Tom Ford Matte Lip Color in Pussycat and Black Dahlia

Tom Ford has come out with a new lipstick formula this season called Matte Lip Color, which comes in eight shades: six of them will be permanent, and two of them are limited edition. I actually had paid no attention to this collection (I hadn't really looked at Tom Ford since my trip to NYC in June, when I bought these two shades) until I found myself at Holt Renfrew last month. When the BA saw me swatching their original Lip Colors, she asked if I had seen the new matte formula yet, and I got suckered in because I am a makeup hoarder and a matte lipstick junkie, especially this time of year. Plus, they are just so damn pretty. I was like, "Okay, I'm going to get one. Just one." But it was my birthday at the time, and I had just done a freelance wedding so I had cash to burn... so I ended up with two. (BAs everywhere should adore me because I am such an easy sale.) The Tom Ford Matte Lip Color is "formulated with a luxurious, velvet matte finish" and "smoothes comfortably onto the lips in a spectrum of richly pigmented hues" to create "a powerfully sophisticated look of unadulterated color." Each lipstick is packaged in a weighty square black and gold metallic tube with Tom Ford's initials engraved into the top of the actual lipstick bullet. They 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.

Pussycat and Black Dahlia
Pussycat and Black Dahlia

Pussycat is a medium-dark rosy mauve in a soft velvet-matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is cooler and more muted than Tom Ford Casablanca, more plum than MAC Twig, more muted than MAC Captive, more muted than Urban Decay Rapture, slightly darker and cooler than NARS Vanessa, and slightly brighter than NARS Anna.

Black Dahlia is a dark cool-toned berry-wine burgundy in a soft velvet-matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is darker than Tom Ford Bruised Plum, brighter and more berry than MAC Sin, darker and more berry than MAC Dark Side, darker and more burgundy than Urban Decay Venom, and more pinked than NARS Liv.

Like their non-matte counterparts, the Matte Lip Colors go on smoothly and evenly, and incredibly pigmented (you can get full colour pay-off in one swipe). I wouldn't call these true mattes; they are velvet-mattes, so they apply with a slight sheen and dry down to a soft matte finish. The great thing about these is that they still feel creamy and even somewhat hydrating over time, and they never look or feel dry. They also have an impressive wear time: about five hours for the lighter shade, and eight for the darker shade (though it does stain, which makes it appear like it wears for longer). Definitely one of the most comfortable matte formulas I've ever worn. But, again, for the price, I wouldn't expect any less. If you've been waiting for a matte lipstick range from Tom Ford, it is finally here, and you won't be disappointed. And in the same sleek, weighty, luxurious packaging you've come to love and fawn over.

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.

Tom Ford Private Blend Lip Color

I received a Holt Renfrew gift card a couple weekends ago, when they were having a promotion (you get 25% of what you spent that day on a gift card; so if you spent $100, you'd get $25 back on a gift card). So I was like, "I'm going to use this gift card on something I would never actually spend my own money on." Thusly, I got a tube of Tom Ford Private Blend Lip Color, which retails for $52 in Canada. I was deciding between Cherry Lush and Moroccan Rouge, but they were sold out of Cherry Lush and only had one Moroccan Rouge left, so I snatched it up.

Moroccan Rouge is a reddened plum shade with very subtle fuchsia micro-shimmer. It applies like a dream, and goes on creamy and nearly opaque. There is a subtle shine to the finish, and it wears for five to six hours before leaving a nice berry-ish stain. It's a beautiful lipstick formula in equally gorgeous packaging that looks clean and elegant; it's weighty and actually feels luxurious. Is it worth $52, though? No, I don't personally think so. There are similar lipstick formulas in similar shades in packaging just as nice for less than that (Dolce & Gabbana and Burberry are two examples). But I'm glad I had the opportunity to get one - for free - and try it out. If you have money to burn, then I say go for it.