Is It Worth the Hype? 4 Editors Test Tarte's TikTok-Famous Under-Eye Color Corrector

As a longtime fan of Tarte Cosmetics, Jazmine Clarke, associate director of account management, was eager to give this product a try. “The application process was incredibly easy, and I love how I could blend it out with just my ring finger, plus a beauty blender to finish. As someone with drier skin, I'm always interested in cream products, and this one feels so smooth and sits beautifully on the skin,” she says. “The full coverage is also amazing, and it seamlessly spreads out to hide dark circles and even out my skin tone. I didn't notice any wrinkles disappear, but I think the product's ingredients could make a difference over time.”

She admits the red shade might not have been a perfect match for her skin tone, but thanks to the product’s blending abilities, it still yielded lasting results. “What truly impressed me was that there was no creasing at all throughout the day,” a pet peeve she’s struggled with in the past. “After applying my concealer on top,” she used IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Dark Spots Concealer, “everything melted together seamlessly.”

As our resident makeup expert, beauty and cultures editor Chelsea Candelario knows a thing or two about layering products. “I don't have excessive dark circles, just a bit in the inner corners, but I believe this did a great job at covering them up,” she says. She also thought the product was incredibly easy to blend, and after trying a few different application techniques, she found “applying it with your ring finger was the easiest way to move the product across the under-eye and buff it out.” (Though word to the wise, a little goes a long way!)

Even after finishing her look with concealer and foundation, Candelario was pleasantly surprised by how lightweight the product felt. “As a combo girlie, it also didn't look oily and didn't ruin the layering in the slightest. I did notice some minor creasing, but nothing a little setting powder couldn't fix.” Her main gripe? The shade itself. “At first, the orange shade did not blend well with my concealer.” She was left with a slightly orange complexion that took a bit of mad science makeup mixing to fix. “Adding in foundation,” she used Fenty Beauty Eaze Drop Blur + Smooth Foundation Stick, “did a better job at evening out my skin tone.”

As someone with chronic dark circles, associate commerce strategist Jael Rucker has been on the hunt for a product that can correct and conceal while also brightening up her under-eye area. “It’s been an ongoing trial-and-error process over the years,” she admits, “so I went into this product test with little to no expectations. To my surprise, the Tarte color corrector actually worked decently well. On its own, I was able to see an improvement in the overall balance of my skin tone, and most of the darkness was impressively masked. But the real magic came in once I applied my concealer,” her go-to is Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Instant Retouch Concealer. “Layered underneath a quality concealer, this corrector is flawless, and almost made my dark circles disappear completely.” After a full day of wear, Rucker also reports she had no visible creasing or slippage. 

As an insomniac, my dark circles tend to crop up the morning after a few particularly sleepless nights, so while not impossible to cover up, they take a bit of elbow grease to hide. Like many of my colleagues, I loved how easy this product was to apply. It has a smooth and creamy texture that blends like a dream and fans out evenly across the delicate under-eye area with minimal tugging required. My assigned shade was a great match for my skin tone, so I was able to wear it on its own for a more natural look or layered as a base beneath concealer to help minimize creasing—my go-to is Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Radiant Concealer. In addition to its color-correcting and brightening abilities, I adored the product’s hydration and staying power. (No matter how much moisturizer or eye cream I use, my under-eyes tend to shrivel up after a full day in makeup.) Thanks to the addition of squalene, this formula helped derail any dryness.