| Review | Eyes of Tom Ford Private Blend Shadows

We have all heard about Tom Ford's famous Private Blend Fragrances, well now you can welcome the Private Blend Eyeshadows to the Tom Ford family! These shadows were long anticipated and were teased for quite some time, only to be released on Black Friday. As a Tom Ford super-fan, I had to get my hands on some of these and couldn't help coming back for more! I was under the impression that these shadows were a permanent addition to the brand, however on they are currently labeled as Limited Edition. However, Tom Ford often makes his "limited edition" products permanent after release. I will update this post as I find out more.

The Tom Ford Private Blend Shadows retail for $36.00 USD for .04oz and are available at Tom Ford, Neiman Marcus, Sephora, and other retailers. The quads contain .35oz, approximately .08oz per shade, that's double the amount of product that the singles have! One quad retails for $80.00 USD, whereas buying four singles will cost you $144.00! As we all know, you get a better deal with palettes but this is a bit ridiculous. Tom Ford shadows were always worth their cost because of the value for the amount of product you are purchasing, but in this case, it is not. However, the cost is not far from other luxury brand singles, like Burberry.

Aside from the pricing, which we all expected to be higher, these shadows are also packaged slightly differently. While they look like their quad counterparts, the gold Tom Ford label actually flips down to "unlock" the case and open up to the product inside. This fun twist on their classic packaging is so nice, especially for travel when products can be rolling around together. These little shadow compacts have a mirror included, which frankly makes no sense. It is the tiniest mirror and really serves no purpose. These singles come with no applicator, which I am personally OK with, but I know many people like/use applicators that are included with shadows.

These new Private Blend Shadows come in 5 different finishes (describe by the Tom Ford website as):

ULTRA SUEDE FINISH: COMPLETELY MATTE, NO PEARL
NAKED CITY, BLONDE VENUS, VERTIGO, STARLET, DARK VICTORY, NIGHTCAST

SUEDE FINISH: DEMI-MATTE WITH SUBTLE PEARL
HUSH, BURNT SUEDE, LOVESHADE, AGENDA ROUGE, VIDEOTAPE, HIGHRISE

SATEEN FINISH: LUSTROUS PEARL WITH A GLOWING SHEEN
EXPOSURE, MOONLIGHTING, INFRARED, IRIS BRONZE, SMOKED OPALINE, SILVERSCREEN

VINYL FINISH: HIGHLY PEARLIZED, METALLIC CHROME
BODY DOUBLE, WARM LEATHERETTE, VIOLET VINYL, PHOTOGRAPHIC, PURPLE REIGN, BLUE VELVET

PAILLETTE FINISH: SEQUINED, GLITTERY PEARL
BREATHLESS, FIRE SIGN, CAMERA OBSCURA, EMERALD SUN, TEMPETE BLEUE, BLACK ONYX

The shades I purchased from the following finishes are:

ULTRA-SUEDE - The colors in this finish are pretty basic which makes sense because Tom Ford is severely lacking mattes to compliment the other shadows in their line. I hope to see more matte shades, maybe in some brighter colors, in the future. Many of these shades are extremely creamy, but I found when swatching them, some have a bit drier texture but they are still very pigmented. The thing I have noticed with Tom Ford shadows is that sometimes they don't swatch well but apply very well with a brush. Overall, these mattes have a really great formula and don't have a powdery or dusty texture. I only purchased one shade knowing that I would use this shade frequently.

Starlet - A matte light neutral brown shade. Perfect for the crease and as a transition shade. this color can work for many skin tones. This shade is so beautiful for any look because it is so neutral. The shadow is very pigmented and soft. I recommend building up the color until your desired opacity. This shadow applies very evenly and doesn't skip or get patchy. It does "kick up" some powder because it is on the softer side but it isn't dusty or powdery in texture.

SUEDE - This texture is was very intriguing for me because these aren't flat mattes, that can be found in many lines. These shadows have a subtle pearl to them that adds extra dimension. I found the texture of these to be very creamy and seems to be the most pigmented finish of the collection. If I had to recommend one finish, it would be this one. The quality seems to be all around amazing from pigmentation to blendability.

Agenda Rouge - This burgundy shade is really popular right now, and while there may be similar shades out there like this one, this one seems particularly unique. The red isn't too strong but adds the perfect amount of warmth and depth to the shadow. The subtle copper pearl makes this shade really unique and adds a bit of warmth. This is the ultimate autumnal shade.
Burnt Suede - This shade seems to have more glow to it than the other suede shades I have. It is almost borderline the "sateen" finish, not really close to a demi-matte. It is a beautiful cool taupe with a bit of a champagne pearl. This shade applies very evenly and pigmented. It blends out very well and will compliment most skin tones.
Videotape - This shade is a warm copper-brown with some red undertones. It is very complex and even has very subtle silver pearl to it, not very noticeable on but will affect the overall look when pairing it with other shades. This shade pairs so well with Agenda Rouge but if you are trying to decide between the two, this one is more neutral (for those a bit afraid of the red tones).
Highrise- This deep purple shade seems to have a similar finish to Agenda Rouge, with a soft sheen and strong pigment. When I first dipped into this shade, I picked up way too much product and because of the soft nature of the shadow, I had a little bit of fallout. I recommend dipping into this formula gently and with caution. This shade is a beautiful deep purple that adds a lot of depth and smokiness to any look. It blends and adheres very well to the skin.

