Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur Shade & Illuminate Lips Review, Photos, Swatches

Saboteur
Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur Shade & Illuminate Lips ($60.00 for 0.12 oz.) contains a bright, magenta purple and a deep, reddish burgundy. This was another duo where one shade applied well (the purple), while the darker (burgundy) shade fell short due to having a ton of slip to its texture, which caused it to slide around and feather.
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).
Saboteur
LELimited Edition. $60.00.

Saboteur (Left)
Saboteur (Left) is a medium-dark, magenta purple with warm, pink undertones and a cream finish. It had semi-opaque pigmentation with a creamy, light-medium weight texture that applied evenly and smoothly on the lips. Despite it being less pigmented than some of the shades included in the duos, it applied better than most! The color wore nicely for almost six hours, was a little hydrating, and left a pinkish stain behind.
Top Dupes
- MAC Beetroot (DC, $21.00) is lighter (95% similar).
- ColourPop Sitting Pretty (DC, $10.00) is lighter (90% similar).
- Burberry Brilliant Violet (P, $34.00) is warmer (90% similar).
- ColourPop Sweet Stuff (LE, $7.00) is lighter, less glossy (90% similar).
- Bite Beauty #010 (LE, $36.00) is lighter (90% similar).
- Sephora Desert Trip (39) (P, $8.00) is lighter (90% similar).
- Burberry Lilac (424) (P, $35.00) is lighter, less glossy (90% similar).
- Bite Beauty Aquarius (LE, $26.00) is darker, more muted, cooler (85% similar).
- MAC Dancing Flowers (LE, $19.00) is more muted, less glossy (85% similar).
- Pretty Vulgar Darling Be Daring (P, $24.00) is lighter (85% similar).
Saboteur (Left)
LELimited Edition.

Saboteur (Right)
Saboteur (Right) is a deep burgundy with subtle, warm undertones and a glossy finish. The texture was incredibly emollient, so the color slid around a lot and was hard to keep in place; it felt more like wearing a gloss than a lipstick. I would recommend pairing it with a lip liner or else blotting it down to minimize the slip. This shade lasted for five hours on me but feathered along the edges.
Top Dupes
- Revlon Royal Amethyst (P, $10.99) is darker (95% similar).
- Make Up For Ever C407 (DC, $22.00) is darker, warmer (95% similar).
- MAC Double Fudge (DC, $21.00) is darker, warmer (90% similar).
- Laura Mercier Plum Noire (P, $32.00) is cooler, less glossy (90% similar).
- Make Up For Ever Eggplant (501) (P, $24.00) is warmer (90% similar).
- Sephora Power Suit (01) (P, $13.00) is lighter, cooler (90% similar).
- Besame Noir Red 1930 (PiP, $22.00) is less glossy (95% similar).
- Maybelline Charged (P, $12.99) is warmer (90% similar).
- Urban Decay Cherry (LE, $18.00) is lighter, cooler (90% similar).
- MAC Living Legend (LE, $19.00) is lighter, warmer, less glossy (85% similar).
Saboteur (Right)
LELimited Edition.

Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur Shade & Illuminate Lips

Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur Shade & Illuminate Lips

Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur (Left) Shade & Illuminate Lip Color

Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur (Left) Shade & Illuminate Lip Color

Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur (Left) Shade & Illuminate Lip Color

Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur (Left) Shade & Illuminate Lip Color

Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur (Left) Shade & Illuminate Lip Color

Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur (Right) Shade & Illuminate Lip Color

Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur (Right) Shade & Illuminate Lip Color

Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur (Right) Shade & Illuminate Lip Color

Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur (Right) Shade & Illuminate Lip Color

Tom Ford Beauty Saboteur (Right) Shade & Illuminate Lip Color
The magenta purple is gorgeous, too bad about the other color, otherwise, I would’ve been tempted. The other color looks so slippery, like it’s going to slide off
I know, right? Too bad!
I completely would have purchased this duo if it weren’t for the right side goo factor. I’ll content myself with the left side dupe: Burberry Brilliant Violet.
Brilliant Violet is better 😉
The shades look beautiful, Christine. Too bad the price tag is exorbitant.
It is expensive!
This was one of the duos that I, like many others, had really wished were better. The purple is pretty close to perfection, but the deep eggplant shade not so much. Another great reason for me to try to get Burburry Brilliant Violet, which I really love and it is perfect!
Brilliant Violet <3
I think Saboteur is very pretty but the other one for me anyway, is way too dark. I don’t know why but I have not purchased one of these shade and illuminate lip duo’s I don’t seem to be particularly crazy over any one of them.
You definitely have to love both shades to make the purchase, I think!
Damn I was hoping it would be better!
Aww!
This was my pick out of every one of the lip palettes. But I’m sad about the second one. I wish it was more creamy than glossy!!
Me too! I wish it was not as slippery.