skin benefits. First, they’re supposed to be moisturizing, supposed to have anti-aging properties, supposed to diffuse the look of fine lines, and bolster skin’s elasticity.

Of the four, Tan probably comes closest to matching my NC42 skin.

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I love the smell of a good bargain in the morning…

It smells like…victory!

LOL! I’m pretty sure that’s not how that actual line goes, seeing as how Apocalypse Now is one of my top five favorite films of all time, but it is how I feel about Tarte’s new Treat Yourself to Gorgeous Gifts From the Amazon Collection kit.

Talk about great stocking stuffer material. I love breaking apart holiday kits to use as stocking stuffers, and this $49.98 one (a $496 value) looks perfect for that.

But it’s a qvc.com exclusive, and the sale only lasts a few more hours (sale ends tonight, November 28, 2012)!

It’s conveniently divided into three separate, easily giftable sets, the first with four Cashmere Waterproof Gliding Liners, the second with four Maracuja Divine Shine Lipglosses and the third with 20 Amazonian Clay Eye Shadows.

As gifts, the sets work out to about $16 each, and would ya look at that? — they already look gift-wrapped!

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