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Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo Review, Photos, Swatches

Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo
Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo

Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo ($77.00 for TBA oz.) is supposed to create “sculpted cheekbones” by using the “lighter, pearlescent shade to highlight” and the “deeper, matte shade to add definition and structure.” Long-time readers may be well-acquainted with my love for Tom Ford’s Cheek Color formula, so I’ve been eager (but anxious) about the arrival of the new, limited edition duos. The illuminating powder is impressive with a really soft, buttery consistency that sits on the skin beautifully. The blush-like color had a slightly thinner texture in comparison and could have used a wee bit more pigment, though it was still a soft, finely-milled, blendable blush. I’m definitely going to buy the other duo whenever I see that available online!

Highlighter is a peachy beige with warm undertones and a soft, frosted finish. It had good color payoff, and the texture was soft, buttery, and so smooth. Applied, it illuminates the skin without emphasizing pores. I would consider this a higher-sheen highlighter, so if you prefer more subdued finishes, this might be too glowy in comparison. On me, the highlighter wore well for almost ten hours before breaking down. IT Cosmetics Hello Light (P, $24.00) is warmer, darker. Giorgio Armani Belladonna (LE, $88.00) is similar. Becca Moonstone (P, $38.00) is a touch lighter. theBalm Mary Lou-manizer (P, $24.00) is more golden. See comparison swatches / view dupes.

Contour is a muted, medium orange-brown with a satin-matte finish. The texture was soft, finely-milled, and smooth, but it was slightly thinner/less dense. It had good, buildable pigmentation, though it wasn’t as pigmented as the blush formula typically is. It was easy to apply, and it was very blendable on the skin. The color lasted well for ten hours before fading gradually. Makeup Geek Infatuation (P, $9.99) is lighter, less red. MAC Seduced at Sea (LE, $25.00) is more shimmery. MAC Pleasure Model (LE, $25.00) is darker, more shimmery. MAC Bad Girl Gone Good (LE, $21.00) is darker. NARS Gina (P, $29.00) is lighter. MAC Eternal Sun (P, $23.50) is slightly darker, more muted. MAC Coppertone (P, $21.00) is similar. Burberry Tangerine (P, $42.00) is darker. See comparison swatches / view dupes.

Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo
Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo

Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo
Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo

Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo
Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo

Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo
Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo

Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo
Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo

Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo
Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo

Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo
Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo

Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo
Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo

Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo
Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo

Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo
Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo

Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo
Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo

Makeup Look
On face:
  • Giorgio Armani Maestro Foundation
  • Urban Decay Naked Loose Finishing Powder
  • Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Color Duo
On eyes:
  • Tom Ford Nude Dip Eyeshadow Quad
  • Marc Jacobs Beauty Brown(out) Highliner
On lips:
  • Tom Ford Twist of Fate Lip Color

85 Comments

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Christine Avatar

Here’s what the press release said about the formula, “Symmetrical, sculpted cheekbones are vital to creating the Tom Ford look. Tom Ford’s Contouring Cheek Color Duo contains a lighter, pearlescent shade to highlight and a deeper, matte shade to add definition and structure, achieving the look of contoured cheekbones. This sumptuous, cheek-transforming powder blush duo is formulated with spherical powders and rich emollients to ensure the colors glide onto the skin with the comfort of a cream.”

Tom Ford has Shade & Illuminate (here), which is more your classic highlight/contour pairing, so the two are somehow distinct products – they say “powder blush duo” so it seemed like this was more to define the cheek bone but not like your classic contour? It is confusing, IMO. I wore it lower on my cheeks as kind of a contour + blush in one, so it does define the cheek that way.

Vanessa Avatar

Thanks. I was just wondering because I saw swatches from other bloggers of softcore and they look exactly like yours. The other bloggers are listing the stroked with a white/pink highlighter and a berry/plum contour color. I am definitely leaning the whichever color the plum one is. Thanks again for the great swatches and pictures.

Christine Avatar

I asked Tom Ford and sent over links to various other swatches/reviews I saw, because I understand your confusion – right now, Tom Ford corporate/PR confirmed that Stroked is “warmer” and Softcore is “more plum” (so the way this post is listed is correct), which is what corresponds to the label on the back of my palette (but it is a lab label, meaning it is not a official, retail label, which is why you don’t see photos of it in the review itself). I’m waiting on a return phone call from the Tom Ford store in Chicago, who I’m hoping has the actual collection physically present and try to have them describe the shades to me as well. I did a pre-order through Nordstrom for both shades, but I’m not sure when they’ll get in.

Christine Avatar

To follow-up on this, I called a few Neiman Marcus and was able to get to a location that had testers on display (SF), and she described the blush in Stroked as a cross betweet Love Lust and Weekend, and the the blush in Softcore as a cross between Love Lust and Ravish – which would be consistent with other reviews and the opposite of this one. The blush I have in mine is not pink at all – very warm, reddish and brown, so I don’t see how it could resemble Weekend (which is a pink) at all. Still waiting for calls back from TF Boutiques in Chicago and Beverly Hills.

Christine Avatar

THE SAGA CONTINUES!

I just spoke with Connie from the Tom Ford Boutique in Chicago ($10 shipping, they’re sold out of the quad and Negligee already, (312) 605-5041), and she described Stroked as a warmer, lighter version of Ravish with a coral tone and Softcore as a shade of red with a berry undertone.

So… we are… in the same, confusing place. The Tom Ford Boutique is selling product right now, so they don’t just have testers but are retailing product. I just placed a phone order with her for both blush duos, because then I can just know for sure. A pricey way to solve it, but hopefully it will help. I’m in California, and they’re processing the order today, but with the time difference, not sure if it’ll make it out in today’s mail. I probably won’t have them until Wednesday next week at the earliest (more likely Friday-ish).

