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Tom Ford Exotic Teal Eye Defining Pencil Review, Photos, Swatches

Tom Ford Exotic Teal Eye Defining Pencil
Tom Ford Exotic Teal Eye Defining Pencil

Tom Ford Exotic Teal Eye Defining Pencil

Tom Ford Exotic Teal Eye Defining Pencil ($35.00 for 0.04 oz.) is a rich, blue-based teal with a pearly finish. Prescriptives Blue Grotto is similar, slightly greener. NARS Kaliste is a smidgen lighter. Estee Lauder Electric Teal is less blue, slightly lighter. I can’t tell you how long I’ve been looking for an eyeliner that dupes Prescriptives’ Blue Grotto!  (NARS Kaliste wears terribly on me, unfortunately.)

It’s supposed to be richly pigmented, easy to glide on, and can be used outside and inside the lid.  The color is fantastic–it’s intensely pigmented and goes as as solid line in a single pass. The texture is soft, creamy, and applies easily; there’s no tugging or pulling, and it deposits evenly on both the lash line and waterline.  The pencil also comes with a sharpener, but as mine was a press sample, I only received the pencil itself, so I don’t have a photo of it to share with you but did want to mention it.

I wanted to love this pencil so, so much, but it does not wear as well as it should.  It migrates and smudges outwards past my lash line every time I wear it, without fail.  The color doesn’t disappear or fade away, but it just spreads out past the lash line. For me, it happens mostly on the outer third of the lash line, but a whole slew of eyeliners wear well on me.  A smudgy kohl liner isn’t a bad thing, but it does need to set at some point, because once you’ve smudged it to your liking, you don’t want to worry about it sliding to parts unknown!  It took about five hours before there was noticeable migration, and then after six, it needed clean-up.  If you press a similar-colored eyeshadow on top, it will stop the smudging. With so many long-wearing eyeliners on the market, it’s not a step you should have to take–and of course, at $35 a pop, not at this price point, either.

Tom Ford Exotic Teal Eye Defining Pencil
Tom Ford Exotic Teal Eye Defining Pencil

Tom Ford Exotic Teal Eye Defining Pencil
Tom Ford Exotic Teal Eye Defining Pencil

Tom Ford Exotic Teal Eye Defining Pencil
Tom Ford Exotic Teal Eye Defining Pencil

Tom Ford Exotic Teal Eye Defining Pencil
Tom Ford Exotic Teal Eye Defining Pencil

35 Comments

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Wwendalynne Avatar

I adore this colour. I have NARS Kaliste and it wears terrible on me as well 🙁 The only eye pencils that work for me are in the waterproof/budgeproof category; particularly when it comes to upper eyelid with my hooded eyes. I hate wearing eyeliner on top of my crease..ycuk! Plus, $35 for an eye pencil makes me gasp. I cannot justify this type of snack bracket for an eye or lip pencil unless it were a TDF colour or something I would need a blowtorch to take off.

Veronica Avatar

EL’s Teal is amazing. To this day, I’m still surprised it was the only LE shade out of the line. It was tough parting with it, but my mother just loved it so much that I couldn’t help but give it to her when I moved out.

Veronica Avatar

Oh, trust me, I have the occasional moment of, “WHY DID I DO THAT,” but it’s my own fault for not buying her a copy when I visited the store. 😛 This is a woman who owns a wardrobe that 75% teal/turquoise, has a bedroom down in turqoise highlights, with a living room painted turquoise, and a sea foam green car. I should have known not to be surprised when the liner started going MIA on a regular basis after three weeks after I bought it. 😛

Mariella Avatar

But at 35 bucks a pop, it really shouldn’t be necessary. That’s my beef with UD’s 24/7 liners (though on me, they smear even if I do set them) – something that claims to be 24/7 shouldn’t need extra steps to set it.

Liz Avatar

I totally agree. I was just sharing a tip that I found helpful. It’s really hard for me to use a lot of eye products on my upper lashline because of my hooded eyes. The finishing powder does help a bit. To be fair, it doesn’t seem as if the Tom Ford company is claiming that the pencil is long wearing. Still, $35 for a basic pencil seems a bit extreme to me.

Kafka Avatar

The colours of that Tom Ford Quad on your eye….. WOW. Stunning and I want it. The pencil’s price? Gives me heartburn. No way, no how. And it’s not simply because I have cheapskate tendencies either. I could have have a hundred million dollars and I still don’t think I could spend almost $35 (almost $40 with tax) on a mere eye pencil. It’s just one of those products. UD’s $20 24/7 liners are pushing it for me as it is.

Wwendalynne Avatar

me too! I just ordered the Ocho Loco pencil collection from UD and gasped at the price, but decided it was a must since I have very few eye pencils in my collection. Why? Because I too have BIG difficulty justifying the ridiculous price for eye and lip pencils and so I end up spending my money elsewhere. It’s somewhat akin to my cringe factor on lipgloss prices,

xamyx Avatar

When it comes to liners, whether lip or eye, liquid or pencils, I tend to cap out at $10 USD, unless it’s absolutely *perfect* in every aspect. As for the UD set, at least several come in the set, bringing the *individual* price down, so something like that would be justifiable, IMO (it’s too bad UD pencils don’t work for me).

Veronica Avatar

Eyeliners are actually the one thing I’d be willing to shell out ridiculous amounts of money for – *if* I could find one that didn’t migrate off my waterline. Estee Lauder’s Pure Color Intense Kajal liners have come to the closest to working, which is why I was willing to shell out the $20 for them. As it is, since so many of them simply can’t work for me, I usually wind up putting the money toward other things. 😛

Mariella Avatar

Too rich for my blood, particularly since it smears and travels. Christine, do you mean it collects in the outside corners of your eyes? I’m not quite sure what you mean by “outward past my lash line”. Could you show a photo of it? The look you did is so gorgeous that I think I will get me a dupe of the pencil – it looks stunning.

Christine Avatar

Hi Mariella,

It smudges – so it pulls away from the entire lash line and migrates downwards. It doesn’t just gather in the corners but actually moves away from the lash line – just as if you were smudging it… except it does it without your permission! You can see it in the photo in the post! 🙂

blueraccoon Avatar

It’s a gorgeous color, and it looks gorgeous on you, but the wear is…not good. I’ll spend $20 on a UD liner, but for $35 it better wear perfectly. Pass.

Sarah Avatar

I have been longing for a Prescriptives dupe, too… Namely a dupe of “Posh Nude” lipstick. It’s the only truly nude (not pale brown or brown-pink) shade of lipstick that looks good on me! I wish they would come back to stores, or at least expand their online selection… 🙁 Sorry this didn’t work out as your “dream dupe”, I’ve head some near-hits as well!

Stacey Avatar

Ok. Waiting for that Emerald Lust Quad review…please do it soon….yes, $35.00 for a pencil is really too rich for my blood. UD prices are already ridiculous as it is. I actually test swatch Tarantino pencils and they tested nice (however you spell her name).

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