| Review | Tom Ford Soleil Neige First Frost Eye Color Quad

| Review | Tom Ford Soleil Neige First Frost Eye Color Quad

Time to trade in golds and bronze shades for something slightly more wintery. Soft shimmering neutral shades don't necessarily scream "winter beauty" to me but it is pretty enough to catch my eye. If only we had holiday events to head to this year, right? Well, regardless, I'll still be rocking some shimmering shadows and hopefully, these will be to the Tom Ford standard that I expect. Read on to learn more about this new eyeshadow quad. 

The Tom Ford Soleil Neige First Frost Eye Color Quad retails for $88.00 USD and is available at Sephora and other retailers. The quad is housed in the white lacquer Soleil Collection compact with gold details and a magnetic closure. The compact is slim, sleek, and the same design as the permanent Tom Ford Quads. These quads always include two dual-ended applicators, which can work in a pinch but they aren't the best means of application. 

SHADES 

This quad contains very wearable shades with a fair amount of shimmer in all the shades. It is called First Frost but it isn't that "frosty". It has a very shimmery finish but it doesn't border on frosty in my opinion. This is a very wearable quad of eyeshadows, which should work for a variety of skin tones. 

Shimmering Ivory - This shimmering white shade has a golden shift and golden shimmer throughout it. This shade has shown up many times as a highlighter from many different brands. 

Gold Pink - This shade has a light pink base with a strong golden shimmer. This shade is almost a duo-chrome finish. On my medium skin tone, the pink in this shade is pretty much non-existent on the eyes and only the heavier gold shimmer appears on my skin. I think only on a fair skin tone will the pink show up strongly and as you get into deeper skin tones, the gold shimmer will appear even stronger.

Rosy Bronze - This shade is a cool rosy bronze shade This shade borders on a cool taupe with some rosy undertones and silvery shimmers. 

Deep Bronze - This shade is a cool deep bronze with a taupe undertone and golden shimmers throughout. While similar to the Rosy Bronze shade next to it, the shade is much deeper and actually adds depth. 

Swatches from left to right: Shimmering Ivory, Gold Pink, Rosy Bronze, Deep Bronze

COMPARISION SWATCHES 

This palette is very reminiscent of last year's (2019) holiday quad, the Soleil D'Hiver Quad (review here); however, when swatched side-by-side, Soleil D'Hiver is much lighter overall and contains warmer tones. The deepest shade in each palette is almost identical, they are both very cool bronze shades with golden shimmer. 

Swatches from left to right: First Frost, Soleil D'Hiver

Here is First Frost swatched next to the Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate Face & Eye Palette in Rose Cashmere (review here). Again, the eyeshadows in this palette are lighter and warmer than First Frost. 

Swatches from left to right: First Frost, Rose Cashmere

Here is First Forst swatched next to the Golden Mink Quad. The deepest shade in the Golden Mink Quad is similar to the Deep Bronze but it has significantly less shimmer because it is a classic eyeshadow formula. All the other shades are sheer, warm, and lighter than the shades in First Frost. 

Swatches from left to right: First Frost, Golden Mink

The Golden Pink shade in the First Frost palette is similar to Rose Gold shade in the Virgin Orchid Quad (review here). When swatched next to each other you can see that the First Frost shade actually leans cooler and a touch lavender. It also has a much stronger golden shimmer than the shade from Virgin Orchid but in the end, the shades are basically identical. 

Swatches from left to right: First Frost Gold Pink, Virgin Orchid Rose Gold

Swatches from left to right: First Frost Gold Pink, Virgin Orchid Rose Gold

I have been told by people that the Shimmering Ivory in this palette, First Frost, is the same as the one in Virgin Orchid. I did swatch these side-by-side but I didn't photograph it because the subtleties would not show up; however, they are almost identical. The First Frost shade does have noticeably more golden shimmer than the one in Virgin Orchid. The Shimmering Ivory in Virgin Orchid does have a subtle pink shimmer mixed with some gold. 

Since Tom Ford has been known to repackage shades into new palettes and quads, I tried to emulate this quad using the closest existing shades I have from other palettes. I took Snow White from the Soleil Neige Eye Quad Holiday 2019 (review here), I took the Rose Gold from Virgin Orchid, the Shimmering Red Taupe from Body Heat (review here), and the Bronze from Soleil D'Hiver. When swatched next to the First Frost shades, it's pretty similar! If you already had these quads like I do, you can probably recreate this palette closely enough when applied to the eyes. 

Swatches from left to right: Shimmering Ivory (First Frost), Snow White (Soleil Neige), Rosy Bronze (First Frost), Shimmering Red Taupe (Body Heat), Gold Pink (First Frost), Rose Gold (Virgin Orchid), Deep Bronze (First Frost), Bronze (Soleil D'Hiver)

FORMULA 

I have to bring this issue up with every palette that contains this wet/dry formula but again, one of my eyeshadows fell out of the palette! If you want to learn more about this issue, I have a full blog post here. Having purchased palette after palette and running into this issue is becoming increasingly frustrating and angering! 

Despite the issue stated above, this "baked" gel-powder formula is the best Tom Ford Eyeshadow formulation. Usually. I say usually because there are some palettes with this formula that aren't great quality but they are often beautiful. This particular palette has a very rich, pigmented, and creamy formula. You really don't need much to get the full impact of color on the eyes, the eyeshadows appear much more richly pigmented when applied than in the pan. The eyeshadow adheres very well to the skin, even without primer and they blend seamlessly.  These shadows layer very well on top of one another without getting muddy and offer a very multi-dimensional look to the eyes. 

These eyeshadow have a very smooth and silky texture that translates on the eyes so beautifully. They have an incredible wear time extending beyond eight hours without primer! If I had to choose a formula that Tom Ford excels at, it's this one. This palette is very well balanced with a perfect gradient of shades that complement each other but don't get muddy after long wear. I have experienced very little to no fallout with all of the shades and the formula is just an overall joy to work with. 

THE LOOK 

For this look, I applied the Rosy Bronze shade on the outer corner of my eyes blending it up to my crease and outward. Then, I applied the Gold Pink shade on my eyelid and the Shimmering Ivory in the inner corner of my eyes. I then, intensified my eye look with the Deep Bronze shad in my very outer corner and outer lid, smoking out the look. I applied a very thin line of brown liquid liner and mascara. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

Looking at the palette, it doesn't appear to be anything exciting or special. The shades are fairly commonly found neutral tones that don't even really strike me as "holiday" appropriate. However, the formula of this quad is incredible and so impressive! I don't say this lightly because I have been quite disappointed with the hit or miss formulation of Tom Ford eyeshadows in the past couple of years but this one had me impressed upon first application! 

While I can do without the Gold Pink shade because on me and many deeper skin tones, it will just be another gold eyeshadow. All the shades performed so exceptionally well, I have nothing to complain about. Well... except for the fact that these gel-powder eyeshadows have a tendency to fall out of the compact. That is still infuriating but the formula itself, it divine. You can use these shadows wet or dry, they very pigmented dry but they will have a stronger metallic finish when wet. They apply beautifully and they last all day long without primer! The shades all perform so well and they stay true to color throughout its wear time. I really can't recommend this palette enough! If you don't have similar shades to this palette or maybe you just want to treat yourself to something this holiday, I recommend picking this palette up! 

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