July 6, 2012

Tarte Maracuja Miracle Foundation Review & Swatches

This was provided to me by a brand for review but all opinions expressed are my own

Tarte Maracuja Miracle Foundation will be launching exclusively in the new Tarte QVC Today’s Special Value on July 13th. From my understanding it’ll be available later this year from Tarte directly but as of now the worldwide launch and only place you can get it is with this set.

Now it’s a good deal getting it with the set because I believe it will retail for around $35-$40 just for the foundation alone and the set is $49.96 and includes six products total. Nice eh?

I know many of you were eager to hear about Tarte Maracuja Miracle Foundation so I thought I’d review it prior to the actual set it’s included with.

Here’s a look!

Tarte Maracuja Miracle Foundation comes in a pump glass jar with a bamboo topper. It’s kinda a very similiar packaging to Tarte’s Maracuja Oil but isn’t purple in color.

The foundation comes in five shade selections but I imagine on the worldwide launch it will be available in a few other shades but don’t quote me there, that’s unconfirmed and mere speculation on my part.

The foundation is infused with Maracuja Oil or passionfruit oil which is a similiar product as Argan Oil in the fact that it promises a whole heap of anti-aging benefits. Maracuja Oil contains essential fatty acids and vitamins which moisturize and nourish skin as well as Vitamin C.

When Tarte originally introduced their Maracuja Oil it had a promised a whole host of benefits for skin. After trying it, my skin felt very soft and smooth but sadly didn’t notice any other differences.

Since that time Tarte has started infusing all of their products with the oil. In my experience, it doesn’t necessarily make products like say an eyeshadow any more hydrating or creamy but I guess it depends on the product you’re adding it to. In the case, of Tarte Maracuja Miracle Foundation you’ll definitely experience the hydrating effects.

In this regard, I do wonder if I can suggest or recommend Tarte Maracuja Miracle Foundation for those with oily skin. My own skin is dry but a little combo at the moment since it’s warmer. The foundation has a thick, creamy consistency that has a gel-like texture. It’s positively luxurious at first swatch but on the heavier side of the foundation fence which is why I question whether oily skin will love it.

Medium, Light, Fair

Tan and Deep

My drier skin seems to like it a lot. It blends easily on my skin and has a dewy fine finish that doesn’t look oily or shiny at first application. Color stays true throughout the day as well without oxidizing. It claims 12 hour wear but…mmm that’s iffy for me. I tried it for a week both indoors and outdoors and obviously wear time will vary in these conditions. Inside, I can get around four hours of wear before I see fading. It’s such a hydrating formula that it’s a little difficult to keep in place as my skin seems to just suck all of it in and it just disappears within a few hours of wear. Outside, I find it wears away even quicker, especially, and most obviously in heat or humid weather. Of course, hours can be added to wear with good prepping but still, it isn’t completely bulletproof so don’t take 12 hours to heart. I fear the SPF 15 is a little low for my tastes so I do apply my own SPF prior to application.

It deserves mentioning that although lightweight at first application I felt it got heavy and a bit shinier as the day progressed. I imagine it’ll wear for me better in the Winter when my skin is drier and I’m exposed to less warmer weather. I began to feel and look a bit oily as the day progressed if I was outside during the wear but it seems smoother indoors.

Overall, I think it’s a rather nice foundation for drier skin but I don’t feel comfortable recommending it for those with oily skin. I think it might be a little too hydrating for such a skin type. It’s lovely coverage as well but a little sheer and almost tinted moisturizer-like in texture and coverage depending on how much you apply. I find application a hit or miss situation as in some cases I get the perfect amount in place so it looks almost second skin-like and in other cases I put too much on and felt like it was easy to see I had foundation in place, the coverage just wasn’t seamless.

The shades are a little tricky as they seem to run rather dark but after applying it in Light, which appeared quite beige, I felt a little pasty. I tried Medium but that was a little too dark on my skin. The shades all do seem to run considerably warm and beige to my eye so really fair skin might feel even the lightest shade is too dark. This is ironic as Tarte typically favors more pink undertones with their foundation.

