Confessions #10 & #11: Tarte and Too Faced

Today is going to be slightly different. If you have read my original post in the series, as I said, I am a college student that is still definitely on a tight budget.  For this reason, I have pretty much exhausted my list of high end companies that I purchase (somewhat) frequently from and frequently research.  Two companies that I have some interest in, but have little experience with are Tarte and Too Faced. I have only purchased two items from Too Faced organically, and none from Tarte.  The items I have received from Tarte have been from a beauty subscription service called Boxycharm, which gives you 4-5 full sized items each month for $21 each, making it a huge steal in hopes that you will purchase from these companies in the future.  

So for today Tarte vs. Too Faced

Tarte has a created a community of followers by calling them "Tartelettes."  By tying this into their products they released a new Tartelette palette, which helps aid in the sense of community if you purchase one or more of these palettes.  For Spring 2015, they tied the new Tartelette palette into social media by creating a video of the photo shoot that they had with some famous beauty YouTuber's and vloggers.  By using socially influential women while still carrying the same messages that the Tartelette palettes have had in the past, Tarte has built an even stronger connection between themselves and those who like to include themselves as Tartelettes.

Too Faced has recently come out with a product based upon the culture of sharing pictures via social media.  This product is called "Selfie Powders" and is a palette contaning 3 colored powders: a golden-yellow called "Sunrise," a bronze labeled as "Totally Toasted," and a light lilac called "Moon River." Too Faced now has an easy way to tie this product in to social media, encouraging engagement by their followers to post selfies using their powders and encouraging #nofilter because the powders are "real life filters." Personally I think the product is kind of gimmicky and I would not purchase it since I have to be careful of overdoing color correcting on my fair skin, but I think it is a neat concept.  Too Faced has bridged the gap between social media and branding/products in a way that I have not seen any other cosmetics company do. 

Products I own by Tarte Cosmetics
 (prices based on Ulta.com):
Maracuja Bronzing Serum, $47.00
LipSurgence Lip Tint, $24.00 

Products I own by Too Faced Cosmetics 

(prices based on Ulta.com):

Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick, $21.00
Sweethearts Perfect Flush Blush, $30.00

Tarte
Website: http://tartecosmetics.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tartecosmetics
Instagram: https://instagram.com/tartecosmetics/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tartecosmetics
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/tartecosmetics
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tartecosmetics/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/103695503093959855799/post

Too Faced
Website: https://www.toofaced.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toofaced
Instagram: https://instagram.com/toofaced/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/toofaced
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/toofacedcosmetics
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/TooFaced/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+toofaced/posts
Snapchat username: toofacedsnaps

Confession #1: Overview

About one year ago, I saw a friend post on Facebook about a business called Ipsy. I had no clue what Ipsy was, so I clicked on the link to find out that it was a makeup subscription service. It was during Snowmageddon 2014, so I literally had nothing better to do than to watch countless YouTube videos of people "unboxing" their hot pink bubble mailers revealing their goodies.

In the end, I decided Ipsy deserved my $10 each month in return for a few surprises of products that would hopefully make me look presentable when I wore makeup. At the time, I was mildly interested in makeup, but I felt like I really had no clue what to do or how to use half of it, even though I have been wearing makeup since 7th grade. After receiving my first Ipsy Glam Bag, I was hooked. Hours upon hours of YouTube videos have now been watched showing me products that have raving reviews, cult followings, and some that just didn't hit the target.

So with this blog, I would like to highlight 10 of my personal favorite makeup brands. I will focus on their presence in social media and how they interact with their customers, but I will probably also add in favorite products, product reviews, and tutorials with the specific brands' products. With each post, I will include the website and social media websites for the brand.

--xoxo, Paige