Tom Ford Fall 2015 Makeup Collection: Modern Monochromatic Chic

We can always rely on Tom Ford to defy prevailing trends and sensibilities, and bring a freshness to our cluttered beauty world with something unexpected. If sexy is defined by the boldness to bare, then Tom Ford’s makeup collection this season is the sexiest of all.  Instead of the standard autumn smokey eyes, Tom Ford has given us clean, fresh, sculpted features brought to light with modern monochromatic colors.  The Flawless Face Collection [reviewed here and here] launched last month should be viewed as part of the Fall 2015 makeup look, and now to put the finishing touch is the Color Collection, comprising of 4 Eye and Cheek Shadows, and a matching Lip Color from the newly revamped collection.  I have 1 of each and will show you how they’re designed to be worn, and also some swatches of the rest of the collection.

At the heart of Tom Ford Fall 2015 Color Collection are 4 brand new, limited edition Eye & Cheek Shadows.  These are infused with light-catching pearls to give a satin finish with micro-pearlescent shimmers that are very subtle and near-invisible though they give extra dimension to the shades.  Each pan includes a lighter and darker shade on either ends, giving an ombre effect when viewed.

The 4 shades are (in clockwise direction starting from the bottom) – Pink Ombre, Plum Ombre, Bronze Ombre, and Peach Ombre.

Although when viewed from the angle as shown above, the ombre seems obvious enough; in reality the distinction between light and dark shades is not quite as dramatic when viewed straight on, and varies between the 4.  The highest contrasting duo are Bronze Ombre and Plum Ombre, whilst Peach Ombre is moderate and Pink Ombre the least.

Here is a closer look at Peach Ombre:

The other thing to note is that given how small these pans are – the casing is the same size as the regular Cheek Color but the product pan is only slightly bigger than half the size.  Therefore I found it quite impossible to pick out either the lighter or darker shade with a standard blush brush.  For the purpose of applying on the eyes though, any standard eyeshadow brush is able to choose between the shades easily.

Whilst it is possible to pick out the lighter and darker shades at will if you are determined enough, I found the lighter shade in Peach Ombre to be too close to my skin tone to show up well.  And as I had already noted above, given the contrast between the lighter and darker tones is not all that significant, I personally think it is rather futile to try and create any eye looks using the 2 opposing ends of the pan separately.  Instead, what I would suggest is to swipe your brush across the pan to pick up a blended color and apply that across the entire lid, then use the lighter shade to blend out.

I was able to swatch 3 of the 4 Eye and Cheek Shadows at a recent press preview.  Unfortunately the press sample of Plum Ombre never made it to Singapore, and so I am unable to swatch and give you my first impression on it.

The swatches above are all equally blended swatches of the light and dark tones within each shade.  Here are my first impressions from swatching:

• Bronze Ombre is a pale pink-beige that does not show up well against my skin tone, even focusing more on the darker end of the pan did not yield much color.
• Peach Ombre is a warm-toned light-medium peach that shows up decently on my skin. However, it felt a little “hard” on the surface, and lacked pigmentation.
• Pink Ombre is a cool-toned medium pink.  This is the best in terms of pigmentation and showed up most distinctly against my skin.

I was fortunate to be able to witness a makeup demonstration by Patrick Eichler, Tom Ford’s Education Director covering Asia Pacific, and picked up a couple of tricks on integrating the various components of the Fall 2015 makeup collection.  As this season’s look emphasised the petal-fresh complexion, the Complexion Enhancing Primer [reviewed here] is the first step to getting that all-over glow.  After your choice of foundation, the next crucial step is the Skin Illuminating Powder Duo [reviewed here].  In addition to dusting Moodlight on the cheek bones and high points of the face, the darker shade may also be applied lightly all over the eye lids to give that gleam and contrasting light and shadows to bring dimension to the face.  Moodlight layers beautifully with the Ombre Eye and Cheek Shadows, especially Peach Ombre, both on the eyes and cheeks.  I have attempted to recreate the look at home, and here is how it looks on me.

I simply can’t get over how beautiful the Complexion Enhancing Primer and Illuminating Powder Duo look!  And a closer look at the eye…

It is a very subtle look, and I had to emphasise my small eyes by lining the top with a black liquid liner with a slight flick at the end, and the bottom with smudged out black kohl.

To complete the monochromatic look, there is a Lip Color and Ultra Shine Lip Gloss recommended to match each of the Eye and Cheek Shadows.  The Ultra Lip Glosses are all repromotes, but the one to watch out for is the newly revamped Lip Color Collection.  Tom Ford is taking the opportunity to equalize their Lip Color offerings across all markets this season, and depending on where you are, there may be 8-12 “new” Lip Colors being introduced, and some retired.  Most of the 8-12 are reissues of previously released Lip Colors (some from the last Lip and Boys Collection, and some previous seasons’ limited editions), but there will be 2 brand new, never seen before Lip Colors – Misbehaved and So Vain.

Tom Ford Misbehaved Lip Color is the prescribed matching shade for Peach Ombre, and it is a warm-toned peach-rosewood with a luscious cream finish.  The formula is true to the Tom Ford Lip Color family, very creamy, pigmented and long-lasting.

And here is another look at Peach Ombre Eye and Cheek Shadow and Misbehaved Lip Color on me…

Having played around with the Peach Ombre Eye and Cheek Shadow for a bit now, I must confess that this product still confounds me somewhat, despite the tips that I’ve already shared above.  I’m not sure if the press sample I received is a dud, but it seemed to lack pigmentation, especially when compared against the usual Tom Ford Cheek Color.  Also given the small size of the pan, it can be rather frustrating work building up color on the cheeks.  Peach Ombre works fine on the eyes, but the selection of shades in this product category is very limited, and frankly not very exciting even if we are going for monochromatic.  And priced at SGD100 / USD65 for 4.5gm of product versus USD60 for 8.4gm of Cheek Color, I am hesitant to recommend this to anyone but the greatest Tom Ford fan.  On the other hand, the shades do work well both on eyes and cheeks to give a very modern and chic clean look, taking the guessing game out of simple day makeup.

_{This post featured products that were kindly provided for my consideration.  Regardless, all opinions expressed here are my own honest, unbiased views.}