Review: Tom Ford Eye Color Quad 02 Cognac Sable

 

Tom Ford beauty line fully launched with 10 eye color quads ($75 for 0.35 oz). At the first glance,  I thought none of his eyeshadow quads would suit my taste. And I must admit his ad photos featuring the Dutch goddess Lara Stone, Mr. Ford himself and alluring eye makeup gave me the impression that his line were tailored for bold sexy makeup lovers. It turns out his entire beauty line is actually quite wearable when played down.

I picked up Cognac Sable and Golden Mink and already have a list of the must-haves :D (Crushed Amethyst and Sahara Haze wink wink). They come with a large mirror and two applicators. The Cognac Sable quad I purchased mistakenly contains two identical applicators. The sale associate gave me the correct one on my second trip to the counter.

Cognac Sable has a coppery color theme that is designed so cleverly. Oh and it suits my coloring perfectly! I have light medium skin with yellow undertone (about MAC NC 25). You have a frosty light peach, a coppery glitter, a shimmery coppery brown and shimmery plumy deep brown. Don't be scared by the words "glitter" or "shimmer". The shimmer is beyond sophisticated that I can wear it everyday. I apply the coppery shade on two thirds of the lids and use the peach shade to highlight the one third inner corners of my eyes. Then I blend the plumy brown onto my outer V, along the lashlines. The result is natural, chic and soft.

 The ingredients

The kicker of the palette, though, is the coppery glitter. It reminds me of the highlight shade in Dior All-in-one palette. Dior's has creamy texture while Tom Ford's is a pressed powder glitter. Both are delicated and stays on well although they do move around on the lids throughout the day. Tom Ford glitter, however, doesn't fall down onto my cheeks or under eye areas like Dior's. Overall, I think Tom Ford's glitter has excellent quality and exceed that of Dior's. The best tool I've found to apply the glitter shades is my clean finger. I pick up the color then dab it on my lids sans blending. The glitter will move after a few winks. 

Blurred image to show the shimmer and glitter

Tom Ford powder products in general have velvety texture that blends flawlessly and effortlessly into the skin. His eyeshadows are no exception. I'm blown away by the phenomenal texture, the very best I've ever tried. Now, some bloggers have reported inconsistency and low pigmentation. The peach shade and the coppery glitter have higher consistency than the other two. However, I don't see the two deeper shades as lower quality. They're great, only not as exceptional as the two lighter shades.

Cognac Sable stays fresh for 10 hours on top of standard primer. Yes even the glitter look the same by the end of the day. Wonderful indeed but I expected it to perform this well for the price. The wearing is also typical for other designer brands, which brings me to the hefty price tag.

My favorite eyeshadow brand Dior delivers 0.21 oz of 5 eyeshadows with $59. If you desire the glitter in Dior All-in-one palettes, you receive only 0.15 oz with the same payment. In order to get 0.35 oz of product like Tom Ford quads, you'd either need to spend $96 for Dior's regular formula or $135 for Dior's all-in-one formula. That doesn't include Tom Ford large mirror. So if this quad were made by Dior, it'd cost you about $96 - $135.

Bottom line. Cognac Sable hits the sweet spot for warm skin tone. Nothing quality-wise needs improvement in my opinion. You pay more for not only excellent quality but also decent quantity. If you want to try out the brand and still are unsure where to start, I would highly recommend Cognac Sable. It's truly a must-have for me.

Have you tried any Tom Ford eye color quads? What is your favorite?