Product Review -- Tarte Clay Stick Foundation

I've mentioned before that I've always been a big fan of foundation sticks.

Whether it's true or not, I always feel like I can apply them more quickly than liquid, powder, or cream foundations.

Just swipe it over my face in a few places and blend it out with a sponge or brush, and I'm ready to go.

Lately, foundation sticks have become pretty popular for contouring and highlighting too because it's easy to apply them precisely to the areas you need shading.

I don't personally use them that way, so I can't vouch for the Tarte Clay Stick Foundation in that capacity but as a straight up foundation, it does a pretty good job.

The foundation comes in a brown plastic tube with gold detailing. The end of the tube has a cool orange-y brown and tan marbled design.

Tarte Clay Stick Foundation

Tarte Clay Stick Foundation

You only get 9 grams of foundation in the tube, which isn't exactly a lot -- but that is par for the course with foundation sticks. (For reference, it's the same size as the Anastasia Beverly Hills Foundation Stick, larger than the Hourglass Vanish Foundation Stick, and smaller than the Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Stick Foundation.)

The foundation has a very thin consistency, but it's extremely creamy. That helps it blend into the skin easily and prevent it from caking up. It has a matte finish, but the formula isn't drying and I don't find that it clings too badly to dry patches as long as I layer it over a hydrating primer.

Tarte Clay Stick Foundation

Tarte Clay Stick Foundation in Fair Neutral

Tarte bills the coverage as medium to full, but I'd put it more at light to medium. It is extremely easy to layer it because it's fairly thin but if I only use one layer, I find that my freckles still show through it.

But I find that it really evens out the skin well and gives it a nice natural look.

Because it's so thin and creamy, I do find that I need to set it with powder despite the fact that my skin is normal to dry (it does tend to more oily in warmer weather, so that may be a factor now too).

I purchased the foundation in the lightest shade, Fair Neutral, and it's a good match for my super fair skin.

Tarte Clay Stick Foundation in Fair Neutral

However, the shade range is a real disappointment -- there are only 12, so dark skin folks really only have two or three options. I'm hoping that Tarte will add more shades to the line because it really is a nice foundation.

The Hourglass Vanish Foundation Stick is still my favorite foundation stick at the moment, but it's $46 while the Tarte Clay Stick is only $36 so it's definitely a better bargain.

You can find the Tarte Clay Stick Foundation on the Tarte website, Sephora, and Ulta.

Have you tried the Tarte Clay Stick Foundation? What's your favorite stick foundation?