Tarte Colored Clay CC Primer does everything the label promises. It conceals. It corrects. It absorbs all the oil under my makeup, and kept my "t zone" matte all day in steamy mid-Atlantic heat. Color correction has been a trade secret of many makeup artists, and the cause of confusion for thousands of makeup consumers. Clients often ask me why I use these brightly colored creams under their foundation. The green is for neutralizing redness and the purple is for brightening dark areas, but if you are new to trying these techniques, it can be difficult to know where to put it and how much to use. Tarte's primer has the color correction stripes built right into the stick. This helps to eliminate the guesswork when you are attempting to even out your skin tone. Play with it a little bit until you customize your perfect blend. Some parts of my face need less green correction, so I only apply as needed. 

In this case "CC" also stands for colored clay, which is a key ingredient in the most recent collections from the Tarte brand. Clay has been used in skin care treatments for its antioxidant and oil absorbing properties since the dawn of civilization, so this mineral rich foundation primer is actually pampering my face under my makeup.

I usually will go for a sheer tinted moisturizer instead of foundation on steamy summer days, but I have experimented with Tarte's CC Primer under both liquid and powder medium-coverage foundations over the last few weeks. Hyper pigmented areas of my face were brightened by the primer before I even applied foundation. My face was smooth and matte all day at work, after happy hour, and on the weekend, well in to the wee hours of the morning. It felt wonderful to remove my makeup at the end of a long sweaty work day and not see any blocked pores. This primer is vegan, and the entire range of Tarte's products are cruelty-free. I especially recommend this for the oily or breakout prone who might not like the feel of dimethicone- or silicone-based gels or lotion primers. Mine came from Ulta, but you can also find it online at tarte.com. You get a lot of bang for your buck, because it retails for 34.00 and a little bit of this product goes a long way when applied with a brush or sponge. I have not used it in my work kit or on clients and I'm not advising this for use in a professional setting, but this primer has definitely earned a space in my personal kit.

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