Tom Ford Summer Soleil 2018
Goodness, is it Summer already?! I suppose somewhere in the world, it is always sunny and fabulous. Tom Ford released its Summer Soleil 2018 collection about a month ago in the US, and I had my eye on the new eye & cheek palette right away. In addition to releasing colour variations of some core members of the soleil line, Tom Ford has also introduced a couple of brand new items this season. Here are my picks from Tom Ford’s summer 2018 collection:
Tom Ford’s Soleil Eye & Cheek Palettes are such an instant hit with fans that the brand has since branched into bolder and more colourful hues. Last Winter we had the lovely Violet Argente [reviewed here] which was a toe-dip away from safe neutrals; now mere months later we have a deeper and more serious play on bold reds.
Tom Ford Soleil d’Ambre Eye & Cheek Palette* is the 5th member of this brilliant family of palettes, and I was irrevocably drawn to it at first sight. The mix of muted reds with taupe, and a bold shade of blush to accompany the eyes, is so unconventional and unapologetically seductive.
The shades, from left to right, are:
- Blush – medium-dark terracotta red with a satin finish. Fine golden shimmers give it a warm tone, and medium pink micro-shimmers lend a lustrous finish to the cheeks. This is a very pigmented blush, so I recommend using your airiest brush and pressing rather than sweeping over the pan, and layering more if needed. Perhaps due to the intensity of the shade, I found it required more work to diffuse the edges once applied.
- Eyeshadow 1 – pale pink with a semi-sheer base and a frosty finish. This has a slightly warm undertone that complements the overall palette. Best used as an inner corner highlight, though it can be layered with either of the 2 darker eyeshadow shades at will.
- Eyeshadow 2 – light-medium barley gold shimmer with a translucent base. This is a glitter topper, which is designed to be used over any of the other shades for a bit of pop. As always, it is very fine and the hue is elegant enough to be used all over (even over the cupid’s bow for a bit of highlight if you so desire!).
- Eyeshadow 3 – medium taupe with a satin finish. There is some sparse violet and champagne micro-shimmer interspersed for a dimensional effect. If this was available as a single, I imagine it would sell out immediately!
- Eyeshadow 4 – medium plummy-red with a satin finish. Violet micro-shimmers bring this shade to life under low-light, but ordinarily applied on my lids, it is much less obtrusive. This is slightly warm-toned as befits the overall palette, but it works well on my cooler skin tone, and is as red as it can possibly get to be worn on a daily basis.
- Highlight – light warm-toned peach with a strong metallic finish. I use this interchangeable as an inner eye corner highlight as well, and it stays on all day without fading.
I was reminded by Liz’s review [here] of Tom Ford’s Eye & Cheek Compact in Pink Glow from Summer 2015 [reviewed here] and was surprised by how similar it is with Soleil d’Ambre. And here is a side-by-side comparison for your reference:
In my opinion, Soleil d’Ambre is much improved from Pink Glow by tuning the overall hue somewhat cooler and deeper, and adding that spectacular taupe. That taupe changes the entire eye look, and makes the palette much more versatile. Pink Glow really lacked an alternate deeper shade, which is part of the reason why it has remained largely untouched in my collection over the years.
You can compare this eye look below with the one I created with Pink Glow [here]:
I used the taupe all over my lid, and the red in the outer v, feathering out to the crease for an interesting twist on the smoky eye. Pressed some of the glitter on the middle of my lid for dimension, and popped the pale pink into the inner corner.
This is the full makeup look with the matching blusher and highlighter from Soleil d’Ambre on my cheeks. On my lips is the Ultra Shine Lip Color in Ravenous… coming right up!
I know dropping USD155 on a palette is not for everybody, not to mention red is not everybody’s cup of tea. Fret not, there are still plenty of beauties to obsess over, starting with the Tom Ford Sheer Cheek Duo in Exotica Flora!
As with past releases, Exotica Flora is much more pigmented than its name implies. Tom Ford has designed these sheer cheek duos to be used wet or dry, but I never felt compelled to use them wet. Breaking from the tradition of pairing a highlighter with a blusher, this summer’s rendition features 2 bright cheek hues!
