Dorien's Mobile Makeup

Tom Ford Blushes review July 2014

A few years ago i discovered the makeup line of Tom Ford. The first thing I bought were the eye shadow quads, and I really liked them. The only downsides of the line are that all of the products are quite pricey and that the products are hard to get if you live outside of the US. I did find my way around getting the Products to Malaysia, but it makes it even more expensive unfortunately.

That said the question is: are the products worth it? I think for a couple of products the price is worth it, and one of those products are the blushes.

Let's take a quick look at the packaging first. It looks sleek and modern, a dark brown (plastic) case with gold finish and Tom Ford embossed on the front. These blushes don't come with any brush, but I don't mind that at all, because even if it's a high end product, the brushes that come with it are usually not that great. Just take a compact brush with you if you're planning on taking the blush with you. Inside is a mirror, 8gr of product with the letters TF embossed in it. The blushes come with a dark brown velvet pouch. I have 3 colors here, but there are a few more available in the line. If I get some more, I will add those in this review later. The price of the blushes are $56,- (US) on the Neiman Marcus website. You can't order Tom Ford beauty products from any US website if you live in Malaysia, I bought the products from a UK website who does ship to Malaysia (for £25.- very fast though). www.selfridges.com £45.- Let's hope the Beauty line will arrive in Malaysia soon!

Frantic Pink

This color is quite pale, but it stil works for me; I just need to build up the color a bit more than the other ones. It just gives a very natural color to the cheeks. If your skinton is darker than mine, it probably wouldn't work for you. But if you have a fair skintone it will look very pretty.

This color has a little bit of shimmer to it and that's why it looks so nice on, even on my skintone. You could almost say the blushes apply like cream, and that's exactly what makes these blushes so great!

If you are sensitive to cute packaging then this is something you will love; The whole item has the look and smell of a real chocolate bar. The eye shadows are made with cocoa powder; the cocoa powder has antioxidant propabilities. I think this palette is not your average neutral palette, you get something extra, a purple, burgundy, gold and pink. Also the fact that this palette has 6 matte shades is a welcome surprise. You can create looks with this palette alone, you wouldn't need additional shades to make a look work. The color pay-off is also good, and the eye shadows blend well together. Conclusion is that this palette has surprised me, and it is a great buy for beginner or makeup addict :) Price in Malaysia : RM140.- Canada : C$ 59.- US : $ 49.-

The 2 palettes came out a few months ago and I saw that they are available on the MAC websites and stores across the world. I believe they are part of the permanent collection, but unfortunately the colors in the palette can not be replaced once you run out of them; they are exclusive colors for the palettes. A few colors are part of the permanent collection. In the Cool Neutral palette the colors are : Blackberry, Brun and Black Tied. In the Warm Neutral palette the colors are : Brulé, Honey Lust, Amber Lights and Saddle. The prices on these Palettes are a very good deal : $ 100.- US / CA $ 120.- / € 125.- / £ 65.- / RM 420.-

No pro discount is available on these palettes. The overall quality of the eyeshadows is good, and also the selection of neutrals you get is nice to work with. Great when you starting your eye shadow collection!

I always start my make-up by applying some good base products. Like you will read in the section about foundations I find it very important to have a good base before putting the rest of your make-up.

For my eyes (to wake them up a bit) I first apply 'fast response eye cream' by MAC $31.- US. It's a caffeinated cream with instant effects. De-puffs, erases the look of dark circles, firms, soothes and softens skin around the eye. Special optics act like magic to fade away lines.

After that I use Painterly paint pot by MAC $20.- US This will fade any blue veins or redness visible, and is the perfect eye shadow base.

Eye brows is what I will do next. The very best pencil that I use over the past years not only on myself but on almost all my clients is a pencil by Clarins in dark brown ( 01 ) about $25.- US. The problem I have with most eye brow pencils is that they are way too 'orange'. This one is just perfect.

A white pencil I use directly under the eyebrow to give my brows a nice sharp edge. Just draw a line under the brow and fade this with your finger. Here Fascinating eye kohl by MAC $16.-

To soften the lines of the brow pencil you can fill in your brows with an eye shadow, and these are the best MAC colours for that: espresso, brun, charcoal brown or diamond dove $10.- US pro palette.

On my eye lid I always love to use a lighter colour, because this makes my eyes look bigger. The 2 colours I use the most lately are 'blunt' and 'snatch' both by Urban Decay $18.- US. If you don't like the famous glitter Urban Decay uses in 'snatch', I think you could use 'grain' by MAC (it's a bit lighter).