FULL TIME FORD Avatar

Christine, I think what you have is definitely Softcore. I posted a review with swatches of the PR sample I received last week on my site, if you want to compare. The lighting is slightly different in our photos, but it definitely looks like they are both Softcore to me.

Also – Connie at the Chicago boutique is amazing. That is all. So glad a lot of people found her today!

Christine Avatar

Hi,

Mine is also a press sample from Tom Ford, but it is labeled as Stroked (and PR is confirming this is Stroked, not Softcore – that Softcore is berry/plum). Connie confirmed (based on her descriptions) that what I have is Stroked. Neiman Marcus said Stroked is berry, Softcore is coral, but they only have testers. The answers I’m getting are inconsistent (it is 2 to 1, right now), so I purchased one of each shade and will update when I can confirm myself.

Christine Avatar

Yeah, it’s definitely confusing since I agree that ours looks similar – lighting is obviously going to differ BUT one seems pretty berry-ish, one is rather brown – and I mean, mine is not at ALL pink or berry (neither does yours). Mine definitely looks true to “similar to Ravish.” I think we have the same one from what I can tell, but we have different labels – is yours a retail label or lab/sample label? Mine is a lab/sample label but says “Stroked.” So I’m hoping that retail is consistent with name on the outside of the box and the actual sticker label on the back, even if perhaps it was intended to be different. TF is owned by ELC, and there have been a couple of recent incidents with mislabeling with MAC, also owned by ELC, so I’m curious how it will pan out.

FULL TIME FORD Avatar

Agree on all counts. Mine is a lab/sample label as well, but mine is marked Softcore. It;s interesting to me that even the PR folks seem to think that the berry one is Softcore and mine isn’t berry or pink either – definitely more of a muted/brown-based coral. Then again, i don’t have the other duo to compare with so maybe when i see them next to one another I’ll see that I am colorblind? 🙂

FULL TIME FORD Avatar

I went home and studied my duo and I think we actually do have 2 different duos. My guess is that somewhere along the way the names were switched (or our lab samples are mislabeled) but I might have the deeper/cooler of the two and you have the warmer one. Without having them both in hand its difficult to say for certain because our swatches are similar, even if the lighting isn’t. This is going to drive me bananas until you have both yours in hand to confirm!

FULL TIME FORD Avatar

Ditto. I am still not sure. I don’t consider what I have in my hands “berry” or “burgundy” which is what someone else described to me, but if your pics are fairly accurate in terms of color mine definitely leans more red, but I would call it a rich rosy red if anything – not really pink or plum.

Vanessa Avatar

I’m going to add to our confusion. I saw the display for the duos today at my Neiman Marcus. The duos weren’t labeled but the display diagram used to set up the display shows the lighter more orange duo as Softcore and the darker more berry one as stroked. They didn’t have the product in stock yet to verify the names.

Vanessa Avatar

I only played a little bit. I wasn’t sure which shade to get so I bought both. I have fair skin with pink undertones but I think I can pull off both colors. Just need to apply with a light touch. I was told today by my Neiman store that they only received a limited quantity of the fall collection and that there wasn’t even enough to fill the wait list. Good thing I was at the top of the list. :0)

Christine Avatar

It’s more like a contouring blush, but it’s not a gray, shadowy shade. It works on cheeks, because it can be diffused upwards as a blush while adding depth right under the cheek bones, but it’s not going to work so well say along the nose.

Valerie Avatar

Hi Christine, I don’t think you make a mistake on the duo cheek name. I went downtown last week (union sq) and pre ordered with Neiman. The SA showed me both duo with the names matched with your post today. I think it is def Tom Ford co mistake on either press sample/new or prod line

Valerie Avatar

First of all, I love both your and Christine blogs.:) super informative and helpful. Yes. I saw your review before I hop down to downtown SF Neiman to order. I’m not quite sure but probably the one you had is Softcore. I remembered swatch in store and told the SA that I have to choose the color. I love the plum/berry one but that color normally don’t look good on me. So I did order to quad and the one on Christine website. The SA showed me both color with the name labels on the back. She also wrote on the receipt that I ordered Stoke (the orangy one). I still think somehow the production line made a mistake and we are now stucked with the wrong names. 🙂

Valerie Avatar

Oh I see your latest post now. It is definitely Softcore. Please tell me I don’t need it. I am so tempted order that one as well 🙂

Valerie Avatar

Love your posts as always. I have a feeling that Mr Ford prob named this as Softcore and the berry one as Stroke. Prob somebody made a mistake on packaging and too costly to correct the mistake and therefore we’re stuck with the wrong name. 🙂 I just hope they don’t have 2 identical duo blushes with different names.

priscilla Avatar

My compliments for your fantastic reviews. Always stunning pictures of the products. And loving this look on you. And what is great, what looks good on your skintone is also perfect for mine. Bud dangerous to buy evering that looks good on you. ;-).

Thank you, alsways helpful. Keep up the good work. Greetz from the Netherlands.

Sylirael Avatar

I like how the ‘apricot’ colour theme is present in both halves! All too often I feel like the highlighter in a set ends up being just a generic ‘champagne’ colour, regardless of the theme of the palette. I could be totally wrong on this, but it’s just a ‘feeling’ I have, LOL!

Was reading the big naming saga down below – such confusion!

Christine Avatar

Confirming that I received both blushes today as ordered from the Chicago Tom Ford Boutique. Softcore is the darker, more red/berry shade and Stroked is the lighter, warmer shade so the shade reviewed in this post is correctly labeled! Yay! 🙂

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