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Tom Ford Lip Sculptor & Lip Color Satin Matte Review

October 4, 2018 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

Tom Ford recently released a couple of new lip products, one of them is the Lip Sculptor which is basically a lip liner with a lip brush, and another one is the newest Lip Color Satin Matte, which is a velvety soft matte lipstick that is meant to be high impact and long-wearing.

I went to my local Tom Ford beauty counter to check out these two new products and also to swatch the colors and find out which ones would look well on my skin tone. I picked two colors from the Lip Sculptor line and also picked two from the Lip Color Satin Matte.

Lip Sculptor ($46) – This lip liner glides comfortably on the lips and it has a built-in lip brush on the other end. It contours, sculpts and defines the lips and it’s great with any Tom Ford lipsticks or with any other lip color as well. This sets into a matte finish and can be easily corrected if the application wasn’t accurate. There are different shades available from this lip liner and they are all beautiful, especially the deep ones. Since this lip liner has an easy-to-glide formulation, this could potentially be worn as a lip color, provided that your lips are not the type that dries easily. Unfortunately, for me, this is too drying when used as a lip shade. On the other hand, since this particular lip liner is quite matte, I don’t really see how the lip brush on the other end can work with this liner unless of course it’s meant to define the lips with a lipstick, which I suspect is what it’s really meant to be. The price of this lip pencil is high, but the quality is very good. Having a few is worth a try.

Crave – light terracotta

Devour – mauve rose

Lip Color Satin Matte ($55) – This newest lip color from Tom Ford is very pigmented in just one swipe. It has a creamy feel once applied on the lips, then it sets into a true satin matte. It is one of the most comfortable matte lipsticks I’ve ever tried since it’s non-drying, lightweight, and soft-focus without emphasizing too much lip lines. It has a blotted effect as it wears for several hours. This particular lipstick, however, does transfer but it’s not to the extreme since the color will still remain on the lips. On me, this lasts about six hours after drinking tea or coffee, and about four hours for the lighter shade after eating. The darker shade tends to stay longer. There is no strong scent detected, but only a faint buttery one. However, finding the right shade from this lip color line that would look well on my complexion was such a dilemma. There are for sure several Fall/Winter colors like deep berries and reds but I had a hard time finding the right nude or neutral beige for my light-medium skin tone since most of the nude and neutral ones are either too nude or they’d pull off as bright pink or coral on me. Another thing I noticed is that it’s pretty hard for me to accurately apply this lipstick on my lips since this has a slightly angled flat round tip, as opposed to being more pointy like most lipsticks, so, I always end up overlining my lips. But then, that’s easy to remedy, I just use the lip brush that came with the Lip Sculptor above. Anyway, I can’t seem to find a product that closely resembles this lipstick, especially when it comes to its texture and its finish. For starters, this is definitely not as mattifying as the Tom Ford Lip Color Matte. This lip color is more comfortable and it feels more lightweight. This also feels a bit hydrating but it’s not shiny. I’m thinking perhaps the Dior Ultra Rouge Lipstick might be on par, but I will have to investigate more, and speaking of that, I will be reviewing that lipstick soon. I also think the YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Mats (reviewed HERE) might be similar as well, and probably the Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet too, but the Chanel ones may be a bit more mattifying than this TF Lip Color Satin Matte.

Modern Love – light coral

Stiletto – blue-toned red

Bottom line, this latest Lip Color Satin Matte and Lip Sculptor from Tom Ford are worth the splurge. These perform just like what they claim. The Lip Sculptor is a reliable lip liner that sets well and applies smoothly. It truly contours and defines the lips. The Lip Color Satin Matte is one of the most comfortable easy to wear matte lipsticks I’ve ever tried and I really like its velvety matte effect on the lips.

The Tom Ford Lip Sculptor and Lip Color Satin Matte are out now at Nordstrom, Sephora, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Harrods

Tom Ford Ultra-Shine Lip Color & The Girls (Boys & Girls) Lip Color Review + Swatches

June 13, 2018 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

Hello Tom Ford Fanatics! Obviously, we have another Tom Ford products to review today, and it’s all about the latest Tom Ford Soleil Summer 2018 Ultra-Shine Lip Colors ($54) plus some shades of the Boys & Girls Lipsticks, specifically The Girls (36).