I was surprised when I swatched Exotica Flora because I had expected the upper pink shade to be quite different from the lower coral. Interestingly, when I swatched them side-by-side, their warm undertones united them and the difference is made much less visible. Notably, the two shades are of equal intensity and have a satin finish with a hint of luminosity. I also compared them with the blusher shade from previous Tom Ford Sheer Cheek Duos, because the blogosphere has been describing Exotica Flora as being the love-child of Paradise Lust and Lavender Lure. There are definitely similarities, but the differences are obvious too. On the cheeks, Exotica Flora is bolder and would look really beautiful on darker skin tones. For fairer ladies, the denser pack of this palette helps you pick up less pigment, just go easy with the brush.
The innovative product in this year’s summer soleil is the Tom Ford Shade & Illuminate Glow Stick in Sunstruck. This is a duo-ended cream cheek in a jumbo twist-up pen format. One end houses a gorgeous orange blusher, and the other contains a warm golden highlighter. Sunstroke is the warmest cheek shade ever released by Tom Ford so far, and I have swatched it next to Paradise Lust to show you the difference. The cream formula is so easy to blend you can do it with either fingers or brush as you like, and it stays on well throughout the day. The pigmentation is far superior to the palette versions released last Spring 2017 [see here], it contains far less slip, and stays on much better.
There are several lip options this Summer 2018, choose from a pampering tinted balm, sheer glistening nudes, and intensely pigmented and lustrously creamy lipsticks.
The 2 Tom Ford Lip Color Sheers this season are Nudiste and Bambou. Nudiste is a light golden peach that is very close to but slightly more pink than Skinny Dip [reviewed here]. Bambou is a dark bronze with violet and golden micro-shimmer flecks, it is very elegant on the lips, and very different from Rose Soleil which comes closest in my memory [reviewed here].
Tom Ford Lumiere Lip is a very creamy and soothing lip balm formulated with hyaluronic acid to plump, natural plant extracts to soften and condition the lips, and antioxidants to protect. It looks like a bright papaya shade in the tube, but reacts to the natural pH level of the lips to create a personalized tint.
The Tom Ford Ultra Shine Lip Color is a new lip formula for the Soleil line, but the flattened bullet and elongated slim tubes are reminiscent of the older Lip Color Shines. There are 11 shades to choose from, each intensely pigmented, creamy and luxurious on the lips, and leave a lustrous shine. I was surprised by how long-lasting these are, remaining intact even after munching my way through a breakfast bun and coffee. The 2 shades I have are Ravenous – a brightened fuchsia with a cool blue-base; and Luscious – a dark purple-brown.
Tom Ford makes my favourite cream eyeshadow formula, and I’m always excited to see new shades being released. There are 2 new shades this season, and the one I have here is the Cream and Powder Eye Color in Emerald Isles. It features a deep smoky forest green cream shadow in the lower jar, and a sheer golden shimmer powder shadow on the upper deck. For a green shade, it is neutral- even cool-toned, with the golden shimmer adding a slight warmth. For those of us who have cool undertones, Emerald Isles works well and brings out brown eyes beautifully.
Compared to other Tom Ford Cream Eye Colors, Emerald Isles has more of a gel-like texture, and sheers out substantially. On my oily hooded lids, it stays put all day without creasing nor fading when applied over a primer, which is as good as it ever gets for me.
For this eye look, I applied the cream Emerald Isles over my lid, starting near the lash line and blending upwards. Thereafter, I patted the golden powder shimmer over the middle of my lid and added a little in my inner corner using a pencil brush. To get a smokier edge, I used a dense flat-topped eyeshadow brush to build up the green in the outer corner, blending downwards along the lower lash line.
For the makeup look above, I paired Cream & Powder Eye Color Emerald Isles with Shade & Illuminate Glow Stick in Sunstruck and Bambou Lip Color Sheer.
Have you picked anything from Tom Ford Soleil Summer 2018 yet?
This post featured products (except those marked with *) that were generously provided for my consideration. Regardless, all opinions expressed here are my own honest, unbiased views.
