Tom Ford Lip Color in Pink Dusk and Violet Fatale

Tom Ford may very well be the height of luxury in cosmetics. If not in the packaging or formula or price point of the products, then in the name itself. I actually have a Tom Ford lipstick from years ago (a now-discontinued shade called Moroccan Rouge), when the packaging was still white and gold and Tom Ford's beauty line only consisted of lipsticks. (I got that lipstick with a Holt Renfrew gift card, so I technically didn't spend any of my own money on it. At the time, I was working minimal hours and not making much money, so Tom Ford was literally a luxury I could not afford.) When I went to New York last month, I was hell bent on finally getting myself some of the revamped Tom Ford lipsticks. Tom Ford has two lipstick ranges, but I focused on the original Lip Color formula, which are made with "rare and exotic ingredients including soja seed extract, Brazilian murumuru butter, and chamomilla flower oil [to] create an ultra-creamy texture with an incredibly smooth application." Each lipstick contains "specially treated colour pigments [that] are blended to deliver pure colour with just the right balance of luminosity." They are packaged in weighty square black and gold metallic tubes with Tom Ford's initials engraved into the top of the actual lipstick bullet, and have a light sweet vanilla scent but no taste. Each lipstick contains a total of 3 grams of product, and retails for $50 USD or $55 CAD. They are exclusive to Holt Renfrew in Canada.
Pink Dusk and Violet Fatale
Pink Dusk and Violet Fatale

Pink Dusk is a light-medium soft warm pink-nude with a subtle sheen in a cream finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a soft, lightweight, and creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is slightly darker and warmer than MAC Creme Cup, more opaque and less glossy than MAC Peach Blossom, lighter and warmer than MAC Faux, lighter and more beige than Urban Decay Naked, lighter and more pink than Tarte Pure, lighter and more opaque than YSL 8 Pink in Confidence.
Violet Fatale is a medium-dark brightened cool-toned berry-fuchsia with a subtle sheen in a cream finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a soft, lightweight, and creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is lighter and more fuchsia than MAC Rebel, darker and more berry than MAC Girl About Town, more pink than MAC Quite the Thing!, lighter and brighter than Urban Decay Venom, darker and more purple than Clinique Plushest Punch, and darker and more opaque than Revlon Smitten.

It's everything you want in a lipstick: goes on smoothly and evenly, and pigmented with full colour pay-off; feels creamy but not slippery, lightweight but moisturizing, and is long-wearing but comfortable to wear. Pure luxury. And at this price point, I can't say I expected any less. It's creamier and wears longer than MAC Mineralize Rich Lipsticks, is more lightweight and less slippery than YSL Rouge Voluptés; they remind me of Urban Decay's Revolution Lipsticks or Shiseido's Perfect Rouges. But these also have the packaging: sleek and clean, elegant and timeless. And they are weighty, like you can actually feel the luxury in your hand. I suggest, however, that if you do decide to splurge on a Tom Ford lipstick (it's one of the most expensive lipstick ranges in the world), you get a shade that you will wear often so you get more bang for your buck. I mean, I have to state this obvious: there's plenty of dupes out there for significantly cheaper that feel and execute just as beautifully. It will just lack that sense of magic and wonder of a Tom Ford product.