The Tom Ford Ultra-Shine Lip Colors are new for this Summer. They’re meant to be a combination of a lipstick, a lip balm, and a lipgloss. Super ambitious eh? Yezz queen. These lipsticks aim to have the pigment and application of a lipstick, the comfort and creaminess of a lip balm, and the shine of a lip gloss. They’re housed in a beautiful white with gold-accent packaging, and they have a very subtle choco-milkshake scent (must be just me). They look very sleek and very luxurious, and the colors seem to be all beautiful and very wearable. Here are three of my favorite shades.

Exuberant – A slightly neon-ish pink coral that is great as a pop of color for this Summer.

Nubile – A warm nude brownish taupe. It’s a perfect everyday nude color for light to medium skin tone. Very dupeable though, it kinda reminds me of the MAC Matte lipstick in Taupe (swatched HERE)

Luscious – A rose mauve or light plum. It’s a beautiful lip color if you have pigmented lips that have a mauve-ish undertone. It suits well for me because it has this “my lips but better” look, which is a shade or two darker than my lips’ natural color. Overall, this is my most favorite shade from this TF lipstick line and a total holy grail-worthy.

To sum it up, the Tom Ford Ultra-Shine Lip Colors indeed have a high shine finish, but they’re not super-blinding or vinyl-like. They feel really light on the lips as if you have nothing on, like a very comforting ultra-lightweight lip balm. They have awesome pigments too that give the lip a good coverage after one or two swipes. They’re expensive, true, but they’re totally worth it. For me, they’ve got to be some of the best lipsticks I’ve ever tried formula-wise and color-wise. Wear time for me depends on what I do. There is color transfer on the cup or glass after drinking but it still stays on for 3 to 4 hours. If after eating, most of the color disappears but it leaves a nice stain on the lips. Without eating or drinking, it goes on for hours and hours.

The Girls Lipsticks from the Boys & Girls Lip Colors are clutch-sized and are very similar to the Tom Ford Lips and Boys (reviewed HERE) released a few years ago. When these “Girls” lipsticks were released, I decided to skip on them since I already have “The Boys” shade and I assumed that the formula would still be pretty much the same. So yeah, I’m pretty much late to talk about these lipsticks and I wouldn’t have that is until a friend of mine wore one of Tom Ford’s The Girls lip color while we were on a dinner one time and I noticed her lip color was still on even after eating. I immediately asked her what kind of lipstick she wore, and she said: “Tom Ford” with something about a feminine name. So my interest in this particular lipstick grew and I decided to purchase a few shades that I like. There are two finishes for The Girls Lip Color: Sheer and Ultra-RIch. The ones I purchased have the Ultra-Rich finish.

Isla – Bright Peachy Coral.

Katherine – Nude Pinky Beige.

Marisa – Light Barbie-Pink.

Valentina – Shimmery Plum.

Zoe – Muted Peachy Coral-Pink. Similar to the Isla shade but a bit toned-down. Although on my lips, they both look very similar.

I find The Girls lipsticks to be much better than The Boys in terms of color-longevity. After eating, the color tends to disappear at the center of my lips but I noticed that there are still some shades remaining on the outer part. With minimal eating or drinking, I get about 4-5 hours of wear and my lips never peel nor dried. I love the clutch-size because it’s very easy to toss inside my purse and it fits great for traveling. Overall, these lipsticks are pricey, but worth having a few.

Have you tried these lipsticks already?

The Tom Ford Ultra-Shine Lip Color and The Girls (Boys & Girls) Lipsticks are currently available at Sephora, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Harrods, Bloomingdales, Net-A-Porter, and Bergdorf Goodman

Tom Ford Foundations and Primer Review + Swatches

April 17, 2018 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

Hello Everyone! Today’s review is something I’ve always wanted to do. A lot of people talk about Tom Ford cosmetics and really rave about their products, while some also said that it’s just all but a name. The feeling of splurging on something doesn’t necessarily equate to good quality products. That I agree, and with that being said, I feel like in this review I want to talk about my experience with Tom Ford cosmetics in general and also specifically about their foundations and primers. For me, I love Tom Ford beauty products even though they are pricey, I think they do have good quality stuff apart from their fancy luxurious packaging. However, not all of their stuff is worth splurging into, and a lot of it really depends on your skin type and chemistry, as well as your personal preferences. For example, I know everyone’s crazy about their lipsticks, it’s like a girl must have at least a few Tom Ford lipsticks in her vanity just because it’s Tom Ford and everyone has it. While it’s good to have a few Tom Ford lipsticks that you actually like, I don’t think that all of Tom Ford’s lipstick line is worth hoarding into. I like a lot of Tom Ford lipsticks but they can be a hit or a miss on me. However, I do love their foundations and one of their primers. They’re the type that once you’ve applied it to your skin, you’re like “wow” and mind you, the TF Foundations and primers never disappoint.