(left to right: Burnt Suede, Agenda Rouge, Videotape, Highrise)

SATEEN - This finish is unique to the brand because they aren't reminiscent from anything in the quads, past or present. These shadows remind me of "Asian-style" Eyeshadows, in that they are sheerer and have a very soft pearl finish. These shadows look very soft and glowy on the eyes. They are a beautiful addition to the brand, that once lacked textures in their shadows. These shadows seem to have very subtle variations on the amount of subtle shimmer in the shadows. The texture of these are ultra-smooth and very creamy. This finish seems to fade a bit throughout the day and doesn't look as vibrant as when initially applied. I believe this is because the formula of these shadows lacks density, compared to the other formulations and it doesn't adhere as well to the skin.

Exposure - This soft baby pink applies very smooth and evenly. The color really brightens up the face when applied in the inner corners or all over the lid. It looks quite pink in the pan but when applied it looks much lighter and it has the most beautiful glow to it. This shade is great as a subtle cheek highlighter as well! This shade has more pearl and is more luminous than some of the other shadows with this finish.
Moonlighting - While the shade may look very gold in the pan, it is actually a soft light golden champagne shade. It's beautiful lid shade that has soft sheen without being too warm. I love this shade for the eyes but also as a subtle cheek highlight! The texture is very smooth and the pigment can be built up to be stronger. Like Exposure, this one has more pearl and luminosity to it.
Iris Bronze - This shade is a bronze-brown with fine copper shimmer speckled throughout. This shade is more pigmented than the others and seems to be less luminous, leaning more toward the suede finish. It is a great color for adding depth to a look and the soft sheen adds so much dimension.

(top to bottom: Iris Bronze, Moonlighting, Exposure)

VINYL - This finish is metallic and some shades are almost like molten metal on the eyes. When I first swatched these I actually said "ooooohh..." (yes, I love shiny things). The opacity and pigmentation on some of these shades is unreal! The reflect and glow of these shadows is unlike what I have seen before! If you love metallic shades you will swoon over this formula! I did notice subtle varying degrees of the metallic finish, however, with layering you will undoubtedly get a very strong metallic finish.

Body Double - This is, by far, the best of this finish! When swatched, it was the smoothest, most pigmented, and most metallic of all the vinyl shades! I was blown away! This one easily became the color on the top of my list! This glowing metallic champagne shade is so versatile and will work on all skin tones.
Blue Velvet - This steel blue shade has little flecks of silver throughout it, it remind me a lot of the finish of the pink shade in the Violet Argente palette. This shade is very deep and smokey, a great addition to any looks that may lack in depth. The blue is very wearable, which is what drew me to the shade in the first place however, when paired with other shadows and throughout the day, the color becomes more of a sparkling gray and looses it's blue identity from blending into other shades. This shade also doesn't seem to have the metallic like finish that the other shades in this finish have. The shadow is very pigmented and doesn't cause any fallout.

(Top to bottom: Blue Vinyl, Body Double)

PAILETTE - These are the famous glitter shadows that Tom Ford is so well known for. The fine shimmers that glimmer in the light but also adhere to the skin. Many of these new glitter shadows are very opaque and have very unique duo-chrome finishes! Some are, unfortunately, sheer but most have a great consistency and color. I was very drawn to many of the unique shades, however, I don't use glittery shadows very often, so I did pass on most of them but was very tempted by this one particular shade (a very last minute addition to my collection). I highly recommend this finish based on the unique shade offerings and excellent formula!

One thing to note is the best way to adhere these to the lid are to use an eye primer or cream shadow underneath. Due to their ultra-fine texture, they don't layer as well over powder shadows. They are best applied with your finger or gently with a firm flat brush. I recommend building up these glitters because applying too much at once will cause fallout. There is a bit, but very minimal, fallout during wear. The subtly of the shimmers can be intensified by applying it over a colored base.

Camera Obscura - The reason why I was so drawn to this shade is because it is a purple shimmer with a blue duochrome and it has a complex brown-burgundy base. This shade is actually the least glittery of the pailette finishes which makes it even more wearable. It has a medium pigment and when layered over a purple base the purple and blush shimmers shine very bright and when layered over a neutral-burgundy base, the warmth of th base shines through and the purple and silver flecks are more prominent. It is a very and transforming shade that varies depending on what it is paired with.

While I didn't purchase all the shades, I had the opportunity to play with them all in person. I would say there are some inconsistencies in the formula from shade to shade, but not wildly. I really love these much-needed new additions to the brand. The shades are not very unique, with the exceptions of the pailette shades, but they are still beautiful additions to anyone's collection. I think these new formulas are excellent and actually better than the current quad formulas! The biggest disappointment is the amount of product provided for the price, however; I still recommend them. I think there is something for everyone in this new collection and the new finishes offered are stunning!

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