TRIED & TRUE: Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush

I live for the opportunity to give you beauties the lowdown on beauty products–what they do, how they work, is it worth buying? Tarte Cosmetics first came into my scope 4 years ago and our love affair is still going strong. At first glance many women of color, including myself, downplayed the brands’ ability to develop products that would actually work on them free of the ashen-effect.

The brand met this challenge head on and is currently on the other side of winning this war without question. Tarte’s marketing efforts don’t really speak to women of color, but least we know there’s an environmentally-friendly line of products that all women can wear comfortably and still feel beautiful while wearing it.

Today’s Tried & True focus is on Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Amused($25, tartecosmetics.com). Tarte is more known for its natural ingredients that are sourced from all over the world, and less on it’s truly outstanding collection of color cosmetics, which in my view should most certainly be celebrated.

Blush is one of my absolute beauty must-haves (as mentioned in my Wendy Williams interview) and it should be yours too! Blush makes a woman look healthy and Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Amused ($25, tartecosmetics.com) delivers color in spades, especially on a deep complexion such as my own – check out my picture.

The formulation is a finely milled powder that doesn’t feel chalky to the touch and applies like a dream. It glides on with incredible smoothness. Initially, there was some hesitation on my part in using this shade of blush because Amused appeared to be way too light for my skin tone. But I became a believer within seconds of applying it. 12-Hour has the staying power especially if you have oily-skin… three hours later and the blush is still on with the same intensity as when I first applied it. Thumbs up to Tarte because it’s now my new go-to blush for this season, until I change my mind again of course.

If you’re one of those beauties who only uses MAC products–spread your wings and give other color cosmetics brands a try because you never know what treasures you’ll happen upon.