Tom Ford Autumn 2014 Collection Nude Dip quad and Stroked contouring cheek color duo

Tom Ford limited edition collections set off the inner hoarder in me. Sure, half of the time, they sell out before they even grace the counters across the states, but doesn't that just add to the thrill?

Taupe eyeshadow? Check.

Beigey highlight? Check.

Coral-orange blush? Check.

Really, Tommy. You know the way to my heart... and wallet.

The star of the collection is -- without a doubt -- the quad in Nude Dip ($79.) Not to sound too overly-dramatic or anything, but there is a national Nude Dip crisis at the moment. However, word on the street is it will be available at department stores' websites early September, so keep your eyes peeled. Thankfully, I was gifted this as a birthday gift, and I couldn't thank the person enough! I was saved from calling every TF counter from coast to coast trying to track down this baby.

Let's just say that if this wasn't sold out nearly everywhere, I'd be submitting an order for a back-up. That's how much I love this quad. However, I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's take a look at the gorgeousness.

Shimmery, metallic, smooth, pigmented, and long-lasting... just how I like my eyeshadows to be. Neutrals, too, of course. There's usually one shadow that under-performs in most quads, but not with Nude Dip. All four shades translates beautifully to leave a metallic sheen on the eyes that is never over the top. One can tell from the swatches that they are highly pigmented (with practically no fallout!), even when applied dry. I haven't tested nor worn them wet, but I would assume that they boast an even bigger punch. I'm usually not the biggest fan of wet/dry shadows, but these are nothing short of amazing.

Whether or not you're a fan of neutrals shadows, I really do think this is one limited edition product from Tom Ford you don't want to miss. Despite Nude Dip looking like a cool-toned quad, it actually leans neutral, thus, complimenting any blusher harmoniously. It's a simple palette, but one can create several eye looks while supplementing a transition shade (and possibly a browbone highlight) with it.

My favorite [quick and easy] look using all four shades in Nude Dip is:

• ivory gold in the inner coner
• taupe all over the lid and outer 2/3 of the lower lash line
• dark chocolate brown in the outer V (blended out with Urban Decay Naked in the crease)
• champagne on the inner 1/3 of the lower lash line
• Urban Decay Skimp as brow bone highlight

No liner, just mascara. Simple as that.

Blush duos (or contouring cheek color duos, as he likes to call them) are new to Tom Ford's makeup line. In fact, so are powdered highlighters, not taking into account the highlighter from the Unabashed palette. I initially held off on purchasing Stroked ($77), because I thought the blush looked similar to Love Lust. Long story short, the highlighter beckoned, and I responded.

Now that I have Stroked, I couldn't be any happier with my decision. Tom Ford's blushes usually run $57 each, so paying nearly 1.5 of a blush for two pans of product is quite the deal. Sometimes, the quality of a product is compromised when in a "palette", but I'm happy to say that the quality of both the blush and highlighter is what I would have expected his cheek products to be -- pigmented, finely-milled, easy to blend, and with great lasting power. I really cannot rave about this duo enough!

The highlighter was a pleasant surprise, and I wish he would release highlighters as part of his permanent range. It is a beige highlighter with just the hint of peach undertones to make it suitable and flattering for both warm and cool toned folks. It reminds me a lot of Chanel's highlighters, since it is more glowy and subtle than it is frosty and metallic.

Just for comparison purposes, I have Love Lust, Savage, and the blush from Unabashed to compare the blush from Stroked to. As you can tell, there are no dupes in the bunch. The blush in Stroked applies more coral on my cheeks, even though it seems more terracotta in the pan.

There was another contouring cheek color duo released along with this collection in Softcore ($77) which I passed on, because the highlighter is quite similar to the one from Stroked, so I couldn't justify owning both blush duos. The blush in Softcore is also darker and berry-toned, so if you typically gravitate towards such a color family of blushers, you might fancy Softcore over Stroked.

All in all, another winner of a collection from Tom Ford. My picks would have to obviously be the quad and Stroked blush/highlight duo, but then again, I'm partial to my brown eyeshadows and peachy-coral blushers. He also released two lipsticks, Negligee and Twist of Fate, a polish in Black Cherry, and an extreme mascara in Mocha Rush -- all limited edition -- along with this collection that might pique your interest if you are in the market for something other than an eyeshadow palette or cheek products.

