Disclosure: This is an independent review. Some links below are affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. It never changes our recommendations.
Tarte is one of the few beauty brands that most people can name a single product from. Say the name to anyone who has stood in an Ulta aisle in the last decade and they will say Shape Tape back to you. That is unusual, and it creates a specific problem for anyone deciding whether to buy: the concealer’s reputation now sells the entire catalogue, including parts of it that do not deserve the halo.
Quick answer: Tarte Cosmetics is a New York makeup brand founded in 1999 by Maureen Kelly and majority-owned by Japan’s Kose Corporation since 2014. Its hero product, Shape Tape concealer, costs $32 and delivers genuinely full coverage. The mascaras and lip products are the other strong buys. The best way to lower the price is VIP rewards plus a custom kit rather than single-item orders.
Where Tarte came from
Maureen Kelly started the brand in 1999 in New York while she was working on a PhD in psychology at Columbia. The first product was a cheek stain. The first wholesale order went to Henri Bendel in 2000, Sephora picked the line up in 2003, QVC followed in 2005, and Ulta Beauty had it on shelves by 2010.
The ownership question matters more than most shoppers realise. Tarte is not an independent indie brand. According to Kose Corporation’s March 2014 announcement, the Japanese beauty group acquired a 93.5% stake for $135 million, with Kelly staying on as chief executive. That deal is what funded the international expansion, and it is why a brand that still markets itself with founder-in-the-kitchen energy is in fact part of a large listed corporation.
The positioning has stayed consistent through all of it. “Breaking down beauty boundaries, shattering stereotypes & being kind,” says Tarte of its mission, under the long-running “high-performance naturals” banner.
Shape Tape, and whether $32 is fair
Shape Tape launched in 2016 as an Ulta exclusive and turned into the kind of product that sells out of a retailer’s stock repeatedly. It is a thick, dry-finish, genuinely full-coverage concealer in a doe-foot applicator, and it does what it claims. One pass covers what most concealers need three passes to fade.
The honest caveats are the same ones long-time users repeat. It sets fast, so you have a short window to blend before it grabs. It creases on drier under-eyes unless you set it. And because it is opaque rather than luminous, it can flatten the face if you use it as a highlighter, which is exactly what a lot of tutorials suggest.
At $32 it sits at the top of the drugstore-adjacent bracket and below prestige concealers that cost $40 and up. If you need heavy coverage, that is fair value. If you have dry skin and want light, skin-like coverage, the CC undereye corrector at the same $32 is the better pick from the same shelf, and you should not let Shape Tape’s fame make the decision for you.
What else is worth buying
The tubing mascaras at $28 are the quiet standout. Tubing formulas wrap each lash in a polymer sleeve rather than coating it in pigment, so they do not flake or smudge, and they come off with warm water instead of remover. If you have watery eyes or oily lids, this is the category where Tarte earns its price outright.
The maracuja juicy lip plump at $27 belongs in the same group. It is a glossy, slightly tingly lip treatment rather than a serious plumper, and judged as a gloss with good staying power it is a sensible buy. The complexion products are where things get more debatable. Face tape foundation and the BB blur tinted moisturizer both sit at $42, which is prestige pricing for formulas that have real competition at $25 to $30.
Tarte describes its formulation approach in plain terms. “All tarte products are formulated with a blend of naturally-derived & other ingredients designed to perform,” writes Tarte on its about page. Read that as a performance-first brand with natural-leaning marketing, not a clean-beauty brand in the strict sense. Vegan-friendly options exist across the line, but not every product qualifies, so check the individual page if that matters to you.
The shade-range problem, and what changed
In 2018 Tarte launched the Shape Tape foundation with a shade range that skewed heavily light, and the backlash was immediate and deserved. It landed in the same period that Fenty Beauty had reset expectations with 40 shades at launch, which made the gap impossible to defend.
Credit where it is due: the range was expanded afterwards and the complexion lines now carry far deeper coverage than they did. It is still worth using the site’s shade finder or matching in person, because the deepest and the most neutral shades are the ones most likely to be out of stock.
