Tarte Amazonian Clay 12- hour full coverage foundation

The brand: Tarte cosmetics is one of my favorite brands because of the ingredients used to create these products. The brand is labeled as “high-performance naturals”. They do not test on animals so they are vegan friendly. Yay for no animal harm. All Tarte products are formulated without parabens, mineral oil, phthalates, triclosan, sodium label sulfate, and gluten.

The product: This is an oil free liquid foundation that claims to last 12 hours. It is formulated with Amazonian clay and non-chemical sunscreen filters. The sunscreen is great because not only do you want you face to look good but you also want your skin to be protected from the suns harmful rays. Ladies, the winter months are not an excuse to go outside without any face protection, unless you live somewhere where it is night all time and the sun is never out. In addition to Amazonian clay, this foundation also contains vitamin A, vitamin E, and mineral pigments that help to soothe and soften the skin. Now, you may be wondering what the hell amazonian clay is. Well have no fear, I have the answer! According to Maureen Kelly (Tarte’s creator), “As the Amazon River flows for 4,000 miles, it collects highly nutritious plant and fruit extracts. The clay gathers in the river’s basin, where it’s at a high nutrient concentration. The sun naturally bakes the clay, locking in plant and fruit nutrients. Then the clay is shaved down into a finely milled powder and infused into tarte’s innovative formulas.”

Coverage: Medium to full but very natural looking

Packaging: I have only ever seen this product come in one size, which is 1.7 fl oz. It is in a wide squeeze tube.

Where to buy?: You can find this foundation at any store that carries Tarte cosmetics. The best deal is from QVC.com because you get the full sized foundation as well as the airbrush finish foundation brush for $39. Tartecosmetics.com, ULTA, and Sephora all sell it for $38…. without the brush.

Shades available:  I use the medium tan-honey shade and it blends perfectly with my skin. It is relatively easy to find a best match for you skintone. First you have to find out what your undertone is. If you have yellow or olive undertones you should go for a sand shade. If you have pink or rosy undertones you should go for a beige shade. If you have peachy, subtle apricot undertones you should go for a honey shade. If you have a balance of pink and yellow undertones, you should go for a neutral shade. After you have all that figured out, simply go to your skin tone ( fair/light, light to medium, medium to tan, tan & tan-deep) and pick the right shade in that skin tone category.

Now, what does it look like on ?

This is my face without any foundation on. As you can see, I have very dark circles(that i mentioned in my previous post) as well as some pesky dark spots from breakouts that are taking forever to go away.

To apply the foundation, I simply dot it all over my face and then blend it in. I put  about 3 dots on my cheeks and forehead, and one closer to my chin. On the side where my dark spots are, I put one more dot for a fuller coverage. After I have all the dots on my face I just take my beauty blender and proceed to blend. I rarely go in to add more foundation, and I only use one layer. The end product looks like this

BUT of course, my dark circles are not going down without a fight so I have to add concealer. For concealer I used the tarte brand once again. Specifically, their tarte maracuja creaseless concealer and VOILA 

AND now for my full face reveal…. *drumroll please* 

products used: tarte amazonian clay 12- hour full coverage foundation, tarte maraca creaseless concealer, tarte lights, camera, flashes mascara, bare minerals brightening pearl perfect light mineral veil(highlight) , bare minerals READY luminizer in “the magic moment”(blush), tarte lights, camera, lashes inner rim liner, Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow pomade in Medium Brown (Eyebrows)

Concealers

LADIES! you are not alone in a seemingly never-ending search to find the perfect concealer. We may choose to use concealers for different reasons, however concealer is almost always a staple in a girls makeup bag. Even on my “no makeup” days, I find myself reaching for a concealer. My problem is my ridiculous dark circles. I have tried countless concealers (both prestige brands and drug store) and wanted to share a few with you and compare my findings. I am going to review and compare just 4 concealers that I have in my makeup bag. 2 are high-end and 2 are drugstore. All the concealers were applied in the same manner, using my Beauty Blender mini’s.

This is my face without concealer. WARNING, THESE DARK CIRCLES ARE SERIOUS! I will put this picture under another picture of my eyes with concealer on for each post so that you can compare the before and after.

