Round-up: Tom Ford Lips & Boys Overview & Thoughts
With 50 shades, you’re bound to get a few misses, but by and large, about half of the collection was less impressive. I know that my “marker” is I’m looking for B+ or better, which left 17 of the 50 as performing B or less (or 34%). I think that while it was a good idea to breakdown the colors into color families, it would have been better to a) provide individual shade descriptions, or b) segment shades into “layering” or “sheer” categories.
Overall, it ended up feeling like a mixed bag, though there are certainly winners within the range. I think the idea and campaign were genius, and it is a nice way to try out Tom Ford’s often raved about formula without spending $50 a pop. Even better, the Lips & Boys miniature-sized shades are actually more for your money based on price per ounce, so it’s really win-win if there’s a shade you’ve had your eye on. You can view all swatches of these shades here in gallery format.
The limited edition Lips & Boys Collection officially (re)launches on the 26th, but you can place orders online at the following retailers now:
TEMPTALIA RECOMMENDED: Adriano (A+), Henry (A), Matthew (A), Michael (A), Stavros (A)
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Addison (A-), Cary (A), Collin (A-), Cooper (A), James (A), Julian (A), Patrick (A)
MOST UNIQUE: Casey (D-), Guillermo (A-), Gustavo (A-), Holden (C-), John (A), Kyril (D), Liam (B+), Luca (B), Michael (A), Peter (B-), Richard (A), Rory (D), Stavros (A), Tomas (B+)
Check out the report card + more comparisons!
Report Card
As: 26 | Bs: 15 | Cs: 6 | Ds: 3
- Adriano (A+)
- Giacomo (A+)
- Cary (A)
- Cooper (A)
- Francesco (A)
- Henry (A)
- James (A)
- John (A)
- Julian (A)
- Matthew (A)
- Michael (A)
- Patrick (A)
- Rafael (A)
- Richard (A)
- Stavros (A)
- Addison (A-)
- Alejandro (A-)
- Beau (A-)
- Collin (A-)
- Diego (A-)
- Guillermo (A-)
- Gustavo (A-)
- Luciano (A-)
- Pablo (A-)
- Sebastian (A-)
- Xavier (A-)
- Alexander (B+)
- Didier (B+)
- Flynn (B+)
- Jack (B+)
- Justin (B+)
- Liam (B+)
- Omar (B+)
- Tomas (B+)
- Alasdhair (B)
- Leonardo (B)
- Luca (B)
- Orlando (B)
- Preston (B)
- Blake (B-)
- Peter (B-)
- Wes (C+)
- William (C+)
- Ian (C)
- Olivier (C)
- Holden (C-)
- Pavlos (C-)
- Kyril (D)
- Rory (D)
- Casey (D-)
Cool-Toned
- Alasdhair (B)
- Alejandro (A-)
- Alexander (B+)
- Casey (D-)
- Cooper (A)
- Didier (B+)
- Francesco (A)
- Leonardo (B)
- Jack (B+)
- John (A)
- Julian (A)
- Justin (B+)
- Kyril (D)
- Liam (B+)
- Luciano (A-)
- Olivier (C)
- Preston (B)
- Stavros (A)
- Wes (C+)
- Xavier (A-)
Warm-Toned
- Addison (A-)
- Adriano (A+)
- Beau (A-)
- Blake (B-)
- Cary (A)
- Collin (A-)
- Diego (A-)
- Flynn (B+)
- Giacomo (A+)
- Guillermo (A-)
- Gustavo (A-)
- Henry (A)
- Holden (C-)
- Ian (C)
- James (A)
- Luca (B)
- Matthew (A)
- Michael (A)
- Omar (B+)
- Orlando (B)
- Pablo (A-)
- Patrick (A)
- Pavlos (C-)
- Peter (B-)
- Rafael (A)
- Richard (A)
- Rory (D)
- Sebastian (A-)
- Tomas (B+)
- William (C+)
Thanks so much for getting your hands on these bad boys and reviewing them for us!! And thanks to your enabling, I’m buying my first Tom Ford item ever – Guillermo. I would buy more, but some of the colors that I liked didn’t review so well, so money “saved” 🙂
Congrats, Katherine! Hope it lives up to your expectations 🙂
There are a few I love and a few I like. I’m not sure I’ll end up with any of them though.
Always something else to tempt you if not!
Thanks so much for this roundup, Christine!
No problem!
Christine, I purchased Stavros on your recommendation but I see here that it’s not made it to your unique list. Did you change your mind? Are there other dupes for Stavros besides the couple you mentioned in your review?
I just pasted it under honorable mentions instead of recommends by mistake. Sorry!
Woot! Thanks.. I like the temptalia seal of approval!
Henry, Justin, Jack, Pablo and Liam are such pretty colors. I soo hope I get cash for Christmas so I can buy these lol
Fingers crossed!
Will I regret if I don’t buy Richard? lol Ive been mulling forever on it.
Btw happy holidays Christine and Temptalia readers ^^
Happy holidays, Bunga! 🙂
It’s a pretty color, slightly more unique than other shades, but hard to say if you will regret!
I ended up getting Henry, my boyfriend’s name! And it just so happened to get a “Temptalia Recommends!”
😀 Hope you love Henry… #2! 😀
Wow, thank you for this roundup! So helpful. I like how you categorized the lippies by color too.
Adriano was an instant fave for me. ^^
My pleasure, An!
Since these are so all over the board, how close are they to the permanent line?
I listed dupes/similar shades for every single shade in their reviews – please check those for any shade you’re considering! 🙂
Great overview!! Your swatches really helped me. I have the same undertone as you do, so I can always tell by your lip swatches what a lipstick will look like on me, even though I am darker.
I seem to be the only person who doesn’t think that these are the same formula as the full sized lipsticks. To me, they are definitely thinner and a bit less moisturising. However, I love all seven that I bought :D!
I think they vary quite a bit – some are very similar (e.g. Richard, Cary, Collin, etc.) but some are sheerer or more emollient. I feel like the formula was fiddled with quite a bit to create 50 shades (to the point where I think TF should have developed a finish glossary!).
Thank you! 🙂
Where can I get this in Canada?
Wherever Tom Ford is sold – I don’t know offhand! 🙁
how long is limited edition for tom ford? cause i wanna buy these in april :/ I hope they’re still around otherwise damn 🙁