Tom Ford Beauty Nikita Shade & Illuminate Lips Review, Photos, Swatches
Nikita
Tom Ford Beauty Nikita Shade & Illuminate Lips ($60.00 for 0.12 oz.) contains a bold, medium red and a reddish-burgundy. The red applied nicely, and it wore well, but the burgundy had a lot of slip and feathered on me.
Shade & Illuminate Lips is a lipstick duo that features a formula that is supposed to have “rich color” and “adherence” with a “velvet matte finish.” The duos are designed to have a lighter shade and a darker shade, and they can be worn alone, mixed, or as an ombre lip look. There was also a dual-ended applicator–a sponge on one end and a brush on the other–but the sponge really did not work well to apply the color, as it yielded sheer coverage and seemed to suck all the emollient qualities out of the formula and left behind a drier, almost powdery texture on the lips. The lip brush worked, but for me, the tiny applicator was harder to control and took me three to four times as long to apply compared to a traditional lip brush (which has a longer handle). The actual formula felt like there was a powderiness to it that is not present in any of Tom Ford’s other lipstick ranges, though the formula felt lightly creamy, thin but not too thin, and smooth. Once I applied the color and actually wore it for a few minutes, I did not notice the powderiness that was there when I was initially applying the lipstick.
Nikita
LELimited Edition. $60.00.
Nikita (Left)
Nikita (Left) is a bright, medium red with neutral undertones and a cream finish. It had rich, opaque color coverage that applied evenly and smoothly on the lips. The consistency was creamy, moderately emollient, and comfortable to wear. I noticed a smidgen of color sat in my deeper lip lines, but the richness and depth of the color made it hard to see even in the close-up photos. The color wore nicely for five hours, left a stain behind, and was hydrating.
Top Dupes
- Pat McGrath McGrath Muse (DC, $40.00) is lighter (95% similar).
- Burberry Regiment Red (37) (P, $34.00) is darker (95% similar).
- MAC Steam Heat (LE, $19.00) is lighter (95% similar).
- KVD Beauty Gold Blooded (DC, $21.00) is lighter (95% similar).
- MAC Von Teese (LE, $19.00) is darker, cooler (95% similar).
- Bite Beauty Rosehip (DC, $24.00) is lighter, cooler (95% similar).
- MAC My Inner Femme (LE, $19.00) is lighter (95% similar).
- Hourglass I Crave (P, $34.00) is lighter (90% similar).
- Urban Decay Temper (DC, $22.00) is lighter, more muted (95% similar).
- MAC Starlett Scarlet (LE, $18.00) is cooler (95% similar).
Nikita (Left)
LELimited Edition.
Nikita (Right)
Nikita (Right) is a medium-dark burgundy with warm, red undertones and a glossy finish. It had medium coverage, which wasn’t buildable to opaque coverage, as this shade was very, very slippery. It felt more like a lipstick/lipgloss hybrid than a true lipstick. The color applied evenly for the most part, but I experience feathering after two hours of wear (which isn’t too common for me). The color lasted well for five hours, and the formula was moisturizing.
Top Dupes
- Bite Beauty Mulled Maple (LE, $24.00) is warmer (95% similar).
- MAC Dreaming of You (LE, $19.00) is darker, cooler (90% similar).
- Tom Ford Beauty Velvet Cherry (08) (P, $55.00) is lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- Bite Beauty Scarlet (DC, $24.00) is darker (90% similar).
- NARS Charlotte (P, $34.00) (90% similar).
- MAC Fixed on Drama (LE, $19.00) is darker, less glossy (90% similar).
- Urban Decay Hex (DC, $18.00) is darker, more muted, warmer (90% similar).
- Maybelline Divine Wine (P, $7.99) is lighter, warmer, less glossy (90% similar).
- Smashbox Brick Trick (P, $24.00) is darker, glossier (85% similar).
- ColourPop Sarah (LE, $10.00) is darker, more muted, less glossy (85% similar).
They are beautiful colours, shame that the darker one is prone to feathering.
Wow, that burgundy swatch does look slippery, almost like a wet gloss
Right?? It was surprising!
The red does look nice.
It does!
Love both colors, but do not like feathering and slipping. 🙁
Too bad the darker shade wasn’t better!
The red is pretty, but easy to dupe. But that burgundy is atrocious at this price point. Utterly unacceptable.
The burgundy is a beautiful color and looks stunning on you. Too bad it is so slippery. I do have Maybelline Divine Wine so I have it covered.
Way out of my price range especially for a C+
This is probably the only duo where I like both of the shades – gorgeous colours for autumn. It’s a shame that the burgundy colour was so so in the rating.
oh it’s for lips. i got excited and thought it was for eyes. that would be more exciting. anyone agree?