| Review | Tom Ford Sheer Cheek Duo in Exotica Flora



| Review | Tom Ford Sheer Cheek Duo in Exotica Flora 

Bring on the color! It seems for Tom Ford summer 2018, Tom Ford is finally busting out of his usual bronze goddess vibe and going for a more vibrant tropical mermaid vibe! It's exciting to see Tom Ford sticking to his classic and sophisticated formulations but still switching it up and modernizing them with bright and fun colors! This duo steps out of the bound of what we traditionally see from Tom Ford this time of year and I'm loving it! 

The Tom Ford Sheer Cheek Duo in Exotica Flora retails for $80.00 USD and is available at Neiman Marcus and other retailers. These little cheek duos have been so popular among the brand since the first one, Bicoastal in 2016. Since then, Tom Ford has released 4 others and now Exotic Flora. They are packaged in the Soleil Collection packaging, which is a small rounded square compact with gold details. It has a magnetic closure and in my experience, travels very well. 

These cheek duos are a "gelee" wet/dry formulation that has been wildly popular in the past few years for their blendable and pigmented formulation. They can vary in how much "glow" or shimmer they offer but it is always a refined and fine shimmer that doesn't emphasize texture or pores. In the past, many of these duos were a blush and highlighter however for summer 2018, they have switched it up with two bright blush shades!  




PINK BLUSH - This vibrant pink blush rests just on the cusp of the warm side but really is a pretty neutral pink. On my medium skin tone, it offers a very pretty natural pink flush to the cheeks. 

CORAL BLUSH - This blush offers a pretty peachy-coral warm flush. 

The texture of these blushes is really lovely once you get past the first layer or film on the top. It seems to be this way for this baked gel formula. Your first encounter with this blush may be a bit frustrating because it has somewhat of a waxy layer on the surface that needs to be worn off before you can get to the pigment. I recommend using a natural hair brush because it can break through that first layer easier and lift the product off the top. Once applied to the cheeks, it gives a very fresh and flawless look. It applied very evenly and layers very well to build up to full color. It is the reason why I am a big fan of this formula. This formula is also very long lasting and doesn't fade in an uneven or patchy way, like some blushes do. 

While I am a big fan of these duos, these colors so look REALLY close to previously released shades.  To my disappointment, the Soleil Contouring Palette in Nude Glow was composition of previous palettes, read all about that here. It is very unfortunate to see repeated or extremely similar shades being released time after time. Here is a comparison of the Exotica Flora duo with the Paradise Lust and Bicoastal Sheer Cheek Duos. 

Swatches from left to right: Bicoastal, Exotica Flora (Pink), Exotica Flora (Coral), Paradise Lust 




From left to right: Bicoastal, Exotica Flora (Pink), Exotica Flora (Coral), Paradise Lust 

As you can see, the Bicoastal and Exotica Flora (Pink) Blush are nearly identical! Exotica Floral may be a tinge brighter, but really on the cheeks, you won't see a difference. The Paradise Lust is lighter and more peach and the Exotica Flora (Coral) Blush is warmer and bit brighter. Still, quite similar on the cheeks. I would say if you have either of these previously released duos you can save your money by passing on this new one. 

Like I have mentioned before, I love this formula and it is really beautiful but I'd like to see new shades in the range! These are just too close to existing shades to justify being a must-have product from the collection. I say if you're looking for something unique in this collection it would be the Cream and Powder Eye Colors and the Shade and Illuminate Glow Stick.  


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2 comments:

  1. Loved your review and SO happy you compared them to Bicoastal and Paradise Lust! I own both, and decided to order Exotica Flora because Neiman's recently had a sale. I'm debating whether to return it unopened when it arrives. The ONLY excuse I could come up with for keeping Exotica Flora is that it would allow me to carry two blushes in one palette, LOL! I don't always use the included highlighters with these blushes, so for travel purposes, it could help me streamline. I definitely agree that TF can offer more than just bright pink and coral blushes for summer...

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    1. Thank you so much fore reading and supporting my blog! I'm glad my swatches could be helpful. I can see why you might want to keep Exotica Flora, the coral shade is very nice and it is noticeably different from Paradise Lust. Yes, I love Tom Ford products but I really want to see something new from them. The summer collections are always my favorite but I hate when they include such similar colors to their old releases. Thanks again for reading!

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