Textures and Tones: Tati Beauty is Here

Is it just me, or have these past six months felt like everyone’s whispering the name Tati Westbrook wherever you go? I hadn’t heard of her, her channel, or her 2-year-old supplement line until the entire saga of Narnian proportions between her and fellow beauty influencer James Charles blew up. And now, she refuses to leave my feed.

Most recently, though, Tati’s been making rounds of tabloids and blogs for the release of her much-anticipated beauty line, Tati Beauty, that, I can’t lie, has me invested. After a decade-long career as a beauty YouTuber with a whopping 9.73 million subscribers on the video platform, and ardent requests from her fans for a beauty line, she finally enters the beauty industry, with the phrase “Beautiful is your story to tell” championing her attempt join the many influencers-turned-businesspeople that we’re seeing recently. Claiming to have 30 collections planned, she jumps in with a 24 pan eyeshadow palette released on October 25th.

The Palette

Tati’s first palette, titled “Textured Neutrals Vol. 1,” takes its title quite seriously. Going upwards from down, it is split into 4 rows for the four textures: matte, sequins, metallic and glitter. The 6 columns, on the other hand, are given more lyrical, abstract names that I guess she associates with the tones. From left to right, you have “Memory” (the icy greyish-blacks), “Ritual” (the deeper mocha browns), “Story” (warm rusts and oranges), “Soothe” (sunnier beiges and tans), “Aura” (some milkier champagne hues) and “Poet” (the brighter plum and maroons). The idea of having different textures within a set of tones, she says, is to help create monochromatic, wearable looks. Priced at $48, it straddles the line between affordable and payday-indulgence for the average make-up user. It is vegan and cruelty-free and comes with a handy, nicely-sized mirror on the inside.

While I do think that these neutral tones are something we’ve been seeing for a while now, the organization has my interest piqued. I enjoy the technicality of the rows and columns representing the textures and tones respectively and the simplicity of not having individual names for each pan. Can’t deny I was a little over the food-inspired bakery vibe that most neutral palettes had been doing, and this (kind of inconsistent) discursive theme made Textured Neutrals Vol 1 stand out to me.

The Verdict

Tati has a massive fan-base so it’s hard to tell which reviews are blind appreciation for everything she does, and which reviews offer a genuine critique. The palette captures the attention of buyers with its unique attention to the structure and has earned quite a few reviews that rave about its pigmentation payoff, and the fact that there isn’t much fallout or creasing even for the glitter shades. Tati tweeted exactly 4 hours after the launch that they were almost sold out, which seems to have taken longer than other influencers claim it takes for their products, but also seems more realistic.

It leaves me wondering, though, is it just the innovative organization that makes it a fresh take on the staple eyeshadow palette? Is that not enough? Try it for yourself and do let me know.

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How Tati Disappointed Her Following

If you're not big into YouTube beauty bloggers, you may have never heard of Tati Westbrook. But if you had, you know that the mother of makeup reviews is known for her honest reviews and exciting weekly uploads.

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The much anticipated launch of Tati Westbrook's brand in the beginning of March was met with a less than anti-climactic release of not makeup, not skincare, but vitamins.

That's right... vitamins.

Of course, many of her followers remained optimistic about the slightly expensive vitamins. On the other hand, anxious and excited groups were utterly shocked that Tati was releasing what seemed to be another gimmicky SugarBearHair type of product.

The majority of the disappointed reactions were rooted in uncertainty about the actual effect of the vitamins. The product is not FDA approved - though the lab they are produced in meet FDA regulations - and have no solid evidence that confirm their actual benefits. Tati repeatedly claims that it clinically proven that this vitamin works... but what does that even mean?

Here are some claims of the beneficial results of the vitamins.

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My personal reaction was that of confusion, especially considering that if I wanted stronger nails, better skin, and longer hair, I would just let Mother Time take over as I pretend that water is the all-kill silver bullet for all my problems. Personally, I think $39.95 for a month for vitamins seems a little off, even for me, who loves to binge on lots of unnecessary beauty products. You can buy a high-quality foundation and several concealers for the same price, but maybe I should move away from associating Tati with just makeup.

Especially in this age where people are skeptical of gimmicky products, a person who has established a reputation of being truthful and reliable is taking a huge risk when releasing a product that could easily be looped into that family of strange vitamins with large claims and little effect. I hope to see something else from Tati. I was genuinely excited for her launch, but this simply wasn't it.

I'll give it to Tati, though. The packaging is pretty and I'm sure that the longer her brand is around, she will more than likely release amazing products. It's an incredibly inclusive brand so far for those that may encounter ingredient barriers; the vitamins are sugar, soy, preservative, paraben, and gluten free! It's also vegan.

Some unexpected effects, however, began to emerge as people scoured the ingredients and potential side effects. If you're on birth control, maybe be wary about choosing to use this product, since it contains palmetto, which can reduce the efficacy of birth control pills.

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