Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Foundations

If you’re a make-up lover and you haven’t familiarised yourself with the new-to-the-UK brand Tarte, you absolutely need to change this ASAP as it’s a fantastic brand full of wonderful products, at least some of which are bound to get you excited.  If you’re after some suggestions, most people go a bit loopy over the beautiful 12 hour Amazonian Clay blushers, but my personal excitement-inducing products are the Brow Mousse, the lash curlers (I use my set daily) and the full coverage products, two of which I have to show you today.

There are currently three products in the range in total; the Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Foundation, the Amazonian Clay Full Cover Airbrush Powder Foundation and the Amazonian Clay 12-HR Waterproof Full Coverage Concealer and today I’m reviewing the foundations.  Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I think, *I think* each Tarte product contains Amazonian Clay; do you think I’ve got that right…?  One thing I absolutely love about the Tarte base products is that they all appear to come with matching brushes which I think is a fantastic idea as a lot of products can miss out on their full potential due to being applied with inadequate or inappropriate brushes.

I’ll start with the Full Coverage Foundation which is a really interesting product.  It’s quite tricky to describe but I’d say it’s quite mousse like in it’s finish and it feels almost like it’s free from liquid, which sounds like it should be quite drying but it certainly didn’t show up any of my dry spots.  It comes with the most amazing brush; a soft, kabuki style brush that is just incredible and buffs in the foundation to a level of perfection that I don’t think I’ve ever come across with a foundation brush – it is seriously that good! These two together are quite a team, however I would that my idea of full coverage is a product that literally covers everything in its path which is not what this product does.  It’s a bit unfair of me to have reviewed it during, ahem, that time of the month, as I had a really nasty spot on my cheek that I think detracts away from it’s ability to cover, but when I haven’t got any spots that are too angry this is a fabulous product and it’s definitely one of the best products I’ve used for completely covering acne scars without looking cakey. You can find it here – link – for £32.50 which includes the brush and the shade I’m wearing is Light Sand which is a touch too dark for me; I’d probably be suited to Fair Sand instead.

Next up we have the Airbrush Powder Foundation which was too dark for me so it was difficult for me to review.  However, I can say that it has a lovely finish – none of that plasticky mineral powder effect anywhere in sight – and it buffs into skin really well.  I wasn’t sent the brush so I used a Bare Minerals Kabuki which worked fine, however, if you purchase it yourself then it does come with a lovely little brush that I had a play with at the launch event, and it’s soooo soft and dense, I would image it’s amazing for all mineral powder foundations.  One thing I *have* to comment on is the amazing packaging which ALL mineral foundations should copy; it’s a tin style with a net above the powder, so you press your brush into the net and it picks up just enough powder so you get a good finish without using too much.  One thing a lot of people complain about is the mess of loose mineral foundations, but that isn’t a problem with this one as the lid has an extended part that presses into the netting thus stopping any fallout and keeping the whole container clean; absolutely amazing and seriously impressive! This is £34 here – link – again for both product and brush, and the shade I’m wearing in the right picture below is Light Medium.

I’ll definitely be looking into getting the right shade of the powder foundation as I can see it being something that I’d end up using a lot; both foundations are really impressive – neither are full coverage, but I’d describe them as the fullest natural coverage you can get; if you’re after as much cover as possible without looking like you’re wearing make-up then I’d recommend investigating either foundation further.  I’m now obsessing over the Full Coverage Concealer, so don’t be surprised if you see that appear in my stash soon! All Tarte products are QVC UK exclusives, and you can check out the full range here – link.

*PR Samples