As promised half a year ago (old post here), when Tom Ford first set foot in Singapore, I am (finally) reviewing one of the Tom Ford products that I bought.
Tom Ford Lip Colour in 09 True Coral
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| Tom Ford Lipstick - The Bullet. |
Available: Tom Ford sole counter at Tangs Orchard. IIRC, this bullet crosses $50 (one NARS blush is also $50). Generally at TF, you will rack up $100 on a single item. So, do go with a generous heart, and a large mind. =)
Volume: 3 g. It is a bit small. Guerlain Shine Automatique and Dior Addict Extreme are both 3.5 g.
Star Properties: Amazing colour. Simply amazing.
Ingredients: As in photos below.
To have castor oil as the first ingredient, it is supposed to be quite moisturising.
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| Ingredients Part 1. |
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| Ingredients Part 2. |
But I didn't buy this for the moisturising properties. Bought more for the colour.
Packaging
A picture says a thousand words. Tom Ford packaging is undeniably gorgeous, with the gold and deep sophisticated brown for a lipstick case.
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| Lipstick box. |
The joy of opening the top, seeing the gold, and proceeding to camwhore the lipstick.
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| Unboxing the lipstick. |
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| Camwhoring the lipstick bullet. |
The case looks like black, but it is actually a very deep brown that reminds me of the tinted sunglasses of businessmen in the Wild West.
It holds well in the hand, and has a beautiful, beautiful click. The Tom Ford Click is addictive, let me tell you first. The click from this could rival Chanel Rouge Allure (rumoured to have undergone hundreds of prototyping before the designer finally chose this Chanel Click that you are buying).
I actually keep this lipstick by my laptop, so that I can reach for it and start clicking open, and clicking close, when I am reading material on the internet, or am really just bored.
Colour
My colour is 09 True Coral.
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| The bottom of the case. |
My warm medium skin generally goes well with rose pinks and orange corals. This is one of them.
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| I couldn't help taking one more picture. |
There were so many Tom Ford lipsticks to choose from that I pretty much made my choice by name, and by how much the colour strikes me.
True Coral is one of those bright ones that stood out.
At that point in time, I didn't test this on my lips, so I was making quite a huge bet that this colour would work with my skin.
You will see that True Coral sometimes look pink, and sometimes look orangey red.
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| Tom Ford Lip Colour in 09 True Coral. |
Lipstick Swatch and FOTD #1
We will start with just one swipe of the lipstick on my hand.
You can see that it is pigmented. I didn't use strength to do the swatch, just glided it across.
First time I tried it on my lips, I use the lipstick straight from the bullet, and it came off as vermillion/ bright orange red.
I really love the colour because it instantly brightens up my face. If you are warm medium, this colour may do the same for you too. It is one of those magical pop colours.
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| This seems to make my teeth look whiter! |
It is in that moment that you catch what you're paying for, and you understand why ladies the world over would spend on lipsticks, and why they say more lipsticks are sold in an economic depression.
Lipstick Swatch and FOTD #2
And at other times, I realise that True Coral can look more pink. If you compare this with the photo of the lipstick in the tube, you will find that this is much, much closer to that. It now looks more like what you imagine is a coral colour, a pinkish red.
It is what the name says it is! I mean, can you believe it? For once, there is a company who actually makes a true coral lipstick. I have seen many other lipsticks that are named coral, but are really either too orange, or too pink. But with Tom Ford, 09 True Coral is both - it is both very orange AND very bright pink, at the same time (depending on camera angle and lighting).
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| Sorry for wet hair. Apparently, this is right before I went out. =D |
Texture
This glides on like a dream. With the first ingredient as castor oil, it definitely feels like a lip butter.
Quality
It is very pigmented, and very buildable. I can actually get this to look like a pale orchid pink if I use a lip brush and do it mini layer by mini layer.
Performance On The Lips
Unfortunately, this actually gets rather drying as the hours run by. Castor oil is not exactly a moisturising ingredient in my books. I much prefer sunflower oil in a lip balm.