In the picture on the left you can see my favourite black too. This one is very very black and smooth (called blackout). in the picture below you can see the difference with MAC's popular Carbon. Carbon is the top swatch. I never use carbon anymore, it's just not a good eyeshadow, too chalcky/dry and just not black enough.

In the crease area I use any of the colours in the picture on the right. Doesn't matter what colours I use on the rest of my eyes, you always need a kind of soft brown colour in your crease to warm up the whole look. Especially when you use bright colours or colours like blue, aqua or purple; using one of these brown colours in your crease will make a huge difference.

The colours in the picture are; top row from left to right: soft brown, soba and cork. Bottom row from left to right: saddle and kid. All by MAC $10.- US pro palette or $15.- US bought as a single eye shadow. The larger eye shadow in the top right corner is a pro longwear eye shadow and is called 'Uninterrupted' $21.- US It's a dark Camel colour nothing like anything I've seen before, a very unique colour.

And Back to our white pencil again.. The pencil I love to use it in my water line to make my eyes look bigger.

What I also like to do with the white pencil is to apply just a little bit in the inner corners of my eyes and then gently fade that a with my finger. To set that pencil I use MAC's 'nylon'. You'll see, just try it and you will be amazed of the effect it gives to your look. It makes you look 'awake'.

Nylon is the eye shadow on the left. On the right we see 'shroom', and this eye shadow I only use to highlight my browbone. It's perfect because it's not too shiny/bright.

Where ever I go My hair sometimes drives me crazy! Like my skin, my hair gets oily very fast. I always try to wash my hair every other day, but sometimes I can't stand it any longer and end up by washing it the next day. I'm always looking for new products that work with my hair to keep it fresh for a longer time, but this has proven to be a challenge. The products I'm currently using work well fr me, so hopefully they will continue to do so (because out of experience I know that after a while some products don't 'work' as good anymore than when I first started using them.)

Currently I'm using 2 types of shampoo; in the left picture Opalis Crème de Shampoing Cheveux Gras / oily Hair. I've been using this for a while now and it does keep my hair fresh for 2 days

This shampoo is available online at www.beautyhabit.com and the price is $ 54.- US for 150ml.

The shampoo in the right picture I just started using, I bought it at the hair salon I recently went, and is supposed to work very well for oily hair/scalp. I have to say that the first impression is very good!

Biosthetique methode normalisante available at select hairsalons, for more information go to www.labiostetique.com

When I notice my hair is already oily in a day, I have the perfect product to deal with this and postpone washing my hair for a little while. Also for creating a lot of volume this product is great!

It is the 'dry texturizing spray' by Oribe. Spray the product at armslength on sections of your hair to create volume. This product is not cheap, but I have to say it is the only 'dry shampoo' I used that doesn't have that white/grey effect you get with all the other dry shampoos, and this one actually works :)

Also, you don't get that heavy feeling of having a lot of product in your hair.

Oribe Dry texturizing spray costs around $ 40.- US for 300 ml ( I last about one month with it)

For more information and information about their other products visit www.oribe.com

Skincare/primer/foundation

I have very oily skin, and this can be frustrating sometimes trying to keep your skin looking fresh and clean during the day.

For skincare I actually don't use a lot of creams/moisturisers because they can make my skin sometimes even more oily. What I do use and like very much is Lancome's Genifique youth activating concentrate. I use the eye serum of this line too, it's expensive but it's very refreshing and makes my skin look fresh all day without making it more oily. Genifique youth activating concentrate starting at CA $ 95.-, Genifique youth activating eye concentrate starting at CA $ 80.-

I'm very picky with my foundation, and I usually don't use one foundation brand longer than 6 months. Especially the mineral foundations tend to get very oily on me because of their hydrating effects. Also the location and season has a lot of influence on what foundation I'm currently using. In Calgary it's very dry so I can get away with using a richer foundation, but when I'm back home in The Netherlands where it's humid all year round I have to use foundations that absorb oils from my skin.. I will list the foundations I like:

Currently I use 'Perfect refining foundation' by Shiseido, and it is my current favourite it doesn't give me any problems. I love the fact you don't need much and that it's very lightweight. Before this I was using Lingerie the Peau; a bb cream from Guerlain. This one is richer, and I have to use this one carefully, but when the air is dryer, and I feel like my skin needs it, I will use this foundation. Another one that is very nice is the skin foundation (spf 15) by Bobbi Brown (lightweight) or the Long-Wear Even Finish (spf 15) also by Bobbi Brown. The last one is heavier and more mattifying.

For applying the foundation I use the sigma synthetic Kabuki brush; the F82. I love those brushes and use them on my clients too. They give a great finish to the foundation, where a traditional brush leaves streaks sometimes, this one doesn't have that at all. www.sigmabeauty.com