Tom Ford Red Harness Shade and Illuminate Palette Review & Swatches
Red Harness
Tom Ford Beauty Red Harness Shade and Illuminate Face and Eye Palette ($155.00 for 0.49 oz.) includes four eyeshadows, one highlighter, and one contouring powder. All six products performed well with the exception of the highlighter, which was far more pigmented than marketed (“ultra sheer” and it was opaque), which I’m sure is not a deal-breaker for many.
Ingredients
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Red Harness
LELimited Edition. $155.00.
Red Harness Highlight
Red Harness Highlight is a bright, lighter peachy orange with strong, warm golden shimmer that gave it a luminous finish. It had intense pigmentation in a single layer, which was significantly more payoff than “ultra-sheer” as marketed. The consistency was soft, silky, and finely-milled, which ensured it picked up well with a brush and deposited, even coverage. This shade lasted well for eight and a half hours before fading visibly.
Top Dupes
- MAC Shimmy Peach (PiP, ) is more shimmery, darker (90% similar).
- Sydney Grace First Date (P, $9.00) is cooler (90% similar).
- Natasha Denona Tan #2 (PiP, $38.00) is more shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- bareMinerals Joy (P, $29.00) is more shimmery, cooler (85% similar).
- Becca Dreamsicle (LE, $38.00) is more shimmery, lighter, brighter (80% similar).
- Anastasia Daydream (LE, ) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (80% similar).
- Charlotte Tilbury Medium/Dark Glow (PiP, ) is more shimmery, darker, warmer (80% similar).
Red Harness Highlight
LELimited Edition.
Red Harness #1
Red Harness #1 is a darker, golden beige with warm undertones and a smooth, metallic finish. It was richly pigmented with a soft, silky-smooth texture that was dense, but yielding, so there wasn’t any powderiness but it picked up readily with a dry brush. The eyeshadow applied well to bare skin and “melted” for a seamless finish. It stayed on well for eight and a half hours before showing signs of fading.
Top Dupes
- Anastasia Beigely (LE, $12.00) is lighter (95% similar).
- ColourPop Fringed (PiP, $4.50) is cooler (95% similar).
- ColourPop Balloon Pop (LE, $6.00) is lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- Smashbox Platinum (PiP, ) is more shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
- Pat McGrath Platinize (LE, $25.00) is more shimmery, darker (90% similar).
- Pat McGrath Astral Solstice (PiP, $25.00) is more shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- ColourPop I Heart This (P, $6.00) is more shimmery, lighter, cooler (90% similar).
- ColourPop Boutonniere (LE, $6.00) is lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- KVD Beauty Telepathy (DC, ) is more shimmery, lighter, cooler (90% similar).
- ColourPop Arbane (LE, $4.50) is warmer (90% similar).
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Red Harness #1
LELimited Edition.
Red Harness #2
Red Harness #2 is a brighter, medium-dark copper with strong, warm orange undertones and a metallic finish. The eyeshadow had opaque color coverage both dry as well as with a dampened brush, but the latter application method resulted in deeper, richer color and a more intense sheen. The consistency felt smooth and silky to the touch without being powdery nor too firmly-pressed into the pan. It wore well for eight and a half hours before fading visibly.
Top Dupes
- Hourglass Burnish (P, $29.00) is more shimmery, darker (95% similar).
- Sydney Grace Bronzed to Perfection (P, $6.00) is more shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- Charlotte Tilbury Celestial Eyes (Pop) (LE, ) is more shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- Pat McGrath Bronze Nebula (LE, $25.00) is more shimmery (90% similar).
- ColourPop Cinnamon Sugar (LE, $4.50) is more shimmery, darker (90% similar).
- Natasha Denona Cannon (366M) (LE, $29.00) is more shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- MAC Golden (LE, $21.00) is lighter (90% similar).
- ColourPop Do It Better (PiP, $6.00) is less shimmery, darker (90% similar).
- Viseart Boheme Dream #5 (LE, ) is lighter (90% similar).
- Huda Beauty Frazzled (PiP, ) is more shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
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Red Harness #2
LELimited Edition.
Red Harness #3
Red Harness #3 is a bright, coppery red with strong, warm undertones and a pearly sheen. The consistency felt smooth, firm but not stiff in the pan, and seemed particularly finely-milled with a touch of slip. It had rich color payoff applied dry as well as with a dampened brush, but the latter was truer-to-color with greater depth. This shade lasted well for eight and a half hours before fading noticeably.
Top Dupes
- Terra Moons Spiked (P, $6.25) is more shimmery, warmer (95% similar).
