Wearing Tarte Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss in Achiote on my lips

Even though I spent much of the past few days disheveled in some pretty remote places, makeup was never far from my mind.

Like on Monday, while trudging through tall grasses and traversing streams along the banks of the Wailua River, El Hub pointed out some of the fruit trees he recognized from his childhood (he grew up on the neighboring island of Oahu). “There’s a breadfruit tree, mango, papaya, guava…”

I kept hoping I’d also hear him say, “And there’s a lipstick tree,” as in Tarte’s new limited edition Gifts from the Lipstick Tree Color Collection ($42).

Leave it to Tarte to distract me in the middle of the jungle, LOL!

The limited edition set, part of Tarte’s 2012 summer collection, comes with three full-size lip and cheek products in a warm, shimmery golden pink called Achiote, after the name of the small tropical tree from which Tarte obtained the pigment.

The bright red seeds of the achiote tree’s spiny fruit are used to color all kinds of things, from food to body paint and even lipstick. Hence its nickname, “the lipstick tree.”

I’m pretty sure we didn’t pass any achiote trees on our hike, but I did snap this picture of a rare related plant that had Tarte’s Lip Luster, Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush and a Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss hanging from its branches…

Yeah, right! Now that would have been an awesome jungle find.

On my dry cheeks and lips, the blush lasts about six hours, while both of the lip products (which have a faint peppermint flavor and scent) last about three.

Gifts from the Lipstick Tree Achiote Color Collection from bottom to top: LipSurgence Lip Luster in Achiote, Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss in Achiote and Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Achiote

From the left: Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush, LipSurgence Lip Luster in Achiote and Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss in Achiote

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Red’s not one of the first colors I picture when I think, “summer lip shades.”

Well, it didn’t used to be — but that was before I saw Tarte’s new LipSurgence in Spirited ($24), a shiny, bright poppy red that’s like a beach party in a tube, haaay!

From the left: LipSurgence Lip Tint in Spirited, Clean Slate 360 Creaseless 12-HR Smoothing Primer and Amazon Bronze Amazonian Clay and Annatto Body Bronze

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Wearing Tarte Gifts from the Lipstick Tree Achiote Color Collection from summer 2012

I’m currently in the throes of fuzzy pre-vacation brain, so I apologize in advance for eny tipos in this post and weird sentences that don’t make sense…

I did two things today instead of the really important things I needed to get done (like packing). 1) I dreaded the fact that I wasn’t doing the things I needed to get done, and 2) I thought about pie.

The Caramel Apple Pecan Pie at The Right Slice

Yes, that’s right: pie (not pi). I was looking online for good eats on Kauai and found a highly recommended place called The Right Slice.

They sell pie. Just pie (and things like pie). In a wide variety of yummy-sounding flavors.

They have savory pies (Classic Chicken Pot Pie, Shepherd’s Pie); spicy pies (Chocolate Chile, Spicy Apple), fruit pies (Guava, Lilikoi, Blueberry Piña Colada); and rich, and/or gooey pies (Carmel Apple Pecan, Haupia Purple Sweet Potato, Lilikoi Cheesecake, Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut).

Thinking about all of that pie is giving me the sugar shakes!

I wonder if it’s possible to overdose on pie. My, my, my, gonna eat some pie…

LOL!

Sorry, I’m having a hard time concentrating today. I feel like it’s the last day of school before summer…and speaking of summer, have you seen the summer collection from Tarte?

They’re keeping it short and sweet with just six items this year, which is a drop in the bucket compared to their spring 2012 release.

I still see some pretty interesting things…

Primers seem to be playing a big role. There’s a new one for eyes and two new ones for the face — the Clean Slate 360 Creaseless 12-Hr Smoothing Eye Primer ($20), Clean Slate Flawless 12-HR Brightening Primer ($30) and Clean Slate Poreless 12-HR Perfecting Primer ($30).

There’s also a new Body Bronzer ($37), a new LipSurgence Lip Tint shade called Sprited ($24), and a $42 three-piece set with an awkwardly long name — the Gifts from the Lipstick Tree Achiote Color Collection.

Here are pics and swatches of everything, with the exception of the face primers…

Gifts from the Lipstick Tree Achiote Color Collection

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