After a security breach in 2017 and an equally tumultuous 2018 rife with foundation range controversy, Tarte Cosmetics seems to be trying to repair its reputation with new product releases and more inclusion efforts in 2019. The brand is giving its fans back-to-back product releases that include a new palette announcement, the launch of its cutesy Sugar Rush sister brand, and a foundation relaunch.
But Tarte Cosmetics isn't stopping there! The brand also announced a new foundation line unlike anything sitting in its lineup. Unfortunately, this product reveal still has beauty fans raising eyebrows and scratching their heads.
Foundcealer is the newest addition to Tarte Cosmetics' complexion product lineup, and it's designed to do more than paint our faces!
Foundcealer is a multitasking vegan foundation designed to provide "flexible coverage" and to act as skin care. The foundation formula includes a new ingredient for Tarte Cosmetics: babassu.
The babassu ingredient comes from a Brazilian palm tree, and it's frequently sold in a pure oil form. Lots of hair conditioners have babassu in their ingredients list. Tarte Cosmetics included babassu in this foundation "to moisturize, soothe, and nourish skin."
"You’ll love this formula for its skin-loving ingredients & flexible coverage, allowing you to live your day your way," the brand shared about its new foundation on Instagram.
Foundcealer will be available in 30 shades with five undertones.
Per the swatches, it appears that Tarte Cosmetics actually tried to create a shade range that caters to a variety of different complexions. Of course, there is clearly room for more shades in each category. I do hope to see this range expanded to 5, because Tarte Cosmetics has done so with its Face Tape Foundation ($39, Ulta). At least this time around, Tarte Cosmetics made sure that every complexion had the same amount of undertone options.
A few fans are still side-eyeing this Tarte Cosmetics release.
"Isn't this like the third foundation released this year by them?" a fan asked.
This sentiment is echoed throughout the Trend Mood comments section.
Some fans believe Tarte Cosmetics is just aiming to release as many foundations as possible until one of them becomes a hit.
"When you roll out foundations until one sticks," another fan quipped.
They are really confused about why Tarte Cosmetics is releasing a completely different foundation so soon after the relaunch of Face Tape.
"Are you serious? Didn't they JUST release the Face Tape?" someone asked.
Tarte Cosmetics just relaunched Face Tape Foundation in February 2019 to repair its disastrous 2018 rollout.
When Tarte Cosmetics first released Face Tape Foundation in 2018, it only had 14 shades and only two of them were for dark skin.
The beauty community was furious, to put things mildly. Regular beauty fans vowed not to shop from Tarte Cosmetics again. Several black beauty influencers including Jackie Aina, Makeup Shayla, and Alissa Ashley called the brand out on their YouTube channels.
The internet drags seemed endless.
Tarte Cosmetics muddied the situation further when it apologized by explaining that it planned for darker shades to be released later.
Tarte Cosmetics basically decided that people with dark skin could just wait to get their foundation matches at a later time.
When that later time did arrive and the brand added deeper foundations, they were initially only available online. This meant that anyone needing a darker foundation would not be able to swatch and would have to just order and hope for the best.
Having darker customers do extra work than lighter customers just to get a foundation match definitely did the brand's inclusion efforts no favors.
Thankfully, the brand is trying to get things right in 2019 with an inclusive foundation range.
This is exactly why I actually do not see a problem with the new Foundcealer.
This brand that was once dragged over 14 foundation shades has jumped to 50 and then announced a separate foundation line with 30 shades.
It seems like Tarte Cosmetics is putting in a lot of effort to get things right the first launch around in 2019.
It's also not a foreign concept for a brand to have more than one foundation available so that their customers' different needs and preferences are met.
Generally speaking, there are so many different foundation formulas, finishes, and coverage options! There are powders, liquids, and powder-to-liquids formulas. Then there are finishes like matte, natural, and dewy. I love when a brand offers all of those.
This is especially helpful because my skin does different things depending on the season. I deal with a lot more oil during the summer and experience a lot of dryness during the winter, so I use completely different foundations during those times.
Several beauty influencers that people in the beauty community still actually trust have tried the new Foundcealer.
Tarte Cosmetics invited a group of them to Hawaii to test out some of its new products before they hit stores.
"Honestly, it’s very very beautiful. It gives you more of a medium coverage. It's dewy and it has more skin care benefits," Manny MUA shared in Tarte's Instagram Stories during the trip.
“I feel like it has a beautiful coverage," Raw Beauty Kristi said about the foundation.
"It's a dewy, fresh, and natural finish. It's not matte. I would call it low full coverage or high medium. Very buildable."
Teaira Walker also shared positive thoughts about the Foundcealer shade range.
"My first impression of the foundation is that the shade range is A1. We are proud," she said.
It is worth it to note, though, that Tarte did not seem to have any influencers with dark skin tones on its Hawaii press trip.
Of the influencers shown in the Tarte Cosmetics Instagram Stories, I only saw U Love Megs and Teaira Walker — both of whom seem to have medium-deep skin tones. Everyone else seemed to have medium to light skin tones.
I wish there were more dark-skinned influencers on the trip who could test out the deeper Foundcelaer shades and give their opinions. As a person with dark skin, I cannot really use the opinion of a person with medium-deep skin about the darker shades.
Thankfully, everyone will be able to try the foundation for themselves very soon! Foundcealer will be available on March 21 on the Tarte website and at Sephora! If you want to try this new hybrid skin care–focused foundation, then mark your calendars.
