The limited edition Tarte Grav3yardgirl Swamp Queen Eye & Cheek Palette ($45) is a collaboration between the YouTube star @Grav3yardGirl and tarte. Bunny Meyer, or Grav3yardgirl or as her fans know her, is a creative makeup guru and she designed this one-of-a-kind palette with her favorite colors, techniques, and pastimes captured through 12 exclusive shades. I rarely watch YouTube videos so I am unfamiliar with the megastar, however I do know the Swamp Girl palette stirred up quite a frenzy when it was pre-released in May for a week online and completely sold out. After the full release in June, I was on the fence until I was waiting in line at Ulta and the salesgirl told me I had $12 worth of points to spend so I grabbed one off the display and made an impulse purchase. I’m glad I did!
Swamp Girl consists of a bronzer, blush and highlighter, nine eyeshadows and a brush all housed in a cute palette with a full sized mirror. The generous mirror is imprinted with these words: “Believe in Yourself. Love Yourself. Embrace Your Individuality.” Nice touch. The design on the front is a western theme with a wood background, complete with an alligator with wings! I’m not what the significance is but it’s cute. That image and the names of the colors certainly go along with the swamp theme! I think Bunny is from Texas so it seems apropos. The palette is sturdy enough for travel and all you need to add is mascara and eyeliner (if you choose) for a full face of makeup. Oh, I should mention it has a very slight vanilla cupcake scent too.
Bunny did a great job with the mix of mostly warm shades in the Swamp Girl palette. Three of the nine shadows are in the purple family to break up the neutrals–this is what I wanted from the LORAC Pro Palette 3 and didn’t get. Tarte claims all the shadows are unique to the palette.
- #SFS (shimmery rose gold)
- natural peaches (matte peachy nude)
- dogman (matte burnt sienna)
- big baby (matte cream)
- sassy bun (peachy shimmer)
- sippy sippy (shimmery brown with gold flecks)
- haunting (matte lavender grey)
- uncommon (shimmery purple slate)
- mancat (deep plum)
- sweet tea (deep bronzer)
- gator wings (champagne highlighter)
- does this thing really work? (bright plum rose blush)
Some of the standouts to me are does this thing really work? blush, though with my light skin, I need to apply it sparingly. That reminds me–everything in the palette is well pigmented with great color payoff. Y’all know how I love a peachy shimmer and Sassy Bun is a gorgeous one. #SFS is a pretty shimmery rose gold, uncommon is a lovely purpley taupe and sippy sippy is a deep brown with gold flecks. I felt sure dogman was too dark for me, but I love using it as a crease shade. All the shades are smooth and easily blendable in a variety of finishes: matte, shimmer and frost.
Though I can make sweet tea bronzer work for me, it’s a bit dark for my light skin. As I mentioned, does this thing really work is a beautiful plumy rose blush with a mostly matte finish with just a touch of fine, fine shimmer. The highlighter gator wings is a lovely champagne with a frosty finish. I’m not sure if it’s too frosty for me or if I’m just not used to wearing highlighter. You be the judge.
For this eye look I used big baby on the brown bone, sassy bun on the lid and sippy sippy blended in the crease. I used mancat as a liner on the upper lash line.
And here’s the full Swamp Girl look:
Bottom Line: I’m glad I picked up tarte’s Grav3yardgirl Swamp Queen Eye & Cheek Palette. The marriage between Grav3yardgirl’s color choices and tarte’s quality really works. There really isn’t a dud in the entire palette which can be rare and it works for both light to dark skin tones. This is what I wanted LORAC’s Pro Palette 3 to be! I’ll have to start watching Grav3yardgirl’s videos to see what all these shade names mean!
The collection looks great, and the colors that she picked for the collection are awesome! I had not heard of her before now!
I hadn’t either!
Very pretty. I am drawn to the richer colors in this particular palette!
I think that’s what makes it a little different!
I LOVE this palette! I have only watched her here and there, I’m not a follower except on IG, so I had to look up on IG and her videos what some of the terms meant, it was a fun chase! Your look is really pretty, you ROCK this!!!
Thanks so much!
I didn’t know who Swampgirl is, but this is one gorgeous and useful palette. It suits you to a T!
Thanks Allison!
I love that the shades are of a lighter color, it leans towards that everyday “no make-up” look. It blends in pretty well too!
Those are some beautiful colors. I’ve always loved golds, so I love the color you used on your eyes. They look great!
Thank you!
I have this palette and the Texas Toast lippie. I think it’s the best blogger collaboration to date.
I would have to agree. The two lipsticks didn’t suit my coloring.
Those are super cute colors. At first I wasnt sure but once I saw them on you it looked great!
That’s how I felt. I waited a long time to buy it because I thought it would be too dark for me, but it worked out great!
I’m going to have to tell my daughter about this. She actually watches that channel on YouTube!
I bet she would love this then!
Really happy I picked this one up!
You and me both girlfriend!
I’ve never heard of her but I watch very few videos too. Most of those shades are warmer than I normally use but the eye look you put together is so pretty that it’s changing my mind.
Go for it Marcia! You look good in warm tones too and there are 3 purples as well!
Lovely! Such pretty shades.
I didn’t think they would work for me but they do, yay!
Wow, I want this palette. It is very helpful if you have a palette like this, you can use for all occasion and on casual days.
So true!
Nice palette. I love the colors and looks nice on you. I want to have this.
Grab one before they sell out!
I like your palette. I wish I can have those! Your make up looks perfect on you!
Thank you so much!
That’s a good selection of color. I would love to try some of this myself.
Go swatch it at Ulta!
What a beautiful palette! I love all of the different colors that I see here and can think of a few different looks in my head that I would love to play around with.
I almost impulse purchased this palette the other day. It’s so beautiful!
Such a beautiful palette & I love the wonderful colors we have to try out. Honestly you look gorgeous on that full Swamp Girl look and I would definitely want that palette right away!
I have watched some of her videos and she’s funny as heck. However these colors really do nothing for me and I was a bit disappointed that she went with them but I’m not a fan so I don’t feel like it’s a must own if I don’t vibe with the colors.
loving all these colors. As someone who has never known how to use make-up, I am amazed at what people can do.
Never heard of the star myself f the name of the brand either. Its not my colours but they look good on you 🙂
I was surprised how neutral this palette turned out to be. I always thought Bunny would make something wild and unpredictable.