DISCLAIMER: MY OPINIONS ARE MY OPINIONS. I AM NOT A MAKEUP ARTIST NOR AM I SOME TYPE OF CONCEALER PROFESSIONAL. 

AFTER

BEFORE

Tarte’s Maracuja Creaseless Concealer costs $24 dollars and is available at makeup stores such as Sephora, Ulta, Macys, and of course any Tarte cosmetics store or on their website. It claims to provide a “long-lasting, full coverage in a rich, creamy texture with pure, skin-soothing, and anti-aging ingredients. This velvety concealer is also ideal for masking discoloration and imperfections such as acne/blemishes, redness, scars, hyperpigmentation, and dark circles.”

• My opinion: I was obsessed with this little guy as soon as I purchased it. You need very little of this product to do the job, because it is very full coverage and is a thick formula. A SMALL dot under each eye is all you need. It’s a bit pricey at $24 for a small tube of product, but this concealer will last you a long time since you do not need to use a lot per application. This one is my favorite concealer because it really covers up my dark circles well. It does tend to look a little oily on my face, but that is because it is a velvety finish whereas I prefer a matte finish. To solve this problem I simply set it with the banana shade from my Anastasia contour kit.

AFTER

BEFORE

Maybelline Fit me concealer ranges in price from about $6- $7 and can be found in any drug store that carries the Maybelline makeup brand. It claims to provide a natural coverage with an exclusive translucent base and lightweight pigments that allows skin’s natural highs and lows to show through. There are no oils and no waxes in this product so it is good for breakout prone skin.

• My opinion: I think that this concealer can definitely compete with and even top many high-end concealers. Although it does not claim to specifically cover dark-circles, it does a great job at doing so. This is usually my go-to every day concealer because it is so inexpensive and works very well. However, It is not as lasting as I would like it to. To try and keep it on I set it with powder and also spray NYX Matte finish makeup setting spray.

AFTER

BEFORE

Maybelline Super Stay 24 hr concealer also ranges in price from about $6- $7 and can be found in any drug store that carries the Maybelline makeup brand. This concealer claims to provide natural looking coverage that lasts all day, and conceal imperfections, flaws, and under-eye darkness and circle.

• My opinion: I do believe that this concealer covers up my dark circles great but I find myself reaching for it less and less because of one main problem. It dries VERY quickly so you need to work fast when applying. Then once it dries, it tends to settles into fine lines and makes my under-eye area look very dry.  Again, this is great coverage but the drying effect just kills it for me. Maybe it would be a better product for someone with oily skin.

AFTER

BEFORE

Benefit Fake Up Concealer costs $24 and can be found in makeup stores that carry the brand Benefit such as Sephora and Ulta.  It claims to hide dark circles and diffuse fine lines for a silky- smooth, ultra natural look. This concealer definitely feels very hydrating as soon as you put it on the skin. It is a stick concealer which generally is not recommend for use on the under-eye area, however this concealer is very different because it is so moisturizing. It It is also formulated with parabens which is a DEFINITE PLUS for me. The stick has Vitamin E and apple seed extract in the outer ring and the concealer is in the middle.

• My opinion: As for its coverage power, It did an okay job of covering up my dark circles. I would not say this is a full coverage concealer at all. There are three shades to choose from (Light, medium, and dark) which may seem very limited but the concealer blends pretty well so it does not have to be an exact match to your skin color.

______________________________________________________________________

As for picking a concealer color, I always choose a shade lighter than my skin tone. The reason for this is because I have such dark circles,  I do not want to use a darker shade and darken them even more. Also, a lighter shade does exactly that.. it LIGHTENS your under-eye area so its a win-win because it covers up while highlighting your face. This is what works for me, it may not work for you. Some people claim that using a lighter shade actually draws attention to the dark circles, but I don’t feel that is true in my case.  Makeup is not a one-size fits all.

I also recommend not just trying to cover the problem, but trying to treat it with dark circle creams. You can keep covering up the problem as long as you want but at then end of the day when you clean all the makeup off that problem will still be there. I like to believe my dark circles have somewhat gotten lighter thanks to the creams I have been using. My favorites are Clinque’s all about eyes ($31) and Lush’s Enchanted Eye Cream. They are both also very moisturizing which is important for the under-eye area, especially when you are going to put concealer on top.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what your concealer staples are. Xoxo Mel