Tom Ford Aurora Shade & Illuminate Eye Kohl Duo Review & Swatches
Aurora
Tom Ford Beauty Aurora Shade & Illuminate Eye Kohl Duo ($44.00 for 0.05 oz.) contains a deep purple and deep gold. The formula is supposed to have “rich color pigments” that have a “creamy feel for ultra-fluid application” and can be used on the “lashline and waterline.” It’s a firmer, stiffer consistency used in these dual-ended pencils, which makes them less comfortable to use and more to tugging/dragging on my lash line. The pigmentation ranged from shade to shade, and some were more or less buildable than others. They had decent wear but I could not get these to apply well to my waterline–they just didn’t seem to transfer onto the waterline much.
Aurora (Shade)
Aurora (Shade) is a blackened purple with subtle, warm undertones and cooler blue and violet pearl. It had sheer pigmentation in one stroke, which was buildable to mostly opaque coverage with three to four passes. The texture had a bit more slip compared to the highlighting shade on the other end, though it was still a drier, stiffer pencil compared to most on the market these days. It tugged somewhat on my lower lash line when I used it there, and it was hard to get much to transfer onto my waterline. It lasted for seven and a half hours before thinning on me.
Top Dupes
- Sephora Phat Rock (P, $14.00) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (90% similar).
- Urban Decay Delinquent (P, $22.00) is more shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- NARS Night Bird (P, $24.00) is more shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- Charlotte Tilbury Supernova (LE, $27.00) is more shimmery, lighter, cooler (90% similar).
- Marc Jacobs Beauty (Grape)vine (P, $24.00) is less shimmery, lighter, warmer (85% similar).
- Sephora Tango Night (DC, $10.00) (85% similar).
- Urban Decay Dragon Smoke (LE, $22.00) is more shimmery, darker (85% similar).
- Smashbox Nymph (P, $18.00) is more shimmery, lighter, brighter (90% similar).
Formula Overview
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The formula is supposed to have "rich color pigments" that have a "creamy feel for ultra-fluid application" and can be used on the "lashline and waterline." It's a firmer, stiffer consistency used in these dual-ended pencils, which makes them less comfortable to use and more to tugging/dragging on my lash line. The pigmentation ranged from shade to shade, and some were more or less buildable than others. They had decent wear but I could not get these to apply well to my waterline--they just didn't seem to transfer onto the waterline much.
Browse all of our Tom Ford Beauty Eye Kohl swatches.
Ingredients
Hydrogenated Coco-Glycerides, Triethylhexanoin, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, BeeswaxCera AlbaCire D'Abeille, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) WaxCera CarnaubaCire De Carnauba, Ozokerite, Dipentaerythrityl Hexahydroxystearate/Hexastearate/Hexarosinate, Silica, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Lecithin, Tin Oxide, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Citric Acid, [+/- Mica, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Iron Oxides (Ci 77491), Iron Oxides (Ci 77492), Iron Oxides (Ci 77499), Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide (Ci 77510), Yellow 5 Lake (Ci 19140), Manganese Violet (Ci 77742), Ultramarines (Ci 77007), Ferric Ferrocyanide (Ci 77510), Black 2 (Ci 77266 Nano), Chromium Oxide Greens (Ci 77288), Chromium Hydroxide Green (Ci 77289), Blue 1 Lake (Ci 42090), Aluminum Powder (Ci 77000), Bismuth Oxychloride (Ci 77163), Carmine (Ci 75470)
Aurora (Illuminate)
Aurora (Illuminate) is a deep gold with warmer, brown undertones and a metallic sheen. It had a drier consistency that felt dry but not stiff so much as it seemed almost papery. It had opaque pigmentation in a single stroke, though I found the firmness of the pencil made it harder to replicate that on the lower lash line as it tended to tug more noticeably on my lash line. As a result, it took more effort and layering to get even, full coverage, and this did not apply well to my waterline at all (just didn’t seem to transfer to it). It wore well for eight hours on me before thinning noticeably.
Top Dupes
- Sephora Girl Talk (PiP, $10.00) is lighter, cooler (90% similar).
- Sephora Girls Night Out (PiP, $10.00) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (90% similar).
- MAC $$$ (P, $17.00) is less shimmery, darker (90% similar).
- Chanel Ambre Dore (911) (P, $33.00) is more shimmery, lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- MAC El Dorado (LE, $16.00) is darker, cooler (85% similar).
- NARS Campo de' Fiori (P, $24.00) is less shimmery, darker, cooler (85% similar).
- NARS Altiplano (P, $26.00) is less shimmery, darker, cooler (85% similar).
- Marc Jacobs Beauty In the Buff (80) (P, $25.00) is lighter, cooler (85% similar).
- Colour Pop Dirty Talk (P, $6.00) is more shimmery, lighter, cooler (80% similar).
Formula Overview
-
The formula is supposed to have "rich color pigments" that have a "creamy feel for ultra-fluid application" and can be used on the "lashline and waterline." It's a firmer, stiffer consistency used in these dual-ended pencils, which makes them less comfortable to use and more to tugging/dragging on my lash line. The pigmentation ranged from shade to shade, and some were more or less buildable than others. They had decent wear but I could not get these to apply well to my waterline--they just didn't seem to transfer onto the waterline much.
Browse all of our Tom Ford Beauty Eye Kohl swatches.
Ingredients
Hydrogenated Coco-Glycerides, Triethylhexanoin, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, BeeswaxCera AlbaCire D'Abeille, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) WaxCera CarnaubaCire De Carnauba, Ozokerite, Dipentaerythrityl Hexahydroxystearate/Hexastearate/Hexarosinate, Silica, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Lecithin, Tin Oxide, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Citric Acid, [+/- Mica, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Iron Oxides (Ci 77491), Iron Oxides (Ci 77492), Iron Oxides (Ci 77499), Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide (Ci 77510), Yellow 5 Lake (Ci 19140), Manganese Violet (Ci 77742), Ultramarines (Ci 77007), Ferric Ferrocyanide (Ci 77510), Black 2 (Ci 77266 Nano), Chromium Oxide Greens (Ci 77288), Chromium Hydroxide Green (Ci 77289), Blue 1 Lake (Ci 42090), Aluminum Powder (Ci 77000), Bismuth Oxychloride (Ci 77163), Carmine (Ci 75470)
Yikes. Almost half a c-note for a product that you’d need to use a lighter on for it to show up decently. No thanks Mr. Ford.
What horrid quality. Really makes me sad, because the actual color pairing could have made for a lovely eyeliner duo.
Love the shades – the colours are beautiful, but OMG – what is happening to TF to put out such a shoddy product.
He’s had a few real clunkers lately and I honestly get the feeling that the company feels they’re immune to negative opinion (I think based on performance, that a few luxury companies feel this way, based on the high price tag/low quality stuff they’ve put out).
An eye pencil with this horrible quality that cost $44 for 0.05 oz. ? Somebody to inform this company the existence of Temptalia.
What a pity. Aurora could have been a stunning shade, and Illuminate is quite pretty, too. But the quality sounds abysmal. What a waste of money. 🙁
$55 here which is outrageous given the poor performance. For that amount of money, you could buy a whole bunch of Sephora pencil liners or their chubby ones and get way more product and much better quality!