Makeup Brand, Tarte ,Skates on Thin Ice…

Christian Pemberton
Nov 4 · 5 min read

When I was little, rambunctious and on the brink on getting into major, major trouble, my mother and father would sit me down and say, “Little girl, you are skating on thinnnn ice, soon you’ll fall in.”

Over a decade later, as a upcoming marketer, I find myself saying the same phrase about certain companies that make dumb decisions. The company for today’s discussion is Tarte Cosmetics.

Back in 2016 of December Tarte, a relatively new brand at the time, released the ‘Shape Tape’ concealer. Before long, the concealer rose to the top dominating other luxury brands including NYX, Nars and even, beauty conglomerate, MAC. Folks just couldn’t get enough of that shape tape crack.

So later in 2018 the brand decided to release a Shape Tape Foundation, to fit seamlessly with the EXTREMELY well loved concealer. Now, before I proceed, you must understand the hype behind this product release.

Just like this baby, grown women and men could not contain themselves. As a broke college student at the time, I couldn’t afford the product, but anxiously waited for my favorite YouTube Beauty Gurus to review the line.

I will break that last statement down further….I waited…with anticipation..for someone else to try the foundation…THAT’S HOW ANTICIPATED THIS FOUNDATION WAS.

Upon the release on January 15th, 2018 …chaos erupted. Dreams were crushed. Children cried. Hope left with his car keys. Why? Well… just take a look at the picture below.

See any problems??? Neither did Tarte, apparently. They failed to see that only three shades out of FIFTEEN, were suitable for those with darker complexions. Anddd to make matters worse, those three shades had horrible color undertones, that turned beautiful brown skin into either bright orange pumpkins or gray skeletons.

Immediately after, Tarte cosmetics was dragged on ALL social media platforms for a inconsiderate lack of inclusion. Take a look at this article, that was written in the midst of the nightmare.

Soon after, CEO Maureen Kelly, released an apology on January 17th 2018…

It may be too little too late, but we can assure you this was not meant in any kind of malicious way. We all just got so caught up in #shapetapenation and seeing your tweets asking for it… We wanted to get the product out as fast as possible, & we made the decision to move forward before all the shades were ready to go. We know there is no excuse, & we take full responsibility for launching this way. We lost sight of what’s really important in this industry, & for those who feel alienated in our community, we want to personally apologize. We’re doing everything in our power to bring those unfinished shades to market as fast as we can, at any cost. We CAN and WILL DO BETTER.”

The apology left a lot feeling unsure of the future. Most directly affected by the brand’s choices, chose to withstand from purchasing Tarte products, while others were on the fence. About four months later the brand went on to make an amends.

In May of 2018 the brand made HUGE shade expansions for four other popular foundations and concealers.

In February of 2019, Tarte pulled the old Shape Tape Foundation off the market and replaced it with new packaging and 50 new shades.

These efforts impressed many, however my favorite YouTube Bloggers, including the infamous Jackie Aina and many other former fans are still apprehensive of the brand’s true intentions and values. Here’s an article on blogger J+L’s perspective, from Boxy-Ladies.com.

Will they ever truly recover??

As I said before, I think they are skating on thin ice…perhaps it’s a good thing.

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