Rouge Reviews: Tarte Hydration Vacation Set

Nothing says summer like vacationing somewhere warm as you soak in the sun and enjoy a refreshing beverage. But there is nothing worse than waking up the morning after a crazy night out to puffy dark eyes and lifeless skin from sleeping in your makeup!

Unfortunately, I was gifted Tarte Hydration Vacation Set after my spring break trip this year, but that doesn’t mean it did not help me while I was abroad in Asia in June. The set is intended as a travel set meaning it doesn’t exceed the liquid limit. So, I threw the set into my carry-on baggage and was able to make great use of it in flight and throughout my trip.

The set contains four items and can be purchased at Sephora for $29:

1. 1.7 oz/50 mL Rainforest of the Sea Deep Dive Cleansing Gel
2.  1.014 oz/30 mL Rainforest of the Sea Marine Boosting Mist
3. 0.5 oz/15 mL Drink of H2O Hydrating Boost Moisturizer
4. Pack Your Bags 911 Undereye Rescue Patches (1 pair)

Rainforest of the Sea Deep Dive Cleansing Gel

From Sephora’s website: “This hypoallergenic face wash removes excess oil, impurities, and all traces of waterproof makeup without overdrying skin. Powered by a natural blend of lavender, antioxidant marine ingredients, and brightening vitamin C, this gentle vegan cleansing gel helps condition and soften as it maintains skin’s natural moisture balance.”

The cleansing gel removes remaining traces of makeup without stripping my face of all of its moisture, but you must use makeup remover (as you usually should) before washing your face with the gel. It will not remove all traces of makeup. Like the rest of the products, the gel has a citrus and tropical scent to it which almost tricks me into thinking it has a cooling feeling on my skin (it doesn’t). The scent doesn’t seem too artificial which I appreciate greatly. In Taiwan, my face was extremely oil due to natural oil production and the 90% humidity. This gel did a great job removing excess oil and leaving behind a cleaned feeling in my pores. In the morning, I did notice that my skin looked slightly brighter after using the gel.

I don’t know if I would purchased the full size product however, because I feel like while it was good it wasn’t life changing or so drastically different from other face washes I’ve used. It’s a great product, don’t get me wrong, but just not special enough for me to dish out $25 for a full size version.

Rainforest of the Sea Marine Boosting Mist

This face mist is advertised on Sephora’s website as 4-in-1 mist that primes your face, refreshes your skin, hydrates your skin, and sets your makeup. “This complexion boosting mist helps restore your skin’s natural radiance and hydration and extends your makeup for 12 hours. The refreshing setting spray acts as a hydrating mist and primer to help to minimize the appearance of pores, redness, and puffiness. Featuring a hypoallergenic formula, it’s infused with tarte’s antioxidant-packed Rainforest of the Sea™ complex to help shield skin from daily aggressors. Just mist on a few times throughout the day to quench dry skin and help improve the look of firmness over time.”

One thing for sure, the mist definitely has a similar citrus scent to it, which I guess doesn’t affect its performance but slightly bothers me since it is a lot stronger than the scent of the gel. I often have makeup on my face for over 12 hours like many other women and for me a 12-hour claim means I need to carry around this mist with me and spritz it on throughout the day. While in theory that sounds refreshing and nice, in reality I don’t want to bring a spray bottle around with me wherever I go just so I can feel hydrated. The mist itself doesn’t particular prime or set my makeup any better than an actual primer or setting spray. The hydration and refreshing feeling also does not last very long but rather just gives me a nice glow for a bit, making this mist nothing special for me.

Drink of H2O Hydrating Boost Moisturizer

This moisturizer may be my favorite product in the entire set, which I guess doesn’t say too much since the set has not impressed me greatly. This moisturizer (which unfortunately was empty by the time I was back and wanted to shoot it for you) has a gel-like color and texture to it. You can see it in the picture on Sephora.com. It is ideal for any skin type from combination to dry and sensitive. It is a vegan “hirst-quenching cocktail of hyaluronic acid and electrolyte-balancing sea salts that hydrates skin without weighing it down. As the non-greasy formula quickly absorbs, it infuses skin with marine antioxidants from tarte’s Rainforest of the Sea™ complex, fighting free radicals and plumping the appearance of fine lines for a bouncy, ageless look.”

tl;dr It is supposed to be a solution for dryness, uneven texture, and lost of elasticity or firmness.

For starters, I have a hard time believing any moisturizer can cure uneven texture unless you’re only talking about dry patches. If you have tiny bumps on your face or any other texture other than dryness-induced texture, no one product can solve all your issues. But with that being said, I really did like this moisturizer because it gave me the perfect amount of moisture. I usually use Clinique Dramatically Different Gel in the summer and Lotion in the winter. This moisturizer is right in-between these two products, giving me just enough moisture to feel hydrated and tight throughout my day but not so much that I am shiny reflection device all day. I will say that you can only apply a thin layer as it tends to get sticky if you layer too much on. But with a perfect amount, it serves as a great moisturizer and even makeup primer.

Pack Your Bags 911 Undereye Rescue Patches

Alright, I’m mad that these eye patches are 1 time use only and came in a 1 time use only packaging in this set. I strongly believe that they could make it into a multi-use product and reduce waste, but what do I know right? On the Sephora site, these patches are described as an “antioxidant complex. With each refreshing, single-use application, these gentle, restorative pads soothe and hydrate the delicate under-eye area, while fighting the look of puffiness, dark circles, and crow’s feet. With a smooth, contoured pad shape and stay-put, non-adhesive design, each flexible, hypoallergenic gel patch is water-infused to quench skin upon contact. They feature a heat-activated technology to create a one-way delivery system for complete, concentrated absorption. Made up of gellified algae saturated with a coconut oil-infused serum, these treatment patches help smooth, firm, and brighten the under-eye area to reduce the appearance of dullness and fine lines.”

I’ve included a makeup-free photo for you to see what it’s like on after cleansing your face:

There are a few mixed reviews online about these eye patches. For me, they did a great job staying put throughout the 20 minutes I had them on. Because I refrigerated it for a little bit before application, the gel eye patch felt great against my tired eye bags. As you sit with the gel patches on, you notice that your eye bag area feels slightly weird. It was weird to have any weight on that area of my eye, but it also felt like my undereyes were being stimulated. I wouldn’t say the feeling was tingling per se, but it definitely felt like there was some sort of particles party going on under those patches.

I inserted a before and after photo makeup-free comparison for you below for you to make your own judgement:

Personally, I think this patch does a better job reducing puffiness and restoring moisture than it does decreasing dark circles. I actually have yet to try many products that actual decrease the appearance of my dark circles. Now even though I thought my undereyes aren’t puffy, I could feel them slightly deflating as the patches sat on my orbital bone. I don’t know what that says about me or the product, but either way I didn’t see too much of a difference. My undereyes felt moisturized, tight, and bright. But they’re still just as dark.

Overall, I rate this set 3/5 stars. It’s a good set, just not good enough. This set is sold for a limited time at Sephora. Grab a pack or one of the full size versions of these products and let me know what you think!

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: This set was gifted to me by one of my best friends from college as a birthday gift. This post is not sponsored by Tarte. All opinions are my own.