TSABD Edit: Deeper Shades of tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Foundation, Shape Tape & Maracuja Creaseless Concealer

Welcome back to another TSABD Edit! Today’s edit is around a number of complexion products from tarte Cosmetics in deeper shades. To be honest, I’d written tarte off as a brand I’d consider for myself and even for reviews on this site. I had loved a number of tarte products I’d tried over the years, but I got tired of seeing the lack of deeper shades in their products and really tired of the lack of people with darker skin tones on their social media. As a consumer and as a beauty writer, I don’t have the time to showcase brands that don’t have the time to showcase people who look like me. The only reason why this post is going up is because someone I know now works for them and I love her so much. It’s because of her I even took the package and because of you guys who voted on my Instagram story when I first got the products that I’m doing these reviews.

Let’s get into it…

tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know I do a daily lunch time question where I ask you guys questions about the beauty (and fashion) products you love and how you use them. I love this because I love interacting with you guys and you guys love it because many of you like to see what other people say. The other day’s question was about concealer and SO MANY PEOPLE said they love tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer so I was happy that it was included in the package sent to me.

Official description:

WHAT IT IS
A best-selling, full-coverage, vegan, blendable concealer that instantly brightens, smooths & shapes skin.

WHAT IT DOES
Provides a flawless matte finish that won’t flake or crease, even if you have dry skin, fine lines, or pore problems – no setting powder necessary. Mango seed & shea butters naturally regenerate & illuminate all complexions, letting you play with light to lift your features.

HOW TO USE IT
This creamy concealer is ideal for applying with the quickie blending sponge (sold separately).

To Cover & Perfect

Dot concealer directly over blemishes, dark circles or other imperfections and use the narrow, tapered side of the sponge to dab and blend.
To cover redness or uneven skin tone, apply concealer directly onto skin and blend using the larger, domed end of the sponge.
To offset the look of dark circles, trace concealer onto undereye area in a triangle of light formation and blend using the narrow side of the sponge.
To Contour & Highlight

Trace concealer in light, thin lines directly onto areas you want to highlight and contour, such as the cheekbones, forehead, chin and nose.
Use the narrow, pointed side of sponge to blend formula into skin in the direction of the lines you traced. The larger, domed side can be used to soften any harsh lines.
Wear concealer 1-2 shades darker for creamy contouring and 1-2 shade lighter as a luminous highlighter.

The formula of these concealers is pretty amazing. It gives the coverage of a cream with the flexibility of a liquid. And yes, there are “shades for darker skin” but I’m not overly pleased with the shade offering. So as a beauty writer and blogger, I often come into a product trial with two takes: 1. how it works for me and 2. how it would work for my audience. So just because the shade range doesn’t work well for me doesn’t mean it’s a bad product—some of you may get great shade matches from these.

I have four shades: Tan, Deep, Rich, and Mahogany. Tan is way too light for me to brighten my under eyes or highlight. Deep is a better under eye brightening and highlighting shade for me, but it’s a bit brighter/lighter than what I’d normally wear (I usually use Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer in Golden). Rich might have been a better “highlight” color but it’s so cool-toned on me that it didn’t do much for brightening so it looked ashy. Mahogany was too dark to conceal most areas on my face, but it could pass on my chin area which can be a bit darker than the center of my face. I wouldn’t buy a shade like that though because I wouldn’t get much use out of it. It’s also pretty cool-toned as well. My guess is that these darker shades are cooler toned because they are meant to be contour shades which generally are more cool-toned (a cool-toned shade will create the type of “shadow” that you create when contouring). This is not to say that the color selections are horrible (I mean, they’re horrible for me personally…lol) but if these match closer to your skin tone and undertone, they’ll be awesome. They’ll also be awesome if you’re using them to contour–assuming they’re dark enough for you to use as a contour. Mahogany is darker than my skin tone but not dark enough to be an effective contour for me. See what I typically use here.

Although the shade selection didn’t work well for me, I do like the formula. A very little goes a long way so I wouldn’t suggest using the applicator to apply the concealer directly to your face because you might apply way too much product. You might want to instead swipe some off the applicator; use your fingers to get what you need and then if you need more, apply more; or use a makeup brush to swipe a little off the applicator and use that to apply it.

I also love that it dries down to a smooth, powder-like finish. I was able to cry (I was watching a sad video…lol) and it didn’t budge. I don’t have a ton of fine lines, but this concealer didn’t settle into them.

It also had amazing staying power. Not a single crease nor fading where I put it under my eyes. I did have some slight fading where I put the concealer on my chin and my forehead to cover two small dark spots there. The forehead is pretty typical because I tend to sweat there and most concealers tend to fade on my there a bit. I don’t usually mind the fading because the spot isn’t that crazy anyway.

Bottom line: tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer is a great quality product with an amazing formula. The shades ran too cool-toned for me (I’m assuming that’s because the darker shades are contour shades and contour shades tend to be on the cooler side) so they were a no-go for me shade-wise. If the shades happen to work for you, these are great concealers.

Price and where to buy: $27 at tartecosmetics.com and ULTA (plus 3% cash back when you use eBates)

tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Foundation

Official description:

What it is:
A long-lasting foundation powered by Amazonian clay that imparts a matte finish.