I started loving the Tom Ford foundations and one of their primers when I met an SA who looked like she was probably around her 50’s but her face looked like it was frozen in time. She literally had a face of a teenager, even though her hands revealed her true age. So I got curious and asked her what’s her secret. She said she uses La Mer and Tom Ford. Hmmm, interesting. Anyhow, from then on, I’ve been a Tom Ford foundation devotee.

Primer

Illuminating Primer (1 oz: $75) – The SA with the frozen face in time gave me a sample of this and I fell in love with this primer right away. I had to go to Nordies to get it in full-size. This primer is so good and it’s still the best or one of the best primers I’ve ever tried. It’s basically a primer/skincare that helps the skin fight free radicals while making the makeup last a long time. The finish is dewy but not overly so, and the texture is so smooth and creamy that it almost feels like a moisturizer. It has a bit of a weird silicon smell which I got used to and didn’t actually bother me, but for some, it might be too much. This works really well with any of the Tom Ford foundations and it gives a subtle glow to the face.

Foundation

Traceless Foundation Broad Spectrum Spf 15 in 4.0 Fawn (1 oz: $85) – This is Tom Ford’s lightest and most luminous foundation, kinda like a tinted moisturizer because the coverage is sheer to medium. It’s a great foundation to use every day because it has Spf 15 and some skin nourishing properties. This feels really easy on the face and the Fawn shade is great for covering some redness, especially for someone with a light to medium skin tone.

Traceless Perfecting Foundation Broad Spectrum Spf 15 in 4.7 Cool Beige (1 oz: $85) – This is a medium to full coverage TF foundation and my most favorite Tom Ford foundations of all. I fell in love with this foundation immediately because this also feels very lightweight and the coverage is not too sheer and not too thick. It goes really well with the Tom Ford Illuminating Primer and it lasts practically the whole day and more on me. This also has a skin-nourishing complex and an Spf 15, so I’ve never had any breakout issues with this and I didn’t notice this foundation to oxidize at all. This pretty much feels like a second skin with its natural finish that doesn’t cake and it holds its coverage even in humid weather or against sweat. The Cool Beige shade matches my skin very well when I have minimal redness on the face.

Waterproof Foundation and Concealer in 4.5 Ivory (1 oz: 85) – If you want a foundation that won’t budge in any kind of weather, especially in super-humid weather, well look no further because this TF Waterproof foundation is the answer. It’s a full-coverage foundation that will stay on your face no matter what. The packaging feels really tiny compared to most TF foundations but you only need to put a little bit in order to get a nice full coverage on the face. Despite being a full-coverage foundation, this still feels creamy and lightweight. It has a natural to satiny finish and as it doesn’t cake. I like this a lot and I wear this when I have to spend a lot of time outdoors or when going to the beach, I just have to wear a good sunscreen underneath and this doesn’t clog my pores at all. On top of that, this has no strong scents. This is definitely the longest lasting breathable high-coverage foundation I’ve ever tried and I love the Ivory shade which is also very close to the Fawn shade as you can see in the swatches below.

I haven’t tried the TF Traceless Foundation Stick but that’s on my wishlist for the next Sephora Beauty Insider Event this coming weekend. I sort of stayed away from foundation sticks before since my skin is on the oily side and the sticks tend to be somewhat sticky and thick. But this Tom Ford Foundations Stick won’t be missed for sure and will update you soon as to what I think about it.

Bottom line, the Tom Ford foundations are truly worth splurging into but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have any cons. First, even though they’re such good foundations, I find that their Spf is really low, I guess that’s to minimize oxidation. Second, it’s true that their packaging is really unique, beautiful, luxurious and easy to use, yet they can be somewhat flimsy and impractical to dispense. Third, some can have strong scents that are not for everyone and Lastly, their foundations are really expensive. However, I find the Tom Ford foundations to have the best texture and wearability when it comes to foundations. They have such nice smooth finishes without any caking on the face. Their foundations are reliable to wear for any occasion and are long-wearing. They also feel very lightweight and they work with the skin’s texture quite well. On top of that, they make the skin look poreless and naturally balanced, and with their beautiful luxe packaging, they’re true to what they’re made to be.

Have you tried these foundations already? Are you a Tom Ford fan? If so, why?

These Tom Ford Foundations and Primer are currently available at Sephora, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, Net-A-Porter, Bergdorf Goodman, and Harrods