Tarte Smooth Operator™ Amazonian Clay Pressed Finishing Powder Review

Edit: It lasted from 11am till 10pm for me today, and I was out in the hot sun the entire time! My makeup still looked flawless and fresh by the end of the day, and there was absolutely no creasing at all too. I am in lurrrveeee!!

This is the best finishing/setting powder I've tried so far! It mattifies my skin without making me look powdery. It's certainly not visible at all. When applying it, I only saw my skin become matte, without actually seeing traces of the powder. Amazing. It also does not disturb my makeup, but maybe I'd have to credit my Real Techniques Setting brush for that. The staying power is incredible: the powder helped the concealer on my nose stay put even when i rubbed against it.

I focused on pressed variants of setting powder because of bad prior experience with loose powder. Loose powder is just so messy! The only exception is the Tarte Airbrush Foundation I've blogged about before, cus of the unique delivery system. Otherwise, I really just can't be bothered.





The picture below isn't as clear as I would have liked it to be. There is actually some (VERY LITTLE) sparkle in the powder, due to Mica being in the formulation, which translates to a very subtle glow. This effect is very similar to what the Tarte airbrush foundation does for my skin.

As for the packaging, it actually comes with a flat brush that doesn't actually fit into the compact. In any case, it's not very good. I love the mirror inside, it's just so convenient!

KEY INFORMATION:

Formulated without parabens, mineral oil, phthalates, triclosan, sodium lauryl sulfate, gluten.

Full ingredients list: Mica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Silica, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Glycerin, Kaolin, Xantham Gum, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Hexylene Glcol, Phenoxyethanol.





This is part of Tarte's Summer 2014 collection, which means it only came out around mid-April. So, I couldn't find much reviews of it online. Even more reason to buy it to try for myself! :P

Due to Canadian Sephora's generous exchange and return policy, I had the opportunity to really test out products in the market before I really commit to one. Hehehhehe. This trip to Vancouver, I bought the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused Light and the MUFE HD pressed powder and tried these two on my face as well.

I wanted to like the Hourglass one because of all the hype online, but NO. It doesn't do anything worth $52 -__- I did not notice a "glow" or a "soft-focus" look at all, just microglitter all over my face. Granted, the glitter is quite understated compared to others. But still. NOPE. As for the MUFE, it does work, but paying $41 for 100% silica.... well. NYX has a HD setting powder that's 100% pure silica too and is equally finely milled for a quarter of the price.

I also considered the Marc Jacobs one since it had double the volume (around 14g) of others, including those mentioned above. But there were bad reviews online about the staying power. I don't know.... it looked really pretty too. But since the Tarte one amazed me so much, I didn't feel as inclined to try this one out anymore.

p.s. all prices listed in Canadian dollars, since I'm in Vancouver right now.