Tom Ford Eye and Cheek Compact in Unabashed

 

Tom  Ford's eye and cheek compact in Unabashed, limited edition for Summer 2014, needs no introduction. It had makeup addicts all around the world calling department stores to pre-order back in February, when leaked images surfaced on many social medias. Heck, it had my heart racing a mile a minute when I first saw said images! As many of you may already know, it is housed in the same compact as Tom Ford bronzers, except in the ivory and gold packaging that I simply adore (and clearly cannot get enough of.) There is quite a bit of product in the compact, so I personally think it warrants the $95 price tag. Of course, if you're a makeup collector, this palette is a no-brainer of a purchase.

 

To start, there are three eyeshadows in the left column. At the very top is a light beige-y glitter shadow that works best as an eyeshadow topper. Alone, it really just provides glitter with no noticeable base color. Like all Tom Ford glitter shadows (which I like to call 'adult glitter'), this is a dream to work with, and I did not experience any fallout. Next, is a cool-toned, matte, grayish taupe shade. It is probably the easiest shadow of the three to work with, as it is incredibly smooth. I also learned that this works quite nicely as a cheek contour. So, if you feel as though you had missed out on Chanel's Notorious sculpting veil, give this a go. You might find that it gives the same effect! Lastly, there's the striking matte royal blue shade. Royal in more ways than one, i.e. a royal pain to remove when swatched on my arm and when applied on my eyes! Word of caution: this shadow in particular does stain, especially on bare skin! This is extremely pigmented, however, when it is blended out, it becomes more of a dark teal color. (I intentionally blended out the edges of this shade in my swatches below so you can see what I mean.) This is probably my least favorite shade of the three, as it is quite dry in nature.

Moving on to the "bronzer" and blush, and I say bronzer with quotation marks because technically, the top pan acts more like a highlighter. (You really should not attempt to warm up your complexion with such a frosty, borderline metallic, product unless your goal is to look like a walking disco ball.) As a highlighter, it is stunning! However, on my NC25 skin tone, I find it a bit too dark of a highlighter (or at least dark enough that I can't achieve the lifted cheekbones effect when applied with a traditional highlighter brush.) Thankfully, I find that with a fan brush, all is well, and it has earned a spot in my Top 10 Highlighters of all time! Like the matte taupey gray eyeshadow, this is also multi-functional. I've used this as a lid color several times, and it works just as phenomenally!

The star of the palette, in my opinion, is the warm pink blush that some have deemed the adult version of NARS Orgasm. I can see why with its strong golden lean and frostiness, but that's where the similarities end. This blush is undoubtedly smoother and easier to blend than the infamous O. Despite it being frosty, it also never accentuated my pores (which can happen with Orgasm at times.) It reminded me a lot of Tom Ford's blush in Love Lust, so I went ahead and did comparison swatches (see below.) I would say if Love Lust and Frantic Pink had a baby, this would be it. That said, if Tom Ford ever releases this blush in a single form, I will be the first in line to pick it up. I love it that much!

In conclusion, Unabashed is a welcome addition to my embarrrassingly growing TF collection (and my palette collection, in general.) I was wary of ordering the palette in the beginning, because this is the first eye and cheek palette he has ever released, so I didn't know how it would compare to the top-notch quality of his permanent line eyeshadows and blushers. I am happy to report that both cheek products perform just as well as his blushers, in terms of pigmentation, blendability and lasting power (well over 10 hours with no signs of fading!) As far as the eyeshadows go, apart from the royal blue, the glitter and matte shades are comparable to the shadows from his quads and trios. (Read: amazing!) I did hear folks passing on the palette because it resembled the limited edition trio in She Wolf, but rest assured, they are not similar in my opinion. If anything, I would say the glitter shade is most similar to the one in Silvered Topaz. I wasn't able to find a dupe to the matte taupey gray shadow in any of the quads I currently own, but I still went ahead and swatched the shadows in the matte gray color family from both the She Wolf and Silvered Topaz palettes.

I have seen Unabashed popping up online from time to time on Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks, and Bloomingdale's. If you are still on the fence about this palette, I would recommend snatching it up before it sells out completely -- something I can foresee happening in the very near future -- and see for yourself if it is worth keeping. I promise that this is one palette you will be happy to have in your own collection!

Tom Ford Lip Color Sheer in Pink Dune

 

Apparently 2014 is the year I dabble in luxurious lipsticks. Who would have thought? Tom Ford released eight lip color sheer lipsticks as part of his Spring 2014 collection and, as you might have guessed, Pink Dune ($49) immediately caught my attention. Shimmery gold pinky nude lip color... it all sounds too familiar, I know. I only have a handful of other lipsticks that fall under the same category (some possibly exact dupes), but the sleek and chic white and gold packaging had me swooning when I first laid eyes on the ad campaign.