- Tom Ford Beauty Leopard Sun #3 (PiP, ) is lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- ColourPop DJ (LE, $6.00) is more shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- Smashbox Floral Support (LE, ) is more shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- ColourPop Filly (LE, $4.50) is more shimmery, lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- Smashbox Outfoxed (PiP, ) is more shimmery, warmer (85% similar).
- Melt Cosmetics Crush (PiP, ) is more shimmery, lighter, warmer (85% similar).
- Milani Sunsets by the Beach (PiP, $5.99) is more shimmery, warmer (85% similar).
- NARS Bayadere #2 (PiP, $19.00) is more shimmery, lighter, warmer (85% similar).
- ColourPop Bay Watch (PiP, $4.50) is more shimmery, lighter, warmer (85% similar).
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Red Harness #3
LELimited Edition.
Red Harness #4
Red Harness #4 is a muted, medium-dark purple-taupe with a satiny sheen. It had good color coverage applied dry, but it had to be built up or applied with a dampened brush for full opacity. The texture was soft, smooth, and blendable without being too firmly nor too softly pressed into the pan. It stayed on nicely for eight and a half hours before showing signs of fading.
Top Dupes
- Fenty Beauty Nuts N Dates (PiP, ) is more shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- Smashbox Headline (PiP, ) is more shimmery, darker (90% similar).
- Hourglass Black Violet (PiP, ) is darker (90% similar).
- Milk Makeup Silent Disco (P, $24.00) is more shimmery, darker, warmer (90% similar).
- Viseart Carrousel (PiP, ) is more shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- ColourPop Hung Up (P, $4.50) is more shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- Too Faced Pop (PiP, $16.00) is more shimmery, darker, warmer (85% similar).
- NARS Pointe Noire (LE, $22.00) is more shimmery, brighter, warmer (85% similar).
- Pat McGrath Blue Blood (PiP, $25.00) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (85% similar).
- Anastasia Drama (LE, $12.00) is more shimmery, lighter (80% similar).
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Red Harness #4
LELimited Edition.
Red Harness Sculpt
Red Harness Sculpt is a medium brown with moderate, warm undertones and a satiny sheen. The powder yielded opaque coverage in a single layer, while the texture was smooth, silky, and finely-milled with a slightly firmer, denser consistency. I didn’t have any issues applying it to bare skin as it blended out with ease. It wore well for eight and a half hours before fading noticeably.
Top Dupes
- Too Faced Chocolate Soleil (P, $30.00) is less shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- ColourPop Coconut Beach (LE, $8.00) is less shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- ILIA Novelty (P, $34.00) is less shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- Tom Ford Beauty Terra (P, $68.00) is less shimmery, lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- Laura Mercier Bronze (02) (P, $40.00) is more shimmery, lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- NARS Laguna (P, $38.00) is lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- NARS Laguna (LE, $40.00) is less shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- Physicians Formula Bronze (P, $14.99) is more shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- Giorgio Armani Warm Brown (21) (P, $38.00) is less shimmery, lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- Urban Decay Bronzed (P, $28.00) is less shimmery, lighter, warmer (90% similar).
If I had a spare $155 lying around, I would probably invest in this one out of all 4. Why? Because even though I love the e/s portion of Moonlit Violet more, I wouldn’t use it as often as would these shades. Plus, I really love the look of both cheek products much more. This would get regular usage.
This is the one I picked up and I love it! I’m a Luminous silk foundation shade in 7.75 and the bronzer is very beautiful on and shows up nicely albeit subtle.
Christine, are the tops of your TF palettes brown? I’m confused because the side shot looks pink, but when I see them at Nordys they look brown.
I’m not sure what you mean by side shot, but they’re brown. You can see the back of the palette, which is the same color as the front!
I think they mean the shot where you can see the clasp saying Tom(…Ford).
I considered that, but it didn’t make sense to me since it looked brown there – I wasn’t seeing pink so I wasn’t sure!
This is a pretty palette but for the price point I am going to skip. I have a lot of similar shades so I can dupe it quite easily. I do like the shade Red Harness.
Hmmm – I’m not sure how the taupe purple fits in with the colour story here, but it is an interesting shade and is much better than a matte black…. I really like the first two shades – the copper one is beautiful.
I guess you would have to love all the shades to buy the palette at that price.
Love your eye look Christine.
I finally realized the spiritual-ish lesson of Tom Ford for me, which I’ve been inching toward for some time.
When I saw the price for these 6 powders, I thought ‘why not just charge $500?’, since the only metric for price here seems to be : the more we charge, the more special it’ll seem to the tiny portion of the market willing to pay it.
In other words, they helped me completely & forever (fingers crossed) uncouple price from value. I saw it starkly as colored powder stripped of marketing glamour. The only questions for me about makeup now – toxins, performance, utility and my budget. Namaste, Tom Ford.