Sep 6, 20178 min read

Foundation Review Part 4 – Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage Foundation Review, Full Analys

Heyyyy Beauties

Tarte Cosmetics have a foundation called Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Foundation and today I am going to be fully reviewing and analyzing it. As always with my foundation post’s, I am going to go over the main headings including the shade range, a swatch of the shade I have, consistency/coverage/best applied with/shelf life, lasting power and wear, chemical (formula) analysis, marketing vs chemical analysis and an overall summary/review.

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Available Shades/Shade Range

There are 24 shades in the Tarte Amazonian Clay Foundation range. These shades range from pale to tanned to dark. I will say, they could have wayyy less pale shades and wayyyy more darker shades. I feel like foundations always tend to focus more on pale shades and I can’t image how frustrating that much be for people with darker skin. Tarte is a popular brand so could make an effort to formulate more darker shades. Also, when a shade range features so many pale shades it just makes it 10 x more complicating when it comes to choosing a shade for yourself. Really not a big fan of the shade range just because it has hardly any variability for some shades and then way too many for another.

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Swatch in Light Beige

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Consistency/Coverage/Best Applied With/Shelf Life

The Consistency of the Tarte Amazonian Foundation is really light and creamy, as you can see in the swatch above.The Coverage is medium to buildable full. It does take a bit of product to build up to a full coverage but it can certainly be achieved after a layer or two or three.

The foundation is best applied with a flat kabuki foundation brush or a beauty blender to really pack the product in and give more coverage. It has a Shelf Life of 12 months (1 year) and comes with 50 ml (1.7 ounces) of product.

Lasting Power/Wear Test

In order to test the lasting power and wear of the Tarte Amazonian Foundation, I did a wear test in which I checked my face in the mirror and described what I saw 4 times in 2 hour intervals, equaling 8-hours of total wear.

Wear Test with Time Intervals

Time Applied- 10.59 AM

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Thoughts on application- The foundation is very light in consistency. It took 3 and a half squirts of the foundation to build up to a full coverage. The foundation is so so at first but once set, it looks really good and I like the finish and coverage. It blends really easily but because I had to apply so many layers to get full coverage it does feel tiny cakey.

First Check Up- 12.59 PM– two hours later– The foundation has set really good and the coverage is high. My skin looks even and nice. I didn’t like the application as much when I first applied but now I really like it. It has slightly creased a tiny bit around the nose but that’s it. After 2 hours, it has worn really good.

Second Check Up- 2.59 PM– four hours later– The foundation has stayed on really well and is still full coverage. I still really like the finish. There is minimal creasing or settling and my face still looks nice. After 4 hours, it has worn really good.

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Third Check Up- 4.59 PM– six hours later– The product is still fully on and the coverage is high. There is a tiny bit of settling around the cheek area but nothing crazy. After 6 hours, it has worn good.

Fourth Check Up- 6.59 PM– eight hours later– The product is still fully on and coverage is high. It is a bit dewy around the T zone but nothing too bad or noticeable. All in all, after 8 hours the foundation is still on and is covering everything.

Lasting Power/Wear Conclusion

The lasting power and wear of the Tarte Amazonian Clay Foundation is really good. It passed my 8-hour lasting power test and stayed on all day with high coverage. It also passed my 8-hour wear test and it doesn’t crease or go really bad. All in all, I really like the wear and lasting power of this foundation.

Chemical (Formula) Analysis

The Tarte Amazonian Foundation formula contains 36 ingredients and is ranked by the Cosmetic Analysis Database as a ‘Recommended/Good’ formula. The Cosmetic Analysis Database analyses and ranks each individual chemical into 5 categories; highly recommended, recommended, average, not recommended and to be avoided, and returns a formula ranking based on this.

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The Recommended/Good formula ranking of the Tarte Amazonian Foundation is a result of 2 highly recommended chemicals, 19 recommended chemicals, 11 average chemicals, 4 not recommended chemicals and no to be avoided chemicals. Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide are present in the highest concentrations in the formula and are the two most active ingredients.

Titanium Dioxide has a concentration of 6% and Zinc Oxide has a concentration of 3% in the formula. Titanium Dioxide acts as a UV absorber which protects against sunburn, reflects UV rays and protects cosmetic products from UV light. The Tarte Amazonian Clay Foundation is marketed as a Sunguard foundation which explains the presence of Titanium Dioxide. Zinc Oxide has similar effects and also acts as UV Absorber, protecting against sunburn, reflecting UV rays and protecting against skin cancer. Again, these two chemicals are present in the highest concentrations and contribute to the sun protecting property of the foundation.

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In regards to the 2 highly recommended (highest quality) chemicals in the formula , these are Tocopheryl (Vitamin E) and Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (Vitamin C). Tocopheryl (Vitamin E) is a skin conditioning and antioxidant chemical that has multiple benefits including preventing infection, promoting wound healing, smoothing the skin, improving skin moisture, removing small wrinkles, providing light protection, maintaining the skin in good condition and avoiding oxidation and rancidity.

Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (Vitamin C) is an antioxidant and buffering agent that has multiple benefits including helping wound healing, assisting cell renewal, protecting from free radicals, smoothing the skin, strengthening the immune system, stabilizing the pH of cosmetics and avoiding rancidity and oxidation.

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The fact that there are 2 highly recommended chemicals and 19 recommended chemicals means the majority of the foundation consists of very high quality chemicals. There are only 4 not recommended chemicals and no to be avoided chemicals which is really low for a product to have especially one that has a long ingredient list.

