Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer reviews are all over the web, so why do I need to chip in another piece of information that likely may read or sound similarly to what you’ve read or watched before? Well here’s the thing: I don’t think what I’m about to share breaks this Tarte cream concealer down the way others did. I’ve gotten it way before it became available in Singapore Sephora, so I think I’ve got a fair share of testing this product out. I’m not saying this review is going to be more in-depth than the rest, but I think I might have touched on some areas that other beauty reviewers might have either missed or ignored.
Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Review: Coverage, Texture, Longevity
Packaging
The Tarte Shape Tape Concealer comes with a doe-foot applicator bigger than what other cream concealers come with. So each time, more product gets picked up, and while some reviewers like the idea of depositing more product to save time, I prefer to take time to build up the coverage, a tiny amount each time. Thus this applicator makes it a little harder to do so unless you exercise the concealing application with a very light hand.
Furthermore, I’m not one who go all out in applying that ‘triangle-shaped’ amount of product under my eyes. I’m the 3, at most 5 small-dabs-of product-under-the-eye kinda person.
Coverage & Texture
Many have cited the Tarte Shape Tape Concealer as a full to medium coverage cream concealer, well that is arguable. I was one of those who had the first impression of it being ‘thick’ and of ‘great coverage’ too when I first started using it (I even shared that in my demo video below which was filmed a year ago). However after using it for quite a while now, it isn’t because of how thick the consistency is like what they say. It has to do with the amount of it you’re wearing on your skin; the more product you apply, the more pigment is being introduced, hence the better the coverage, and nope I’m not saying the obvious here.
When you first apply, you’d think the formula is really thick, but you got to understand the difference between consistency and pigment. In my opinion I do not think it is necessarily thick, but pigmented? Yes. In my photos below, you can clearly see that the first streak of product I swatched on appears to be quite concentrated. But as I spread it out you could see how it thins out, especially around the edges. I’m not saying that the Tarte Shape Tape concealer is thin, because it is not. It is just not thick. You see, a product can be of moderate viscosity and still pigmented at the same time. And the Tarte Shape Tape concealer is exactly that kind of concealing product. Take for instance, nail enamel. See how when the brush firstly deposits the product, it appears thick, but as you’re spreading it out to fill up the nail space, you could still see some parts of your bare nail beneath over which a subsequent coat may be required. As for cream concealers that are thick AND gives high coverage at the same time, a great example would be the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer; which in my opinion, offers such optimal concealing capability and doesn’t weigh on the skin that I use it for my entire face sometimes.
Like most cream concealers, the Tarte Shape Tape Concealer contains shea butter. That may have explained why most people like how moisturizing it feels but depending on the ratio of ingredients used, the structure of this concealer may or may not have compromised because of this.
Wearability/ Longevity
There’re other cream concealers that I’d used that were creamier in formula than this one. And perhaps it is because of this, the Tarte Shape Tape concealer tends to give more room and time to ‘budge’ as it doesn’t dry and set on the skin as fast as I’d liked it to , so it tends to slide and crease a little sooner than expected. This is especially so if you have fine but deep creases like mine. This is quite evident in my video below, especially at the 4:23 mark. You can see how the product moved aside from the fine lines along my lower lash line not long after I’ve applied on that area. It also could not set fast enough because you could see that as soon as I did a few crinkles, the coverage started revealing more fine lines, not just under the eye bags but at the crow’s feet area as well. (Note: The video below was filmed a year ago, meaning I got this concealer for almost a year before it was launched in Singapore. My first impression of it as stated in the video as it being thick and with great coverage is no longer the same as how I feel about this concealer today.)
So, for the concealer makeup to stay longer and to also matte the finish down, I’ll need a dryer formula over it such as the Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Pencil Concealer to fill in those cracks, or you’ll need to powder over it. There are reviewers outside who found that it dries up and set too fast – like, how, seriously? Probably their drier weather’s to be blamed, because clearly in my case, it was quite the opposite (I’m located in humid Singapore).
Shades
The Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer has an extensive range of 30 shades to choose from but Singapore Sephora carries 28 shades, which is still very wide for a concealer shade range. The shade featured here is in 20B Light.
Scent
The Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer has a rose scent to it. At least, that’s how I make of it. It doesn’t put you off as it isn’t strong; in fact it smells quite alluring.
Tarte Shape Tape Retails at Singapore Sephora for SGD$42.00.
The Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer has a price tag of S$42 Singapore dollars to it in Sephora stores. This is a few dollars shy of my favourite cream concealer to date, i.e. the Nars Radiance Creamy Concealer, and a few dollars more than my close second – the MAC Cosmetics Pro Longwear Concealer. Unfortunately a price tag that is smacked in between those two didn’t warrant as much an intermediary contemplation to reach for the Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer over either of the other two.
As the name ‘Contour Concealer’ suggests (and evident from their many demo videos), Tarte markets this concealer as contouring makeup as well. While this concept is not new, to get 2 to 3 shades of these concealers at S$42.00 each (say, they amount up to S$84 to S$126 in total) to do the same job that a contour palette can (for eg, a Kat Von D Contour Creme Palette costs $73 and comes with 6 shades at that!) seems like an excessive and absurd idea to me.
All in all, the Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer is an average, okay concealer at most for me. The reviews of it out there are just way too hyped up and I hope you find my share of experience here useful.