Welcome to a long overdue post on my favourite lipstick release of 2014. The much awaited, over hyped and loved, Tom Ford Lips and Boys.
I already posted an initial swatch and first impressions post over here around the time it launched, and now a full review complete with lip swatches. I hope you find the additional information useful!
I have broken down this post in to two parts. The reds, and ‘the rest’. Personally my favourites from any lipstick release are the reds. So I tend to pick up a bulk of them. And as you may have guessed, I picked up all the lipsticks from the red category!
Here’re my darlings.. The REDS.
Left to right it’s – Alejandro. Luciano, Diego, Rafael and Adriano (True Coral)
Alejandro – A neutral medium deep red with a slight berry tone. Alejandro is a satin finish and had very good pigmentation along the lines of the regular TF lipsticks. I found that with this particular shade I preferred to touch up the corners of my mouth with a lip brush to get that sharp clean edge.
Luciano – A medium true red with blue tones. Luciano is a satin finish but marginally so and was more like a luminous cream finish when applied. I also noticed there were random glitter particles in the bullet, which never EVER seemed apparent when worn. This lipstick had very good pigmentation and glides on smooth and is also very long wearing. One of my favourites texture wise.
Diego – A warm red orange. The texture of Diego was more creamy and less opaque than the others. It was actually similar to Jack (reviewed below) which was also a thinner formula. I liked that these two felt extra hydrating on the lip and also applies super smooth like butter. Somewhat reminiscent of the Tom Ford Sheers.
Rafael – A warm bright orange red in a cream finish. This one was perfection in terms of pigmentation, texture and colour. I love how smooth it applies and the colour just pops when worn. Although Diego and Rafael are almost identical when worn, there’s a hint of brightness in Rafael that makes this one extra special.
Adriano (True Coral) – Adriano is a neutral coral red with a hint of pink. I find that this applies almost opaque in a single swipe and slightly magnifies lip lines making the lips look a bit dry.
Here’re some swatches (please note that Alejandro and Luciano were rather difficult to capture true to colour and the lip swatches would give you a better indication of what they look like in real life)
Alejandro
Luciano
Rafael
Diego
Adriano
Next up, ‘the rest’.
As you can see I took the less predictable route and forced myself to try some colours that are out of my comfort zone.
Here’s the first batch, some peaches, pinks and purples.
Left to Right- Michael, Matthew, Patrick, Alexander, Jack
Michael – A warm, medium pink with slight coral tones in a satin finish. Michael applies smooth and even without any dragging achieving opaque coverage in two passes. Lovely as far as colour and texture goes.
Matthew – A warm, medium peachy coral shade in a satin finish. This was one of my very first picks of the three I was given as press samples. The colour goes on very smooth and offers a semi opaque pay off in a single swipe.
Patrick – A warm, light peachy coral pink in a cream finish. I like that it can be built up to a near opaque colour which is great for those with pigmented lips like myself. Although layering this made it prone to sliding around and application became less even due to it’s creamier than necessary texture.
Alexander – A cool, light bubblegum pink. Alexander is a satin finish and was one of the poorer formulas from this collection. The colour was harder to apply as it went on patchy. On the brighter side, it can be built up to a full coverage and somewhat masks the patchiness so it’s less visible. Personally i’d advise skipping this unless you are a sucker for a cool pink and can’t stay away!
Jack – A medium, muted purply pink in a cream finish. This glides on smooth and creamy, a real pleasure to wear. Although it was a shade I wouldn’t normally gravitate to, the lovely texture of this was a winner which made lip lines less visible and kept my lips hydrated and comfortable throughout wear. It’s a favourite!
Onto swatches.
Jack
Michael
Matthew
Patrick
Alexander
Lastly, I picked up some frost finish lipstick (a first for me) and a single nude. Shocker!
Sebastian – A warm metallic copper with orange tones, which I found was the perfect shade to warm up Peter and achieve my ideal shimmering summer lipstick. The formula of Sebastian was beyond perfect. I love the way it glides on the lips delivering super coverage with no unevenness or streaks. It looked like liquid copper. If you fancy frost finishes, this is a must have.
Peter – A neutral, light champagne beige with subtle hints of pink. This applies very sheer and needs at least three passes to build up the coverage so you see the actual colour. I also noticed that while it’s course of wear, the shimmer tends to settle in the lip lines. I remedied this by smushing my lips together from time to time, to even it out.
Addison (Pink Dusk) – Part of the permanent collection and available in a regular size, Addison is a light neutral pink with a slight warm undertone. It’s a cream finish and formula wise a dream. It achieves full coverage in two passes, very creamy and applies without any unevenness. A must have shade for all Tom Ford lovers.
Addison
Peter
Sebastian
Lastly before I give you the bottom line, i’d like to leave you with a little info about the Tom Ford lipstick formula and why they are so desirable.
I put it down to the extremely light weight texture paired with excellent pigmentation. It’s a mix that’s hard to beat, as usually full coverage lipsticks can most certainly be ‘felt’ on the lips and you are very well aware that they are on!
I also I love that the Tom Ford lipsticks wear really well. They last hours and hours without fading or leaving that ugly white ring in the inner corners of the lips (something we are all too familiar with and loath). Expect these to wear for 3-4 hours or more. The darker shades go well into 5 hours on me and hardly ever need to be touched up.
The bottom line
So these tiny lipsticks can be quite expensive even thought they are much cheaper than their regular sized counterpart. That being said, there are plenty of new shades that make up this collection and most of all they are limited edition which means they won’t be around for long.
I’d recommend trying out Rafael, Luciano, Addison, Michael, Matthew and Jack as they are the best of the lot where formula is concerned.
Other info
The Lips and Boys are available online at Selfridges in the event you can’t find your preferred shades at the counters. This is where I purchased a majority of my lipsticks too.
Tom Ford Lips & Boys retail at £26 and come with 2g of product (The full size lipsticks contain 3g).
Lastly, thank you for stopping by, and wishing you a wonderful week ahead!
Michelle.
