Eye Quad Leopard Sun

1 Review

1. 

   enviousLlama4

   Reply

   Sometimes you hear people say that Tom Ford’s shadows practically blend themselves, and I do find that to be true of Leopard Sun. The colors seem to melt into one another seamlessly, creating a soft sunset look. Emphasis on SUN. It’s warm.

   The first shade, top left, is a yellow gold glitter shade. It’s fine glitter, but top coats like this can still scatter a bit. I use Sonia G.’s Builder Two brush with shadows that are hard to grab. In lieu of that, you can tap it on with your finger.

   The top right shade is a bright sun yellow satin eyeshadow with good pigmentation. It’s vivid and lasts well.

   The bottom left shade is a soft rusty orange that goes on the eyes with a whisper, looking more pastel than it appears in the pan. In some photos it looks burgundy, but it does not appear that way in person. (If you need a burgundy, there is a great one in Charlotte Tilbury’s Dolce Vita.) To get that rusty orange to show up true-to-pan, I had to use eye primer and pack it on. It required more effort to build than the yellow satin shade. Without primer, the orange color had a tendency to fade noticeably. With primer it was better, but still faded on me slightly. It doesn’t fade unpleasantly; it becomes more of a peach.

   The fourth and final shade, bottom right, is a nice golden brown that blends effortlessly, but it’s lighter than the dark chocolate browns I normally use to deepen my crease. It shows up better and lasts longer when I use eye primer. Sometimes I dip into the reddish brown in Tom Ford’s Cocoa Mirage and use it to darken the outer V.

   One of my favorite things about a Tom Ford quad is the compact. It has a sleek look and feels sturdy. There’s a mirror in the lid and they provide a velvet pouch, which I actually do use if I travel. The pouch protects it from getting scratched by other items in my bag. There are little sponge tip applicators that come with the compact. Normally I prefer my brushes, but I have been known to take my Cocoa Mirage quad with me on the plane, especially if I have an important meeting on the other side of that flight. If I need to touch up my shadow, I can do it easily without needing to also pack makeup brushes in my carry-on.

   However, because these shadows are so expensive, I expect more from them. In the future I am going to focus my attention on the quads that are in Tom Ford’s wet/dry formula, which I find somewhat unique to this line. I already own Nude Dip and Honeymoon, and both are long-lasting on my eyelids. I would eventually like to pick up the new Daydream and Virgin Orchid quads, because they are in the same wet/dry formula.

   Leopard Sun is not in the wet/dry formula, and that might be partly why I am not doing backflips over it. The quality is fine (for the most part), the colors are pretty, and the shadows blend smoothly. I’m accustomed to wearing primer under most shadows, so I’m willing to do it with these to improve the longevity. However, this little palette doesn’t blow me away – certainly not with this price tag, and certainly not when I compare it to other warm palettes that are on the market right now. If that sounds harsh, keep in mind that you’re paying $88 for only four shadows. If you’re comfortable with this price point, you might consider the Natasha Denona Sunset palette which has gold, yellow, and orange tones for $129. Yes, that’s even more expensive, but I enjoy that palette much more. With the Sunset palette, you’re getting fifteen different shadows. Natasha gives you some deeper browns and an interesting reddish shade that Leopard Sun lacks. Personally I feel that Natasha Denona’s Sunset palette gives you more variety and better pigmentation overall. Therefore, I would not repurchase Leopard Sun. Nothing against the brand as a whole; I have just had better luck with some of the other products in Tom Ford’s line. I probably would repurchase Cocoa Mirage.

   Cocoa Mirage and Silvered Topaz are two quads I enjoy that are not in the wet/dry formula, yet they worked better for me than Leopard Sun. The shadows in those palettes are consistently true-to-pan, and I have not experienced noticeable fading when wearing them. Unfortunately Silvered Topaz has been discontinued, but Cocoa Mirage is still available.