I finally managed to get my hands on the supposed Holy Grail of concealers, the one I searched for during my entire stay in North America, the famous Tarte Shape Tape Contour concealer!
Currently, on most YouTube beauty channels, it’s the star of the Best Of Beauty 2016, but the hype had already started this summer. All the American YouTubers are raving about it. It’s considered the best concealer of the moment!
As a result, it was sold out a few weeks after its release this summer, and it has been mainly out of stock ever since. It comes back in stock regularly, but they’re selling like hot cakes. Also, it’s not available everywhere, which adds to the difficulty of getting your hands on it. It’s available only on Tarte website (which delivers worldwide) and in Ulta stores.
I came across an Ulta store last September in Philadelphia, but of course, the Shape Tape was out of stock at that time. Nevertheless, I had the opportunity to take a look at the testers to be able to choose my color on the website once it would be available. Actually, I struggled a little because none of the colors suited me, I was between two shades. Fortunately for me, Tarte has added a lot of new colors since then.
As I really wanted to find my perfect shade (and also because I’m a little excessive ahem), I ordered three shades: Fair Neutral, Light Sand, and Light Neutral.
Let’s see if this Tarte Shape Tape Contour concealer deserves its title of best concealer of 2016! smile
Tarte Shape Tape Contour concealer, presentation:
What the brand says about it:
“A vegan friendly, creamy concealer for radiant coverage and contouring. “
It’s a multi-tasking product: a concealer, a corrector but also a contouring product.
It can be used to hide your dark circles or imperfections thanks to its high coverage, but its fluid and creamy texture also allows it to be applied on larger surfaces to do contouring. Tarte advises using several Shape Tape, not just one: one darker to contour, a lighter one to brighten and a shade closer to your skin color to conceal. (Yeah, they’re very clever lol)
I bought several myself, but it was more to be sure to find a color that worked well on me. (Well, I admit that for the lighter one, Fair Neutral, I took it for its brightening effect, I like to mix my concealer with a very light color to give radiance to the complexion).
Tarte also sells a sponge to apply it (sooo clever lol). I had the opportunity to see it when I was at Ulta, I don’t necessarily recommend it, it looks very stiff. And if you already have a Beauty Blender or a Real Techniques sponge, either of these two do the trick perfectly! smile
The Tarte Shape Tape Contour concealer retails for $24, and it’s available on the brand’s website and at Ulta.
Tarte Shape Tape Contour concealer, my test and thoughts:
– Formula and texture:
The formula is quite fine, it is a kind of creamy but rather liquid texture. It doesn’t leave any greasy feeling on the skin, it dries matte, but without leaving a dry feeling on the skin.
– Color range:
14 shades that suit from the lighter to the darker skin colors. The range has grown every time they came back in stock and now, it’s really wide. All the skin colors can now find a good match. But it’s still not easy to be sure of which color to pick if you’re not able to try it on your skin, but oh well, I guess that’s why blogs do swatches! wink
I chose Light Neutral after I tried Light and Light-Medium on my hand at Ulta. Light Neutral is supposed to have pink and yellow undertones, which is perfect for my skin (I’m more on the neutral side).
I also decided to try Light Sand which has yellow undertones because sometimes this kind of color works well for me and are super luminous and brightening. But, unfortunately, it didn’t work here, and Light Sand doesn’t suit me at all. It looks too light and gray on me… #fail
I also ordered Fair Neutral because I wanted a lightening effect and I liked the fact that it has neutral undertones. At first, when I swatched it, I thought that I picked the wrong shade well but finally, I just apply a little amount on the area I want to brighten, and it works quite well! smile
– Scent:
The formula contains a lot of perfume, it smells like lemon and to be honest, I’m not a fan. Not because I don’t like the smell, it doesn’t bother me but more because I find it a bit irritating for my eye contour. Usually, I’m not too sensitive to this kind of stuff, but here, I can feel it, it irritates my skin a little when I wear it. I don’t really understand why they added a lot of perfume for a product intended to be used on the very sensitive eye contour area… It’s a little weird, to be honest…
– Packaging:
The bottle is quite large. It contains 10 ml of product, which is roughly the double of a conventional concealer. The size of the applicator is also huge. You can feel it’s meant to be a contouring product for the face. At first, it bothered me a little but now I’m used to it. However, I don’t find it very precise. It’s very easy to go overboard and apply too much with this gigantic applicator…
– Application:
I tried several ways to apply it, and whether it’s with my Beauty Blender, a brush or my fingers, the product is quite easy to blend. I find that the application with my wet Beauty Blender is the most natural and it gives me the result I prefer. Also, I try not to put too much product because otherwise, it tends to be a little bit too heavy.
I always apply my concealer after my foundation. Generally, I focus the application on the inner corner of my under eye area, and I don’t drag it very low (I don’t apply it all over, in a big triangle shape which goes until the nose like I always see on YouTube).
Many YouTubers claim that you don’t need to powder it because it dries matte and it doesn’t move throughout the day. On me, probably because I’m significantly older than most of these young Beauty gurus, it creases a little in my fine lines if I don’t set it. So I apply a light amount of RCMA loose powder on top. Not more than a veil because otherwise, the result may look cakey. As the product is a little “dry”, putting too much powder on top tends to make it look heavy it, and it ages me terribly. I tried to powder it using my Beauty Blender, big mistake, I looked like a mummy… sad
I mainly use the Shape Tape on my eye contour, but it also works great on imperfections.
– Pigmentation and coverage:
It has a quite strong coverage and a very good pigmentation. It covers the imperfections and dark circles very well. Also, it’s very buildable.
– Finish:
The finish is very pretty and quite natural. It’s quite matte. Surprisingly, despite its finish, it doesn’t emphasize the dry patches or the fine lines too much.
It also feels lightweight.
– Lasting power:
It lasts pretty well on the skin. It’s a long-lasting product even if after 8 to 9 hours, it starts to crease a little bit. But really, nothing major.
– Value for money:
The value for money is quite good because the bottle is huge compared to its competitors: 10 ml. If I compare with the concealer, I used before: the Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer is half the size for a higher price ($28)!
Finally, here are the swatches:
And on me (before/after):
In this picture, I used the Light Neutral shade that I applied using my Beauty Blender. If I need an extra correction, I apply a little bit of Bobbi Brown Corrector (in the shade Light to Medium Bisque) below. On the day of the photo, I only applied the Tape Shape Tape Contour alone, and I set it with a little bit of my RCMA powder.
On my lips, it’s the Bobbi Brown Luxe Lip Color in the shade Neutral Rose. wink
So, in summary:
[wprs-pros][wprs-cons]
It’s a good concealer, with a very good coverage while remaining quite lightweight. Just be careful not to put too much and if you want to prevent it from creasing into fines lines, a veil of powder is necessary. I’m not as blown away as the rest of the beauty community, but maybe I had too high expectations with all the hype around this product. However, I’m not disappointed, and it’s great because I believe I have enough concealer in this big bottle for the rest of the year ah ah ah! wink
The Tarte Shape Tape Contour concealer is available on the brand website for $24.
And you, have you tried the Tarte Shape Tape Contour concealer? What are your thoughts? If not, what is your favorite concealer of all time?
Photo credit: bonnie-garner.com