Thankfully, the formula proved to be just as big of a hit as the packaging. The scent of Tom Ford lipsticks reminds me a lot of MAC's, though nowhere as strong of a vanilla scent. Calling it a sheer lipstick is a bit of a misnomer, as Pink Dune layered quite nicely with two passes to give decent pigmentation but not to the point where I would consider it opaque. When worn alone, Pink Dune gives off a sheen that makes additional lipgloss unnecessary.

What I love about the formula is that I can keep on layering, but it would never feel heavy on my lips, unlike other lipsticks. What's equally amazing is the wear time of Pink Dune, given the fact that it's a nude lipstick. It wasn't until the sixth hour mark (and after talking and eating/drinking) that I noticed the color slowly start to fade from the middle of my lips. Nothing that re-application can't solve, and even then, I did not notice any flaking. Also, I would like to add that I did not experience chapped lips at the end of the day during the times that I have worn Pink Dune. Lipsticks with shimmer tend to make my lips peel, so I've always proceeded with caution. I am glad to report that this one in particular is extremely sensitive lip-friendly.

I can't foresee myself owning any more colors from the lip color sheer range, but I do want a couple of shades from his permanent range of lipsticks. Don't be too surprised if you see the infamous Spanish Pink or the Lip Color Shine in Bare show up in my future reviews. Just sayin'. That said, if you've been eyeing a lip color sheer, I'd strongly suggest snatching the color(s) that interests you as they are limited edition, and some colors have completely sold out.

Tom Ford Cheek Color in 01 Love Lust, 02 Frantic Pink, and 04 Savage

Tom Ford makes some of my favorite powdered blushers -- easily on my Top 3 list along with Burberry and YSL. TF blushes are highly pigmented, super blendable, and incredibly long-lasting. I have yet to come across a single blush from his range that does not meet all three standards -- a rarity in the cosmetics world these days. Tom Ford packaging needs no explanation. It exudes class and quality, and it very well should be at $56 a pop for these blushes!

01: Love Lust
Starting off with Love Lust, ie my first Tom Ford blush, and the one that made me fall in love with his entire line-up. I have heard several beauty bloggers and Youtubers refer to this as a more mature version of NARS Orgasm, and I couldn't agree any more. Unlike the infamous O, I don't see as prominent of a golden sheen when Love Lust goes on my cheeks. The shimmer is still there, don't get me wrong, but it is certainly more refined. Also, the lasting power of Love Lust far exceeds Orgasm and with no oxidation whatsoever. This blush is incredibly pigmented, and one tap into the pan is all that one needs for both cheeks. By default, this is the most universally flattering color from Tom Ford's range of permanent blushes, since it is that neutral peachy-coral shade everyone always seems to gravitate towards. I can see this working on the lightest of skin tones to the darkest of skin tones, since this (and the rest of his blushes) are very buildable.

02: Frantic Pink
I would call Frantic Pink the 'Tom Ford beginners blush', because you simply cannot overdo this blush. This blush is that angelic pink shade that leans slightly on the warmer side. It looks amazing on very fair skin tones to give a flush of color, and it looks just as beautiful on much darker skin tones as a highlighter. I personally enjoy layering this blush on the apples of my cheeks over a matte blush shade. Like Love Lust, this is a shimmery blush, so a highlighter is unnecessary. However, if you are like me, and enjoy highlighters, I would still suggest finishing off with one. It really pulls the look together, in my opinion. Frantic Pink is one of my favorite blushes to go to when I am sporting a smoky eye or when I am trying to achieve a 'no-makeup makeup' look.

04: Savage
Though it may not seem like so from the pan, Savage is actually my most used blush out of the three. In fact, I had to tell myself to use my other blushes at one point over the Summer, because I kept reaching for this. Do keep in mind this blush is extremely pigmented. Consider yourself warned! It is quite easy to go a bit heavy-handed with Savage, thus, giving the sunburnt cheeks effect -- not too flattering, if you ask me. I cannot recommend using a duo-fiber brush with this particular blush enough; I promise you will still achieve that exotic coppery-bronze look with said brush. Even though it may look like a good bronzer shade in the pan, I wouldn't suggest it, because of the frosty nature of Savage. It's frosty, it's shimmery, it will make you look like a disco ball if you attempt to contour with it. Instead, try placing the blush towards the back of your cheeks and above your contour to give your face a more sculpted look.

(L-R): 01 Love Lust, 02 Frantic Pink, 04 Savage

I couldn't pick a favorite out of the three Tom Ford blushes I own if I had to: all three are lovely in their own ways. Everytime I go back to using one of the blushes, I wonder why I needed the rest of my blush collection. Okay, slight exaggeration but you get my drift. Tom Ford Cosmetics is available at Saks.com, Neiman Marcus, and now Nordstrom.com!