Tarte Maracuja Miracle Foundation is an interesting base but it isn’t the base for me sadly. To some extent I really liked how moisturizing it was but on the other hand I also felt like this was part of the downfall for me as first application was beautiful but as the wear progressed it started to feel a little too heavy and oily for me.

I wish I could have loved this one.

Did you try it?

I’d love to hear what you thought!

Tarte’s new Maracuja Miracle Foundation will be available in the new Tarte Maracuja 6 Piece Color Collection later next week on QVC.com

This was provided to me by a brand for review but all opinions expressed are my own

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • JoElla

    As always a fantab review. Now to ponder if I really want and need this.

    Maybe I should just go with my lemming for the new Color Stay whipped foundation.

    • the Muse

      thanks joella ;-D <3 nooo don't. it's getting a ton of raves but I feel like it's so mask-like and incredibly heavy 🙁

      • JoElla

        Well… I was a doo bee don’t and bought it LOL! I did have a hard time picking out a color, but after comparing it to several other Revlon foundations found one (glorified crap shoot LOL) and lucked out that it really matched.

        It was hot and muggy and I was helping my friend out with a huge family party, and the Texas weather changed and it storms came cooling things off with rain.

        After running my buns off and the Texas change on a dime weather, I am very impressed with how this held up!

    • the Muse

      you had issues suse? 🙁 i thought so. very hydrating formula! Not good for Summer!

      • Suselew

        Oil slick by noon, Muse. Don’t have those issues with Amazonian clay one. Plus all shades are yellow-based.

        • the Muse

          really loved the amazonian clay one suse, but yeah, same here, very oily…it got heavier as the day progressed. maybe winter is best?

  • Kim

    I think I’ll skip this since my skin is on the oily side. Thanks, Muse.

  • jody

    It seems like this would have been a better launch during winter. Hmmmm. You’ve given me some food for thought, and i think I will give this a pass. I’m happy with their tinted moisturizer and clay foundation. Going to stick with that for now, and my other gazillion foundations.

  • kimkats

    I’m thinkin’ I may have to get this for the winter. Sounds like it should be perfect in cooler weather (which can be found in Hades right about now….)I think the light looks like it should be about the right shade for my winter color…

    Thanks for the review Muse – VERY helpful!

    • the Muse

      kim I think it’ll be a great fall/winter base but right now=no go! my pleasure!

  • Caroline

    I really hope they expand the shade selection….it’s not very accessible now!

  • Ruth

    I’m not the biggest fan of the maracuja oil. I got one of the sets from qvc and the oil broke me out pretty badly, so the rest of the auto shipments were canceled. can’t even to begin to imagine the breakouts that this would cause!

  • noelle

    I have this and I have combo skin but an oily nose, and this is one of the few foudations that wears on me all day without “thinning” on me in the nose area, if I put this on at 6 in the morning.. it’s still on and going at 6:30 at night, i personally feels it controls some of my oil which I love. I ran out of my colorstay for oily skin and this works just as good for me. But I found the formula to be really hard to move. If I wear this I need to put the oil on first and then put this on like a moisturizer with my hands and then I can use the brush it came with to buff and blend. I love this foundation! however.. it dries super fast and I’m not a huge.. fan of that part of it(which is why I use the oil with it).

  • Jessica

    i’ve been waiting and waiting for the details on this product. since i have oily skin, this clearly isn’t for me. oh well.

  • JennySue Makeup

    I do love when a product has the word “miracle” in it, as it makes me buy it instantly:) I do have dry skin, but after reading your tinted moisturizer comment, that’s not worth it.

  • Melissa

    I’m so glad I can skip this. I’m more of a TM girl lately. Maybe tarte should thin this out and make it a tm. 😛

  • AmandaM

    Thanks so much for the review and swatches. I have combination skin, but it tends to be drier in the winter, so I am tempted to try this foundation. I bought the TSV with the Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage Foundation, which I didn’t care for on my skin-so I wonder if I’ll like this one better. I have the TSV sitting in my QVC shopping cart, but I wasn’t sure what color to choose…off to pull the trigger and order the set in Fair…

    • the Muse

      my pleasure amanda! good luck! let me know how it turns out!

