Tom Ford Summer 2016 Soleil Collection: Bicoastal, Afternooner, Pineo Sole

I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s post about the new limited edition lip colors that Tom Ford will be releasing this Summer 2016.  Today, I will be introducing the other half of the collection which mainly focuses on sculpting those cheek bones and bringing out the natural sunlit flush!

By now, you probably have already seen images of this beauty flooding your Instagram/Pinterest feed, but it doesn’t hurt to take a closer look…

Tom Ford Soleil Contouring Compact [SGD180] is the first ever face palette featuring a highlighter, blush and bronzer in a large palette which is roughly the same size as the large bronzer.  It is interesting to note that this particular compact has been given a name – The Afternooner, which leads me to speculate this is the first of many more such face palettes to come.

The Afternooner is generally a warm-toned palette.  From top to bottom, the shades are:

• Pale pink-beige that leaves a healthy luminous sheen when buffed into the top of the cheek bones.  When lightly swept on, it is a very soft highlighter devoid of any shimmers.
• Warm-toned coral pink blush with a satin finish
• Medium bronzer with a soft-matte finish.  This is the most yellow-toned bronzer that I have, and is more suitable for those with warmer skin tones.

I was most impressed by The Afternooner’s creamy texture… we often describe Tom Ford powders as buttery smooth, but this one is in a whole different league of its own!  The lightest touch picks up enough product, and applies so smoothly it feels like cream.

The other beauty not to be missed is this Tom Ford Sheer Cheek Duo in Bicoastal [SGD119].  In case you thought this is simply a variation of the Soleil Contouring Compact, it is quite different in size, composition and formula.  Bicoastal is about the size of the mini bronzers, and comes with a soft pink highlighter and a brighter rose pink blush.

As you can see from the swatch above, Bicoastal is clearly cooler-toned than The Afternooner.  Both the highlighter and blush are satin in finish, but the highlighter has a much stronger sheen than that in The Afternooner.  This Sheer Cheek Duo is formulated to be used both wet and dry, apply wet for a soft veil of color or dry for a sweeping pop of vibrancy.  Since I don’t have a habit of applying anything wet, I have only tried using Bicoastal dry, and whilst it has good pigmentation overall, it is notably sheerer than The Afternooner.  The surface of the powders feels stiffer to the touch, similar to the Skin Illuminating Powder Duo [reviewed here], but applies well with a brush and leaves a luminous radiant finish to the cheeks.

Lastly, there are 2 Tom Ford Cream Cheek Colors this season.  The first is Pink Sand which is a repromote from Summer 2015 and reviewed here.  I love Pink Sand and it is the only cream cheek product that I’ve reached for time and time again.  The formula lasts me all day without fading or slipping, and has a golden luminosity that renders the sun-kissed glow that we all want.  So, I was extremely curious about the other new offering – Pineo Sole [SGD104]!  Pineo Sole is an exceptionally interesting one because it resembles a cream bronzer due to its color, but it actually sheers out substantially to give a luminous golden glow.  I love patting Pineo Sole all along the top of my cheeks as a base, then layering a blush over.  You could also use it on its own for a radiant nude look, even add a dab over the lids for some glow!

Here is a comparison swatch between Pineo Sole and the bronze shade in The Afternooner.  I also added Terra as a point of comparison.  As you can see, Terra is the coolest-toned out of the bunch, and works better for me as a contouring product than the rests.  Terra (in the small size) will be returning as a permanent offering (the other large sized one is already permanent) along with Gold Dust [swatched here].  There is a new shade called Bronze Age which unfortunately I had not been able to swatch for you.  For your information, the large bronzers will retail at SGD160 and the mini bronzers at SGD104.

For the sake of completeness, I should also mention that there will be a few other limited edition repromotes: those double-deckered Cream and Powder Eye Colors from Summer 2015 [reviewed here], and Firelust Skin Illuminator which first debuted in Summer 2013 [reviewed here].

There is quite a far bit to check out this Summer 2016 Soleil Collection, and everything discussed here today is limited edition with the exception of the bronzers.  In case you missed it, hop on over here to check out the Moisturecore and Ultrarich Lip Colors that are also part of the Soleil Collection!  Have you already got your hands on 1 or more of those palettes?

_{This post featured products that were kindly provided for review purposes.  All opinions expressed here are my own honest, unbiased views.}