What We Really Think Of Tarte's New Darker Foundations And Concealers

It's hard to believe that in this day and age, we still have to have the inclusive cosmetics conversation... but here we are. There are so many brands that continue to miss the mark when it comes to doing right by all of its customers — and Tarte is owning up to its part. When the brand dropped its long-awaited Shape Tape foundation earlier this year, fans and friends of the brand were rightfully upset to see another shade range that failed to consider the ends of the spectrum. But Tarte is vowing to change — and actually putting its money where its mouth is.

Yesterday, the brand announced 15 new shades of its Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Foundation, all ranging from tan to deep. Nine of the 16 new shades for its Creaseless Concealers are tan to deep as well. "We recognise that we failed to represent all Tartelettes the way we needed to," a representative for the brand tells Refinery29. "We looked at our full complexion range and product timeline and worked internally to pull up several future foundation and concealer launches." To make sure that everyone was included, they swatched and tested it all on the Tarte team, as well as friends and family members. This led to the introduction of a new undertone, golden, which is suitable for olive skin tones.

Let's be clear: Shape Tape was a major misstep. (And the brand promises to launch shade extensions for that range later this year.) But, it's comforting to know that the brand actually listened to all of the criticism, and is learning from it. "Our social media channels give us a direct pipeline to all of our [customers], and they definitely let us know how they feel," the brand says. "That’s how we continue to grow."

While 40 shades of Amazonian Clay and 30 shades of the Creaseless Concealers sounds impressive, we had to test them out for ourselves. So we asked five Refinery29 editors, all with tan to deep skin tones, to try the site's Foundation Finder and give the products an honest test run. Check out their unfiltered opinions, ahead.