| Review | Tom Ford Extreme Shadows

| Review | Tom Ford Extreme Shadows 

WHHHHAAAT?? Tom Ford has a collection with bright and colorful shadows? That's right! Tom Ford has broken out of his usual sexy, bronze, neutral vibe for 2018 and brought out a collection of 20 brand new eyeshadows with brand new finishes to burst into spring/summer with an explosion! This exciting new explosion of color is exactly what everyone is excited to see from the edgy luxury brand. Especially after the very disappointing Soleil Collection, which seemed to contain the same shades as previously released products. Read my review for the Soleil Contouring Palette (review here), for the Sheer Cheek Duo in Exotica Flora (review here), and for the Shade and Illuminate Glow Stick in Sunstruck (review here). 

The Tom Ford Extreme Shadows retail for $36.00 USD for .03oz and is available at Neiman Marcus and other retailers. This massive collection of limited edition eyeshadows is a limited release collection, so not all retailers will be receiving these. The 20 eyeshadows are packaged in the same miniature compact as the Private Blend Shadows (review here) except the exterior is now a chrome-silver! The mini compacts have a snap closure, which is nice for travel to ensure your shadow doesn't open up and get ruined.

As with the Private Blend Shadows, the amount of product is disappointingly little. Each shadow contains about less than half the product (.03oz) of ONE pan (approx. .08oz) of a quad's eyeshadow! So essentially, you are paying about double for half the product. 

This collection contains two never-before-seen finishes! The two finishes are Micronized Glitter and Foil Finish. These are descriptions of the finishes from their promotional materials. There doesn't seem to be anything on the package or with the names that indicates the finish of the shadows.

Micronized Glitter - Gives a lustrous and opulent finish

Foil Finish - Gives a bolder and shiner finish 

These descriptions from Tom Ford aren't very informative or descriptive. If I didn't own so many of his shadows, I wouldn't understand the difference between the finishes. Basically the Micronized Giltter finish is an opaque shadow with lots of glitter packed into it and the foil is a very intense metallic finish.  Personally, after seeing the Extreme Shadow in SS18 with the micronized glitter finish, I was not impressed. While it looked very beautiful on the eyes (I saw someone wearing it in a store), it seemed to have chunkier bits of glitter than I am accustomed to with Tom Ford. Plus it was just a black shadow with silver glitter, so I wasn't too excited for the launch of this collection but with the temptation of foil shadows looming ahead, I had to get some! I unintentionally bought only Foil finish shadows but I did order these shades blindly. To be honest, based on playing with the SS18 shade, I would not recommend the glitter finish.

Here is how these new finishes differ from the recently released Private Blend Collection: 

Foil vs. Vinyl - The Foils are much more metallic than the Vinyls, almost like molten metal. The Vinyl shades have a very soft metallic sheen, like the texture and finish of silk.

Micronized Glitter vs. Pailette - The Miconized Glitter finish seems to vary from what I consider
"micro-glitter" to much chunkier glitter but it has an opaque color base whereas, the Pailette finish is a sheer fine glitter top coat. 

The shades I purchased were: 

TFX3 (Foil) - I was not going to initially get this shade but after seeing it on my friend Michelle, who works for Tom Ford, I had to have it. This bright pink is metallic and very pigmented.  You will achieve full coverage in one swipe. The formula is very creamy and easy to blend. This is a very unique hot pink shade, especially with the foil finish, which looks like liquid metal!

TFX6 (Foil) - This blue-based purple shade is so eye-catching and has a very creamy texture. It applies very smooth and evenly. It has a strong pigment and can be built to be as intense as it looks in the pan. It is very vibrant blue-based violet shade that is unlike any purple I currently own.

TFX7 (Foil) - This deep purple shade with little specks of purple and blue shimmer throughout is a bit more gritty and not as easy to work with compared to the other shades. The shimmery texture requires a bit more layering to get an even color placement but it is still quite pigmented. I recommend using a flat and dense brush to pack on the color and minimize fallout. It is very opaque once built up to full opacity, which doesn't take long.

TFX11 (Foil) - I couldn't resist this stunning deep emerald green shade with multi-colored green shimmer, which is not only wearable but still quite bold! I was very tempted to get the Soleil 2018 Cream and Powder Eye Duos but I didn't think I would use it as much but this emerald green. It still maintains a smooth and creamy texture and applies very opaque.

TFX13 (Foil) - This a complex duochrome pink-purple shade with fine blue shimmers throughout! This shade is by far, the most impressive and complex of the shadows I purchased! It is incredibly metallic and liquid jewels on your eyes! The color catches the light beautifully and shifts shades depending on what it is paired with or in different lighting. The texture of this shade is ultra smooth and creamy. It is very pigmented, with one swipe you can cover most of the lid.

SWATCHES: 

MY FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, I am incredibly impressed especially with the foil formula! The foil formula in my opinion, surpasses the vinyl formulas from the Private Blend Collection however, both are excellent quality. These shadows can be played up by using them with one another to create a very intense and dramatic shimmering and metallic look but can also be included as part of a more subdued look when paired with other shadows! The Micronized Glitter finish is not my favorite, they seem to contain some every large chunks of glitter which will be difficult to work with and cause heavy amount of fallout. I am very happy with all the shades and the formula of the ones I purchased. If I had to pick one must-have shade it would be TFX13! The duochrome is a beautifully complex shade and the formula is so smooth and superior to any of the other's I bought! Tom Ford also claims these shadows to be "formulated with long-wearing polymers and glides on an ultra-thin with a water-resistant gloss of color", which I believe to be true! While testing these, I was quite sick and my eyes were watering like crazy but the shadows seemed to adhere to where they were applied and they stayed vibrant all day long!

I think this new collection contains a much needed color spectrum that was previously lacking in the brand. I applaud them for doing something new and exciting for spring and summer. While I love the classic Tom Ford bronzes and neutrals, I love the pop of color that this new collection offers to the range! I highly recommend getting a few of these Extreme Shadows because the formulas are truly something spectacular and special!

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