Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer

Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer

By now every makeup addict should have tried or heard of the Tarte Shape Tape concealer. It has been on every beauty blogger/youtuber’s tongue since it launched last year. Surprisingly, it is not yet available in Australia. Sephora which sells Tarte in Australia does not carry the famed Shape Tape concealer line. But rest assured Aussies can buy this popular concealer from the Tarte website directly and they have free AU shipping on orders over $88 (this threshold seems to vary constantly!).

What Tarte says/product description:

• A best-selling, full-coverage, vegan, blendable concealer that instantly brightens, smooths & shapes skin.
• Available in 14 shades
• Interesting fact: one shape tape is sold every 26 seconds.
• RRP AU$37/10ml

My experience:

The first thing that jumps out at me is the packaging. It features a massive wand for application. I think Tarte designed the concealer to be used as a contouring product, hence the bigger than normal wand for quicker application. But I only use this for my undereye circles and pigmentation, so I would personally prefer a smaller wand for precise application. On the flip side, the Shape Tape concealer also contains a lot of product – 10ml. Other concealers are typically around 6ml, i.e., Nar Radiant Creamy Concealer is 6ml and Maybelline Fit Me Concealer is 6.8ml.  So the Shape Tape concealer works out to be a great value product.

This concealer offers great coverage and yet blends beautifully into my skin. Given the coverage, I was surprised at how light the texture of this concealer is. Texture wise, it is thinner/lighter than Nars Radiant Creamy concealer but provides better coverage than Nars. And because of the light texture, it does not settle into my fine lines like the Nars one does, which is a huge plus for me. I can see people who have acne really enjoy this concealer because how light and high coverage it is.

My shade is light sand, which has yellow/warm undertone and matches roughly Mac NC20-25, Chanel #20 Clair and Armani LSF 5. The light sand in the Tarte Rainforest of the Sea foundation also matches me quite well so I would say that the shade range runs consistently in the Tarte concealer lineup.

Application of this concealer is a little tricky because it sets/dries down very quickly. I like to dot the concealer around my eyes – two dots for each eye give enough coverage for me, and quickly blend away with a sponge. Then I move on to the corners of my nose and mouth. I found that if I dot the products all over and then start blending, by the time I finish blending my undereyes the concealer around my nose has already started to set, therefore becomes harder to blend. For this reason, I wouldn’t use it for contouring either because it sets too quickly for blending a large area.

Lasting power of this concealer is pretty impressive too. It lasts well for at least eight hours. By the time I am home to remove my makeup, the Shape Tape concealer always performs better than my foundation doesn’t matter what foundation I am wearing on the day.

A minor disappointment is the shelf life of this concealer – only six months. I really don’t see myself finishing all 10ml of this concealer in six months. And because it is a liquid/cream product, I don’t want to use it after expiry date either.

All in all, this is a great all-rounder concealer. It is great for concealing undereyes, pigmentation and acne scarring and lasts really well.

Repurchase? Yes, if I manage to hit pan on this massive tube and finish all my other concealers…