In my latest Sephora sample goodies, I received a lipstick that I’ve never tried before. In fact, I’ve never tried anything from this brand. I figured that a review would be fun, since it’s all new to me and I have no bias when it comes to the brand.

The brand, (you already know what it is if you read the title!), is Tarte, and today I’m trying the Tarteist Creamy Matte Lip Paint. I am a huge fan of liquid lipsticks and glosses, so I was stoked to try a new one. I looked up Tarte and I was really impressed with the eco-friendly stance of the brand, so I had really high hopes for this product.

Tarteist Creamy Matte Lip Paint in Birthday Suit (photo courtesy of Sephora)

Tarteist Lip Paints come in two different finishes (matte or glossy) and over 40 different shades. I received Birthday Suit, a pinkish nude that I suspected would be a bit too light for my complexion. As always, my eyes didn’t fail me: Birthday Suit was not the nude for my skintone. It was too light, too much salmon/peach, and it came across a bit chalky. To be honest, the color was hideous. That isn’t Tarte’s fault, nor is it Sephora’s: I was sent what was available, and it was free, so no complaints from me!

My sample of Birthday Suit

However, I don’t believe in quitting, so I figured I would fix it up. A little bit of inexpensive dark brown lip liner, some blending, and I had a wearable nude shade that didn’t look pasty nor did it clash with my cool/neutral undertones. I wore it for several hours before reapplying, and it did a pretty good job of holding up during lunch.

Before liner and blending: Yikes!

After liner and blending: MUCH better!

As part of my review, I looked at some of the comments on Sephora, made by others who tried this lip paint. The consensus was that the formula was drying, and most people really didn’t enjoy the product. I wondered why I didn’t have the dryness that they reported, then I remembered: I used a lip balm about 10 minutes before I applied the lip paint. I tried this later, without lip balm as a base, and I too found it a bit dry. For that reason, I can’t give it a glowing recommendation but I can offer this tip: if you find a shade of Tarteist Lip Paint that you love, just know that you can prevent dry lips by applying balm to your lips first.

Overall, if I had to rate the product, I’d give this product a 3 out of 5 stars. The fact that you need to apply a balm first is a bummer, especially since this product is $20 per tube. For the price, there should be more moisturizing ingredients included. However, it’s a matte liquid lipstick, so too much moisture would probably keep it from having the matte finish that is expected from the product. I hope that Tarte continues to experiment with this formula and perfect it, because I love the company’s environmental and ethical stance, and I would love to support hem in the future! It’s worth a try if you’re committed to using vegan, eco-friendly products and don’t mind using additional products to preserve the moisture in your lips.