Tarte ReCreate Foundation Review

Tarte ReCreate Foundation

I’ve posted before about how tough it can be to find a foundation that’s light enough up for my extraordinarily fair skin – and how happy I was to find a shade that works so well with my skin tone in Tarte’s Amazonian Clay Foundation in Fair.

The only issue preventing the Amazonian Clay Foundation from reaching holy grail status for me is the formula – it’s a lightweight foundation that still offers full coverage, but it can really emphasize dry patches and flakes. 

But because the color match is so good, I’ve been wanting to try Tarte’s other liquid foundation, ReCreate, in the lightest shade, Porcelain 00, to see if maybe the formula was a better fit for my skin.

I finally bit the bullet and shelled out the 37 bucks (1 fl. oz of product in a nice pump dispenser) for the ReCreate Foundation - and for the most part, I’m happy that I did.

Tarte ReCreate Foundation in Porcelain 00 swatch

Right off the bat, the ReCreate Foundation in Porcelain is slightly darker and more yellow than the Amazonian Clay Foundation in Fair. One of the reasons I love the Fair shade so much is that it’s pretty much neutral, so you don’t have to worry about looking too yellow, too pink, or too orange.  But despite being a bit warmer, the ReCreate in Porcelain blends into my skin pretty seamlessly so I don’t have any real complaints about the color. 

Tarte ReCreate in Porcelain (l.) vs. Tarte Amazonian Clay in Fair (r.)

The formula is definitely a better match for my dry to normal skin. It’s thinner in consistency than the Amazonian Clay, and it’s definitely more hydrating so it does a good job hiding dry, flaky patches. Its packaging also claims that it increases skin elasticity and reduces wrinkles – now I certainly haven’t used it long enough to see those kind of results, but I’m pretty dubious about those kind of claims anyway.

However, because it has a thinner, more fluid-y consistency, the ReCreate doesn’t seem to offer the same kind of coverage that the Amazonian Clay does. That foundation covers everything – seriously, everything. The ReCreate has more of a medium coverage, though the packaging refers to it as medium to full. I think you could get fuller coverage by applying a couple of layers, but when my skin is really dry, I try to avoid multiple layers so I don’t look too cakey.

Still, I love  the way that the ReCreate foundation looks on the skin – it has a satin finish that’s natural and fresh without looking too greasy or oily.

I’d definitely recommend the ReCreate Foundation for anyone with dry skin, but I think it could work well for normal and combination skin as well.  It comes in 10 shades, so you have a wider range of colors to choose from than with the Amazonian Clay Foundation (which only comes in 8 shades).

Have you tried the Tarte ReCreate Foundation?  Does it work for you?  What’s your favorite foundation?