| Review | Tom Ford Shade & Illuminate Concealer

| Review | Tom Ford Shade & Illuminate Concealer 

Ok, so I wasn't going to buy these due to the extortionately high price. I went back and forth with my decision to purchase and support the brand, after years of being so disappointed with their continuously disappointing launches. I felt the brand has definitely gone downhill in the past few years, yet they continue to increase their prices. Even as big of a fan I was of the brand, I had to cut them off. This new concealer launch really had me on the fence because I loved the Shade and Illuminate Foundation (read my review here). Again, what made me hesitate was the price for these concealers but after playing with them in-store, I changed my mind. 

The Tom Ford Shade & Illuminate Concealer retails for $90.00 USD and is exclusive to Nordstrom. I have no idea whether the brand is planning on expanding their availability of this product to other retailers but they may decide to do so later on. These concealers are housed in the exact same packaging as the Tom Ford Gloss Luxe Lip Glosses (full review here), which beautifully complements the Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate Foundation (full review here). It is a heavy and luxurious clear tube with gold lining and cognac paneling. The packaging has quite a lot of weight and heft to it. It looks so luxurious and feels great in your hands. The doe-foot applicator is an elongated oval shape with flat sides. The applicator is quite big, which makes it a little difficult to get a precise application. 

SHADES 

This range comes in shades, which is quite an expansive color range for a luxury beauty brand. I really appreciate the wide range in the shades because your concealer should suit your skin really well. This concealer comes in cool, warm, and neutral undertones to suit just about every skin tone. This is definitely a product I recommend going to a local counter to select your shades because the swatches on the product listing are not at all like how they appear in real life. Here are the shades I purchased: 

Silk - This shade is a cool-toned peachy light beige tone with just a hint of a pink undertone. I was going to go for the next shade up, which is a very peachy shade, it is a good corrector. I chose this slightly lighter shade because it not only corrects darkness but it also brightens my under-eyearea. Since I am using it exclusively under my eyes, I want the concealer to be just a touch lighter and appreciate the brightening effect. 

Silk

Latte - This shade is a neutral light-medium beige shade that just has just the perfect touch of warmth to make it look very skin-like. This shade suits my skin tone so perfectly and you really can't tell there is makeup on my skin. I am currently an NC30 in MAC foundations and this shade looks exactly like my skin tone. 

Latte

Swatches from left to right: Silk (heavily swatched), Silk (blended), Latte (heavily swatched), Latte (blended)

FORMULA 

This concealer formula is VERY pigmented! You need just a tiny speck to cover pigmentation, spots, and even under the eyes. I don't typically gravitate towards a full coverage concealer because they tend to be so thick and heavy; however, this concealer is neither heavy nor too thick. It does have a thicker texture than I would typically reach for but the formula blends out so well and it doesn't look heavy. I will say, you can easily go overboard and make this look heavy and it will end up sinking into your lines and crevices if you apply too much! I notice this when I was actually at the counter and the sales associate told me she was wearing this concealer and she looked younger than me but, she had so much concealer under her eyes, it looked cakey, heavy, and it emphasized every line around her eyes. Also, the first time I applied it around my nose to hide my redness and I applied much too much and it really sank into the creases of my nose and made my skin look heavy and wrinkly in that area. 

Lesso learned, apply as little as possible and build up the pigment as you need it! I recommend if you're going to use the want to apply the concealer directly to the skin, barely tap the wand to your skin and leave the tiniest drop. I would recommend using a very tiny brush to dot the concealer onto your blemishes, imperfections, darkness, and redness. Then, blend it out using a brush or sponge. You can always add more on but once you apply too much, texture and wrinkles will shine through. 

While the formula can be a bit intense and is super pigmented, it really does blend and glide onto the skin beautifully. I like to use both a brush and my fingers to blend this concealer into the skin. I typically use a brush on blemishes and redness but under the eyes, I will also go in with my fingers to make sure the concealer is really blended and seamless. You can very easily apply too much and under the eyes, this is very aging and I want my concealer to look as natural as possible. You really don't need much to cover darkness under the eyes. 

The concealer has a very natural finish, somewhere between a dewy and a satin. It doesn't have much shine when blended into the skin but it doesn't look flat or dry. This is the finish that I have been on the hut for but it is not a common finish. While I love a more dewy concealer, it can look a bit great on the skin and it tends to stay wet, which makes the skin look juicy but it also makes my eye makeup smudge. A satin or matte concealer is great because it tends to be long-wearing and my eye makeup won't smudge but the problem with this is that they look too dry on my skin type. It makes my skin look drier and older, which is not what I want. I've been very picky on my search for a good everyday concealer and this one really nailed the finish for me! I don't feel the need to set it but even if I do, it doesn't look dry under my eyes! 

I would say this concealer formula is very long-wearing! I don't typically powder my face and I find this formula wears beyond 8 hours. It's probably because the formula is waterproof! I had to test it out for myself so, I blended a swatch onto the back of my hand and ran it underwater. The water just rolled off of the concealer effortlessly. I even aggressively rubbed the swatch under running water and it didn't budge! My finger just glided effortlessly back and forth over my skin but there wasn't even a bit of transfer. I typically never choose these long-wearing formulas because they don't look good on the skin but this one is quite the opposite! It's a very impressive balance between long-wearing and an actually attractive finish!

I ran this concealer swatch under water and aggressively rubbed it.

THE LOOK

For this look, I applied Silk under the eyes and Latte all over to spot cover. Then, I applied a very sheer skin tint all over. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

Ughh... I didn't want to like this formula because I think the price is ridiculous but I must admit, it's a pretty amazing formula! Despite my annoyance with the Tom Ford brand over the past few years, this concealer is a winner! The concealer is full coverage but still looks incredibly natural and never looks heavy. The formula blends so effortlessly and looks very skin-like, if you use just the right amount. While it is expensive, a little bit goes such a long way. The concealer is correcting, brightening, and perfecting. The finish is beautiful and skin-like. I won't tell you this is a unique formula because I haven't tried enough concealers to confirm this but I will tell you that I have been looking for a formula like this with this exact finish for a while, and this is the closest I've come to a dream concealer. It works so well for under the eyes and for all over the complexion. This formula is well worth the high ticket price. It looks and works like a luxury concealer. I couldn't be happier about owning these and they have become an everyday essential! I can't recommend this formula enough! It is definitely a worthwhile luxury beauty piece! 

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