Sunday, January 13, 2013

Birthday/holiday presents for myself

During the 2012 holiday season, I decided to splurge and get a little bit of Tom Ford Beauty from Neiman Marcus in San Francisco. A friend at work had recently bought a Tom Ford red lipstick for her upcoming wedding & inspired me to get one. I had some wonderful help from Sergio, who I had previously met when he did a little work at the NARS counter at Saks Fifth Avenue.  Since his coloring was a little darker than mine, but somewhat in the same tone, I trusted his suggestions for me.  I ended up with the Diabolique lipstick, the 01 Golden Mink eyeshadow quad, and the Noir Absolute for Eyes cream eye liner. 


Here are the swatches of the eyeshadow quad & liner over UD Potion Primer.  Pic taken indoors next to a window.  The top 2 glittery shades are obviously sheer & work best for me layered over the mid-tone shimmer fawn color (lower left corner) on the lid & inner corner.  I love the fawn & darker chocolate brown shimmer.  The matte gel eyeliner isn't as opaque as Inglot's but it has a slight navy blue tint that contrasts nicely with my dark brown eyes.


I've swatched the Diabolique on my lips with no liner to show how it truly wears on my lips w/no color interference from any liner. For reference, I'm currently in the MAC NC30 skintone range this winter. This lipstick is my favorite by far of the Tom Ford items I got.  Matte but in no way drying at all.


I may go back and get the blush Sergio recommended for me.  Tom Ford's blushes seem to get consistently rave reviews online. I'm also tempted to get the blush/bronzer/face? brush. However, since Hakuhodo makes his brushes for him, I may just go directly to Hakuhodo.  Maybe as this year's holiday present to myself?