  • Amber

    I got mine a few weeks ago and was a little disappointed in it. I was hoping it would be a lighter foundation and instead felt like I had an oily mask on my face. I have oily/combo skin and was shiny very quickly with it. I am also the fairest shade and love the amazonian clay foundation because it was just the right shade. This one feels too dark to me. I like the other products in the set but felt this foundation was also a wash for me.

  • Grace

    thanks for the great review and swatches! Im still deciding whether or not I should get it because I have oily yet dehydrated skin 🙁 double whammy haha

  • Kiera

    Hello Muse!

    I was wondering how would you compare it to the 12-Hour Amazonian Clay foundation? I’m sort of confused are Amarzonian Clay and Maracuja Oil suppoused to be two different “colletions”? It all started with clay, but recently I’ve started to see a lot of maracuja oil stuff… and I began to get confused…

    • the Muse

      it’s two different foundations/collections. The clay, according to Tarte, mattifies and absorbs excess oil, where as the maracuja is known for moisturizing/anti-aging abilities. the foundations have different formulas.

  • Becca @ The Beauty Sample

    bummer–I KNEW it wouldn’t work for my oily skin. Looks so lovely though :/

  • Ann

    Thanks for the great review! I had been on the fence about purchasing this. It’s not like I need another Tarte set, and the foundation would have been my main reason for purchasing. Since I’m very fair, and already have trouble with matching foundations, I’m not sure I want to bother with this set just yet. If they come out with more colors, perhaps I’ll take a second look. Thanks for saving me some money! That is always appreciated.

    • the Muse

      my pleasure ann, it seems the shades run very warm on this one so you might want to wait for the launch at sephora, could be more shades introduced at some point hopefully 🙂

  • Majick

    I’m interested in trying this one. Maybe not now but for the winter when I like a little more hydration. Thanks for the review, I think I’ll go for medium since that is what worked in the Amazonian clay.

  • zy

    im so glad i read the review before buying it- i have really oily skins and it would be extremely bad if I bought this. what do you do with all the makeup you buy muse?

  • Bell

    So glad for the review. I think I’m going to buy the kit from QVC. If not for anything but all the other products. Good buy I think. MUSE….on a completely diff subject…..hope it’s ok to mention…..I notice your little dark spot in the picture with the swatches. Have you gotten that checked out? I used to be a dermatological nurse and still can’t help but spot little things that might need lookin’ at!! Never hurts to be safe rather than sorry :)!!

  • Christine

    I tried this foundation on for the first time on Friday with the included foundation brush. I own both the Amazonian clay foundation and this one. The foundation brush that comes with the Maracuja foundation suck up the foundation so you end up putting on way too much product. It totally stinks for buffing, which you need to do with this foundation. I think you need to use a denser Kabuki type brush in order to spread and buff the foundation out. I found with the Tarte foundations that I really need to use primer in order for the foundations to behave nicely, otherwise, the Amazonian Clay is too dry and the Maracuja gets absorbed too quickly and I end up putting too much on to compensate which results in frightening looking plastic mask look. I agree with your assessment though, the Maracuja foundation would have been better released in the colder months because this would be perfect for winter.

    Cheers, Muse! I read your blog religiously. Won’t buy makeup without checking it first! You’re wonderful!

    • the Muse

      aw thanks christine! SO freaking flattering!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3! I agree, def better for Winter wear. I'm not completely on board with these liquid-y hydrating foundations that I see trending at the moment :-/

  • Gen

    Bought this a week ago. It’s getting colder here in Chicago and my face is combination. I was noticing some dry patches on my face so I thought this would help with that. I really wanted to love this but it’s going back. Yeah, it kept me hydrated but it wore off by the 5-6th hours of wear. Looked horrible!! I was considering keeping it for winter, but I think I’ll probably be able to find a different winter foundation.

    I did just buy Laura mercier silk creme foundation and I love it!!!!

    • the Muse

      gen I really didn’t like it either 🙁 little too oily for me made me look dewy!

  • Becky

    I have tried 2 colors in the New Tarte Maracuja miracle foundation. I tried light medium and today the medium and I think both are to yellow toned or something they just don’t look good on me,did you find that this new foundation is more yellow toned? Just trying to figure out if its just me that feels this way.