Tarte Cosmetics Review – Must Read This Before Buying

Tarte Cosmetics Review: Do These Products Live Up to the Hype?

Tarte has cultivated an image as the cool indie brand that makes natural makeup affordable and accessible. With their cutesy packaging and punny product names, Tarte has amassed a loyal following of over 9 million fans on social media.

But as Tarte has grown into a bonafide makeup heavyweight carried by every major beauty retailer, some cracks in their wholesome image have started to show. Over the past several years, the brand has faced controversies related to lack of diversity and sustainability claims.

So does Tarte still live up its clean, conscious branding? Or is this another case of a passionate indie brand losing its way after being acquired by a beauty conglomerate? Keep reading for an in-depth and critical review of Tarte cosmetics.

An Indie Brand Grows Up

Tarte founder Maureen Kelly dreamed up the brand in 1999 while experimenting with natural beauty products in her NYC apartment. She wanted to create makeup women could feel good about putting on their skin using healthy, eco-friendly ingredients.

The timing was perfect to fill a gap in the early natural beauty market for affordable, stylish options focused on the eyes and cheeks. Tarte launched in the early 2000s as an independent brand but was acquired in 2014 by Japanese beauty giant KOSÉ Corporation.

KOSÉ brought additional financial resources that have fueled Tarte‘s rapid expansion into one of the top five color cosmetics companies in the U.S. But the buyout also changed the dynamic from a homegrown brand into one division of a massive global operation.

So while Tarte continues to market itself as an underdog indie brand, decisions are ultimately now influenced by the priorities of its parent company and other investors.

This can create tension between doing good and chasing profits – a recurring issue I uncovered in this Tarte cosmetics review. Let‘s analyze some of Tarte‘s brand values like "high performance naturals" and claims around sustainability.

Questionable "High-Performance Naturals"

The foundation of Tarte‘s brand (pun intended) centers around producing makeup and skincare products using natural ingredients…