Tarte "Lifted" Natural Eye Primer: A Product Review

Walking into the Sephora store at Mall of American in Bloomington, MN, I was approached by a salesperson and asked if I'd like to try this. Un-made-up at the time (hoping for a make-over at a high end brand counter), I said I would. He suggested that I put it on one eye, wander around the store for 10 minutes (easy to do at a Sephora store, a veritable treasure trove of make-up, skin care products, and fragrance, not to mention bath products and body moisturizers), and then look in a mirror. Something I don't like to do without make-up, but why not try?

He put three dots on my eyelid, and three more dots below my eye, and blended them in. I wandered around, admiring things I couldn't afford and/or didn't truly need, until those 10 minutes were up. Off to the mirror I went. It was a bit of a shock, but in a good way. The eye that had been primed looked subtly made up, and the usual dark shadows and bags (OK, full sets of luggage) under the eye were - gone? Is that possible? I couldn't even see crows feet!

I checked it out on the Sephora website, and learned that it's one of Sephora's "Natural" items (and most Tarte products are) - those items that contain high amounts of antioxidants, essential oils, botanicals, fruit extracts, vitamins, minerals, and marine bio-actives, and low or no amounts of parabens, petrochemicals, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), phthalates, sulfates, triclosan, synthetic fragrances, or synthetic dyes. In other words, it does contain things that are good for your skin, and doesn't contain anything that is either bad for your skin or can irritate sensitive skin.

It only comes in one shade, but that one shade blends into any skin color, and conceals those under-eye circles. Tarte brand's proprietary "Firmitol" technology tightens the skin around the eye, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and sucking in the bags. Sort of. They claim that this primer creates the effect of younger, smoother eyes by 51% in just 10 minutes. I'm here to tell you, they aren't lying.

Besides the Firmitol^TM, Tarte "Lifted" Eye Primer contains Gamma Aminobutyric Acid (GABA), an ingredient that relaxes the little muscles around the eyes (the ones that create those wrinkles), ginseng extract to promote cell metabolism (renewing the cells around the eyes more quickly), and Centella Asiatica (also called Gotu Kola, a native plant of India) extract, an extract that enhances your skin's ability to create collagen, which in turn helps hold the tone of your skin and prevents wrinkles. If that's not enough to convince you to give it a try, this eye primer is packaged not in plastic, but in a plant material that, once it's in a landfill, is completely biodegradable. How great is that? You look good, the planet looks better, and you're not slathering chemicals around your eyes!

Give it a try - you won't regret it!

(Source: http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P242809&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=5648 )