What it does:
Get 12 hours of flawless coverage with this long-wearing, skin-perfecting formula with UVA/UVB SPF 15. It’s full-coverage and supremely blendable and buildable formula has a weightless texture and is available in a broad range of shades.

What it is formulated WITHOUT:
– Parabens
– Sulfates
– Phthalates

What else you need to know:
Whether skin is oily, dry, or combination, “skin-smart” Amazonian clay will intuitively adjust to meet and address your skin concerns for makeup that wears better, longer, and truer. This revolutionary foundation reduces the appearance of pores, discolorations, and imperfections and ensures a perfectly flawless complexion every time.

This product is vegan and hypoallergenic.

HOW TO USE
Dispense a dime size amount of foundation to the back of your hand.
Pick up a small amount using the buffer™ airbrush finish bamboo foundation brush
Sweep onto skin in light, circular motions, starting at the center of the face and blending outward.

Rich Honey is the deepest shade and the closest I had to a “match” (but it doesn’t match—it’s just the closest color match out of all the shades). Rich Honey is described as “deeper w/ peach undertones.” It’s a bit too light and the undertones are off on me. If it were a smidge darker and had a teeny bit more red in it, it would be a better match. Since it is a full coverage foundation it’s more apparent that it’s not a match and looks mask-like on me because it’s not the best color. I could tell that the coverage was nice though—I feel like it was more medium to full buildable coverage and still let’s the skin look like skin. If this were a better match, I could see it being a nice foundation but the shades are soooo limited for darker skin.

I like that it has “skin-smart” Amazonian clay that addresses skin concerns no matter your skin type, but at that same time that means nothing to me when I don’t have a good match…lol.

Performance-wise it seemed to hold up pretty well on me though of course I needed to touch-up throughout the day and I’m guessing I’d need to do so more when it’s warmer out (see my Stay Beat in the Heat post for tips on how to keep your makeup on during warmer weather). Since the shade match wasn’t great, I didn’t test it outdoors. Usually when a foundation is off in color it kind of interferes with how I feel about the product because the wrong color can make my skin look sickly. This one didn’t make me look all the way sickly (haha) but you can tell it wasn’t my match and I didn’t want to go outside and get played…lol. But I sometimes do things to create “tropical” environments to see how a foundation might hold up in the actual elements, and this one held up okay although I did need to touch-up pretty often. This might not be the best formula for warmer weather if you have oily skin even if you do have a good match.

Bottom line: The lack of deeper shades sucked the fun out of testing out this foundation for me which is why I pretty much wrote them off before this. The foundation seems like it would be awesome for someone who is looking for a full coverage foundation that is easy to apply, still looks like skin, applies smoothly, and has some feel-good aspects about it (it’s vegan). The shade range sucks though.

Price and where to buy: $39 at Sephora (Sephora doesn’t seem to have Rich Honey though), ULTA, and tartecosmetics.com

tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer

Official description:

WHAT IT IS
A creamy, full coverage concealer that won’t ever crease, flake or leave you wanting more.

WHAT IT DOES
tarte’s best-selling liquid concealer, offering crease-free, creamy coverage with skinvigorating™ skincare benefits. Powered by nourishing maracuja & rich antioxidants, the multi-tasking formula helps awaken a dull complexion while smoothing and improving skin’s texture & tone. The full coverage waterproof concealer expertly masks redness, dark spots & discolorations while imparting a brightening, luminous finish to help offset the look of dark circles for a flawlessly radiant complexion.

Now available in 14 shades to complement a range of skintones & undertones.

HOW TO USE
Using a concealer brush, apply onto undereye area in an upside down triangle formation to help naturally brighten the undereye area and offset the look of dark circles. To camouflage spots or imperfections, apply a thin layer of concealer after your foundation and gently blend until full and even coverage is achieved.

I had more luck with this concealer shade-wise than I did the Shape Tape. My closest match to brighten under my eyes was Rich and it worked because it had more warmth in it than the Shape Tape shades that are close in hue (the Shape Tape ones were cooler in undertone though). I could only use Rich for my under eye area though because it was too light for anywhere else.

I don’t notice much difference in texture between these and the Shape Tape—they both feel very similar in texture. The Maracuja Creaseless Concealer does have a slightly more luminous finish than Shape Tape. I found both to be creaseless as well. They’re also both very long-lasting as well—no fading or creasing on my eye area. Biggest difference I could tell between the two formulas was in the undertones as I mentioned above.

Bottom line: Maracuja Creaseless Concealer does a great job of concealing, but again the shade range in lacking for those with deeper skin tones. If you’re looking for a full coverage concealer like this but with more shade options for deeper skin, check out Estee Lauder Double Wear Waterproof All Day Extreme Wear Concealer, Black Opal Total Face & Body Concealer, Bobbi Brown Full

Price and where to buy: $26 at Sephora, tartecosmetics.com and ULTA. Get up to 5% cash back when you use eBates.

See which foundation shades I wear in other brands here

See more foundation reviews and swatches for dark skin here

See more concealer reviews and swatches for dark skin here