Other than that, the preservative chemicals used in this foundation are Phenoxyethanol and Potassium Sorbate, meaning the formula is paraben free. Again, the formula is really good and contains high quality ingredients and avoids many not so beneficial ingredients. It is certainly one of the better formulas I have reviewed and Tarte generally seems to have really good formulas containing high quality ingredients.

Marketing vs Chemical + Physical Analysis

Is this product marketed correctly?

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In order to assess the accuracy of marketing, I looked up how Tarte markets the foundation and then made up and answered questions to assess the accuracy of the claims they make. Tarte markets this foundation by saying…

Get 12 hours of flawless coverage with this long-wearing, skin-perfecting formula with. It’s full-coverage and supremely blendable and buildable formula has a weightless texture and is available in a broad range of shades. Everyone can achieve skin that looks healthy and natural. They also add that “Formulated WITHOUT: Parabens, Sulfates, Phthalates… Intuitively adjusts to meet and address your skin concerns for makeup that wears better, longer, and truer…. UVA/UVB SPF 15. Reduces the appearance of pores, discolorations, and imperfections and ensures a perfectly flawless complexion every time”. Additionally, they market the following ingredients as skin vigorating chemicals in the formula; “Water, Mineral Pigments, Vitamin E, Sodium Hyaluronate and Amazonian Clay”

After I read Tarte’s marketing strategy, I made up and answered the following questions

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Are Water, Mineral Pigments, Vitamin E, Sodium Hyaluronate and Amazonian Clay in the formula? What is their chemical name and do they have benefits for the skin and act as skin vigorating chemicals?

Water is in the formula and acts as a solvent and moisturizing agent. It does have benefits for the skin so Tarte have marketed this properly. Vitamin E is in the formula as Tocopheryl and has multiple benefits (as I mentioned in the chemical section), including preventing infection, promoting wound healing, smoothing the skin, improving skin moisture, removing small wrinkles, keeping the skin in good condition and helping to avoid rancidity and oxidation. This means that Tarte have accurately marketed the use and benefits of Tocopheryl (Vitamin E) because it is beneficial to the skin.

Sodium Hyaluronate is in the formula as Sodium Hyaluronate and has benefits such as holding and retaining moisture and having a skin tightening effect. Tarte have accurately marketed the benefits of Sodium Hyaluronate in the formula. Mineral Pigments in the formula include Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides and Zinc Oxides. Most of these chemicals have sun protecting properties. Amazonian Clay is present in the formula as Kaolin, which is a natural chemical used in cosmetics that has multiple purposes including acting as an absorbent, anticaking, abrasive, bulking and Opacifying agent. Kaolin is a natural alternative to other harsher chemicals and has more benefits to the skin, meaning Tarte have marketed the use of Amazonian Clay accurately.

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Is the foundation blend-able, full coverage and weightless in texture?

The foundation is very blend-able and weightless in texture. Full coverage can be achieved by building the foundation up, so Tarte have accurately marketed this claim.

Are there any parabens, sulfates, phthalates in the formula?

There are no parabens in the formula and Phenoxyethanol and Potassium Sorbate are used as preservative chemicals instead. There are no Sulfate chemicals nor phthalates chemicals, so Tarte have accurately marketed this claim.

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Does the foundation have skin protecting properties?

The foundation contains both Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide as active ingredients with Titanium Dioxide having a concentration of 6% and Zinc Oxide having a concentration of 3%. Both of these chemicals absorb UV rays and protect against sunburn. Additionally, the product contains other sun protecting chemicals including Mica and Iron Oxides. Of course, this foundation does not replace sunscreen and sunscreen will always be more beneficial and protect more but the product does contain sun protecting characteristics so Tarte have accurately marketed this.

All in all, after my research into the marketing strategy, I think that Tarte have marketed the product correctly and all claims are accurate.

Overall Review of Tarte Amazonian Foundation

The Tarte Amazonian Foundation comes in 24 shades and features a lot of pale and tan shades but little dark shades. I do think the shade range could have a bit more variability especially in regards to dark shades. The consistency of the foundation is very light and creamy and the coverage is medium-buildable full. It is best applied with a flat kabuki foundation brush or beauty blender and has a shelf life of 12 months.

The lasting power is very high and it lasted all day through my 8-hour wear test. The wear is also good and there is hardly any settling or creasing. The formula of the product consists of high quality ingredients and the marketing strategies and claims made by Tarte are accurate.

All in all, I really like the Tarte Amazonian Clay Foundation!!

The Tarte Amazonian Foundation costs $49.00 AUD ($37.15 USD) and comes with 50 ml (1.7 ounces) of product

Foundations I have Fully Reviewed + Analysed Ranking List

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1• Ella Bache Sunguard Foundation

2• Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour Foundation

3• Milani 2-in-1 Foundation + Concealer

4• Too Faced Born This Way Foundation

I like the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour Foundation better than the Milani 2-in-1 foundation and Too Faced Born This Way Foundation, but not better than the Ella Bache Sunguard SPF 40 Foundation. This is just because I find the coverage and finish of Ella Bache better and Ella Bache is my go to all time favourite, and nothing has beat it yet!

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My Other Foundation/Concealer Posts

To see my other foundation and concealer posts, go to my main slide across menu and click on ‘Foundation/Concealer’ posts or go straight to my Foundation and Concealer page link here , My Foundation/Concealer Category Page Link

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