Tarte's Newest Foundation Sparks Controversy
2017 was the year of inclusivity and diversity in beauty, from Rihanna’s 40-shade Fenty Beauty foundation release to model and activist Adwoa Aboah being named as the new face of Marc Jacobs Beauty. Brands like Kylie Cosmetics and Nars have released products with extensive shade ranges for people of color; gender neutral, plus size, and transgender models are gaining more traction in the model industry. In this new age of beauty, the brands that pay attention to all of their consumers are standing out from those that only cater to a select few. The controversy surrounding Tarte’s new foundation, Shape Tape, exemplifies how the new age of beauty has empowered POC consumers to speak up for better representation in the beauty community.
Tarte is a popular brand known for cult products like its high coverage Shape Tape concealer that inspired the foundation launch, the Tartelette eyeshadow palettes, and long wearing blushes. They are also known for collaborating with beauty influencers and sending them on lavish trips to the Maldives and Bora Bora. As a popular and well-loved brand especially among the online beauty community, the fierce backlash against its newest release, the Shape Tape foundation, was unprecedented. Expectations were high, especially since the foundation was modelled after the hugely popular Shape Tape concealer. However, the foundation was released in only 15 shades (a far cry from Mac’s 42-shade Studio Fix foundation line or Maybelline’s 32-shade Fit Me foundation line) on January 15. Although there were 30 shades total (15 hydrating and 15 matte), the breakdown of the shades was consistent: of the 15 shades, 9 were fair to light, 4 were medium, and 2 were deep.
Almost immediately after the shade range was revealed, Tarte came under fire from the online beauty community. Thousands of users on Twitter weighed in on the shade range, which paled in comparison to what was expected of Tarte. Among the news that Nars had added new shades to its well-loved Creamy Radiant concealer line, Tarte’s inattention to a significant consumer base angered not just POC consumers but white ones as well. Beauty influencers like James Charles and Alissa Ashley released videos criticizing the shade range, and videos featuring the Tarte Shape Tape foundation went viral, like Jackie Aina’s Black Girls React to Tarte Shape Tape Foundation, which stands at nearly 2.8 million views.
Tarte apologized for the shade range afterwards on their Instagram story, saying that they would be releasing 10 more shades in the future, although it was not specified what the spectrum of shades would be. However, many people still felt that Tarte should have either waited to release the foundation with a more comprehensive shade range, or distribute the shades more evenly and then later added more shades to fill in the gaps. Ultimately, people still felt that Tarte had purposely ignored their black consumer base, as an extensive shade range played a significant part in the positive reception of the Fenty Beauty foundation line, the Huda Beauty foundation line, and the Kylie concealer release. To further complicate matters, a Tarte representative even stated that “additional shades are usually added seasonally, which makes sense because your complexion tends to be paler in the winter and darker in the summer months.”
For beauty lovers who were anticipating the Shape Tape foundation release and could not buy it because there was no shade that matched them, the willingness of some beauty influencers to speak up or even boycott Tarte helped unify the beauty community. Amidst the #MeToo movement and growing political and social activism, the beauty community’s role in empowering its POC consumer base plays a small but significant role in taking a stand against exclusion and ignorance.