Probably also due to the castor oil, this lipstick does not last long on the lips too. I have to touch up in about 3 hours. And if you eat, you can be quite sure this will run. It will stain cups too, because it is very transferable.
I wore this to a friend's wedding, and I had to wipe my glass, and in the end, I decided to wipe it all off my lips and eat. I only went to the washroom to touch up, right before the bride and groom came to my table for photo-taking.
I would say that it is a little bit of a disappointment in that I expect this to be something like NARS and Laura Mercier, and be pretty long-lasting. But over the years, I have somewhat given up my search for the perfect lipstick, and have already begin to believe that no lipstick can be both incredibly long-lasting, and incredibly nourishing, at the same time. There has to be some sort of trade-off somewhere, and manufacturers need to decide where they want to draw the line.
(NARS and Laura Mercier, while are more long-lasting, are also drier than this. Hence I say there is trade-off.)
Conclusion
3.5/5.
I had a hard time deciding the score for this. So I will put out the pros and cons for you to have a look on your own.
What I really do like, and give 5/5 for:
- Unparalleled colour,
- Highly pigmented,
- Buildable,
- Packaging that is probably only rivalled by the likes of Guerlain,
- I really do enjoy putting it on every time.
To me, these reasons are enough for me to own one Tom Ford lipstick. Just one. I am not going to repurchase or buy another.
What I think you may not like:
- Price (do save up, your eyes will pop out, and heart will jump to your throat if you hear the price),
- Not long-lasting, high maintenance (need to touch up), will stick on cup,
- Can be drying after a few hours,
- Only 3 g. I can see my lipstick going shorter and shorter, I swear. I like this a lot, and I have been wearing it often enough over the last half year, and I need to tell you that the castor oil nature of this, means that the stick gets polishes off quickly before you know it. I am so afraid that this will run out and I need to buy another one (because it is not cheap), that I have started using it with a lip brush only.
A lip brush helps pick up as little product as you possibly can, and yet can still pack on a tonne of colour on your lips. It is a great way to save product, as compared to using the product straight off the tube.
If you're really just going for the colour and willing to ignore everything else, like me, this is a definite 5/5. If you are looking to buy a lipstick for very practical reasons, then skip Tom Ford altogether.
If you find a dupe for such a colour, do let me know. I give my heartfelt thanks in advance!
Closing Note
Tom Ford is brand that is marketed at a level where you have to go beyond practical reasons, and buying the product for the function of the product alone. A Tom Ford lipstick, is, not, a, lipstick. It is in other words, a through-and-through luxury brand. And when it comes to luxury, the price is worth the uniqueness, the rarity, and the exquisite make. It is the feeling that you are buying, the knowing that you're wearing a Tom Ford that makes the difference.
So actually, if you are going for the luxury, then there is no doubt that Tom Ford scores full marks on what they do.
I cannot answer the question in my title (whether TF is worth the hype), not based on one lipstick. I have not tested the other products yet.
Writing this post does make me question myself... ... if there really is a dupe for this colour, will I jump ship to that? I don't have the answer at this point in life.
Do you own any item(s) from Tom Ford? What is it? Will you recommend it? If you have tried the TF lipstick, do you find that it dries after a while too, and is not long-lasting?
Reply to Comments:
Autumn - I agree that Dior lipsticks are one of the best out there that can somehow draw a good balance between its staying power and moisturising power. The best lipstick that I have used thus far is Rouge Bunny Rouge. I count that as my Holy Grail, something that I wish RBR will never stop producing. The drawback to RBR is that I need to get it online. But I find that I can overcome that by making hauls, or simply not buying until my current one is finished.
About Tom Ford lipsticks, haha, I just made an honest review of my experience with it. In the process of testing this, I found that there were many times I got frustrated, and just didn't like it, so I told the truth. But lipsticks can be very different for different people, and for me, I am constantly looking for something that must be moisturising yet lasts long because my lips crack easily. When a brand is this expensive, I do expect it to be perfect or near perfect, so even if there is only a bit of disappointment, I can't give it full marks.
In my case, surely you'd expect a half a hundred bucks lipstick to bring you through a wedding dinner. Maybe I should have worn Guerlain or NARS.
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