The brand has taken other reputational hits since, mostly around its influencer trips. The annual #TrippinWithTarte campaigns drew heavy criticism in 2023 and again in 2024 over the optics of luxury travel giveaways. None of that changes how a mascara performs, but it is part of what you are buying into, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest.
How to pay less
Paying full list price on tartecosmetics.com is the most expensive way to buy this brand, and it is entirely avoidable.
- Join VIP rewards before your first order. According to Tarte’s rewards page, signing up gets 15% off a first purchase, and points accumulate toward perks including free shipping at 1,500 points. Sign up first, then shop. Doing it in the other order costs you the discount.
- Build a custom kit. The site’s kit builder lets you choose a set number of products for one flat price, which almost always beats buying the same items individually. The exact combination and price changes, so compare the kit total against the single-item total before checkout.
- Buy the minis. Travel sizes of the hero products cost a fraction of full size, and for a concealer or a lip product you will finish before it expires, that is not a compromise.
- Check the sale section. Discontinued shades and previous-season sets sit there at real reductions rather than token ones.
One caution on stacking. Codes, kit pricing and rewards discounts frequently cannot be combined, and the terms change. Add everything to the basket and test the codes before you decide which route is cheaper.
Who Tarte is for
Buy Tarte if you want full coverage and long wear from products that behave predictably. The concealers, the tubing mascaras and the lip range are all genuinely competitive, and the brand is easy to shop because the hero products barely change year to year.
Look elsewhere if you want lightweight, skin-like complexion products, if you need the deepest end of the shade spectrum reliably in stock, or if a brand’s ownership and marketing choices factor into your buying. At $42, the foundations in particular face competition that is hard to ignore.
Frequently asked questions
Is Tarte a good makeup brand?
Tarte is strongest in concealer, tubing mascara and lip products, where the formulas justify their prices. Shape Tape concealer at $32 gives full coverage that most rivals need several layers to match. The complexion range at $42 faces stiffer competition. It is a performance brand rather than a clean-beauty or budget brand.
How much does Shape Tape concealer cost?
Shape Tape concealer lists at $32 on tartecosmetics.com. The CC undereye corrector costs the same, the tubing mascaras are $28, the maracuja juicy lip plump is $27, and face tape foundation and BB blur tinted moisturizer are $42 each. VIP sign-up takes 15% off a first order.
Who owns Tarte Cosmetics?
Kose Corporation, a Japanese beauty group, owns the majority of Tarte. Kose announced the acquisition of a 93.5% stake for $135 million in March 2014. Founder Maureen Kelly, who started the brand in New York in 1999, remained chief executive after the deal and still leads the company.
Is Tarte cruelty-free and vegan?
Tarte markets vegan-friendly options across its range, but not every product is vegan, so the individual product page is the only reliable source. The brand describes its formulas as “a blend of naturally-derived and other ingredients designed to perform,” which is a performance-first position rather than a strict clean-beauty claim.
What is the cheapest way to buy Tarte?
Join VIP rewards for 15% off a first order, then use the custom kit builder, which prices a set number of products as one bundle instead of charging per item. Minis cut the entry price further, and the sale section carries discontinued shades. Discounts often cannot be stacked, so compare totals in the basket.
Is Shape Tape good for dry skin?
Not especially. Shape Tape is a thick, dry-finish, full-coverage formula that sets quickly and can settle into fine lines without a setting product. On dry under-eyes, the CC undereye corrector at the same $32 gives a lighter, more comfortable finish while still correcting darkness.
The verdict
Tarte earns its place on three products rather than thirty. Shape Tape if you want coverage, a tubing mascara if you want a formula that survives a humid day, and the maracuja lip range if you want gloss that lasts. Everything else is worth comparing against cheaper competition before you commit.
Buy the hero items, use the VIP discount, and ignore the rest of the catalogue until something in it solves a problem you actually have. For more of our retailer breakdowns, see the beauty section or our SHEIN shopping guide.
Sources: product pages, the about page and the VIP rewards page on tartecosmetics.com; ownership details from Kose Corporation’s 2014 acquisition announcement. Prices are US list prices at the time of writing and change with promotions. Confirm current pricing, shade availability and rewards terms before you order.