I am taking a mini-breather from Instagramming, not for lack of inspiration (after all, when in doubt, just choose a brand and SPAM at will isn’t it?!) but I’m anti-establishment.  The latest change in algorithm favours those who just keep spamming feed over those who are genuinely building community.  Call it old-school blogger sensibilities perhaps, but where has the real interest in people’s opinions gone?  It’s all wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am these days.

But i’m still very much there, just testing out my theory that investing in relationships will lead me farther in the long run.  So feel free to DM me or leave me a good ole-comment, and let’s get a real conversation going!  Meanwhile, I’ve gone back and forth, experimenting with some Tom Fords.  I know, it’s all about those sexy Soleil Collection [reviewed here, here & here!] at the moment, and I’m even ogling at the coming Fall sneak…. but I still have at least 2 more of the recently released Tom Ford Eye Color Quads to show you.  And I thought it’d be nice to talk about getting some cool eyes with Lilac Dream!

I think when Tom Ford designed Lilac Dream, it was meant to be an Instagram killer.  I mean, pink + purple + taupe + shimmer!!  This, along with Honeymoon, is probably the most Instagrammed out of all the 5 new Eye Color Quads that were released.  You simply can’t take a bad photo of Lilac Dream, it is that pretty!

I always love a good mix of textures, and at first glance it seems that Tom Ford has given us precisely that in Lilac Dream.  And for the everyday makeup user, I can definitely see the taupe being very well used.  Even the lilac shade is very wearable and not so purple that it requires hours of blending.

Here’s another perfunctory frontal view of Lilac Dream before it was unsullied by my curious fingers and brushes.  Now let’s take a look at some swatches, shall we?

I would say right off the bat that individually, the taupe and purple, are spectacular shades.  But the swatches did not correspond to what I had instinctively thought I’d get from Lilac Dream, and the finishes were much more frosty then I had expected.

The swatches from top right to bottom left of picture are:

• Bottom left of palette – light-medium cool-toned taupe with a metallic finish
• Top left of palette – light very pale pink that has a strong white base with a frosty finish
• Top right of palette – silver glitter with a semi-translucent base.  As I’ve often stated, such glitters are very common in Tom Ford Eye Color Quads, and are designed to be patted onto the other shades to add some oomph.
• Bottom right of palette – medium purple with some micro-shimmers

I will just be upfront about my thoughts on these shades when I first used it.  Firstly, the taupe comes across much lighter in color than it appears in the pan, and this has to do in large part with its metallic finish.  If you were hoping to use this as a crease blending shade you will be disappointed.  I typically like to keep my colors on the center of my lid and the neutral on the outer wing, but since this applies lighter than the purple on my skin, that arrangement is not possible.  And the “pink” really disappears into my skin, giving me just a flash of frost, so it only serves as an inner corner highlight.  I can’t even apply it under my brow bone as it is way too frosty for that.  Lastly, there is not much range of color intensity from light to dark which limits the use of this palette.

As you all know, I tend to live in my own head quite a fair bit and overanalyse things.  I simply refused to believe that Tom Ford had retired a very popular Lavender Lust [reviewed here] and replaced it with a dud.  So I pulled both out for a comparison, and along the way stumbled upon Chanel Tisse Rhapsodie [reviewed here] which looked very similar in the pan so I included that in the great swatch-a-thon.

I had bought Lavender Lust in the past because I love purple eyeshadows, but even then, I thought it was too monotonal a palette.  On the other hand, the pink shade in Lavender Lust is much more true to a pink than the one in Lilac Dream, and the range of intensities and finishes are wider for greater versatility.

Even though Tisse Rhapsodie looked so similar to Lilac Dream in the pan, it swatches completely different.  There is much better range of colors, and I’m crazy about that dark shimmery charcoal.  Where Lilac Dream erred on the side of frost, Tisse Rhapsodie chose to go more satin with micro-shimmers.  It is all a matter of preferences, and in fact, Lilac Dream is ultra wearable!

Us beauty bloggers tend to overthink things sometimes, it doesn’t hurt to “dumb it down” a little right?  Whoever said you needed to wear all the shades every single time?  So I just went with the flow, and dusted the purple shade all over my lid, letting it sheer out and then dabbed a little of the silver glitter on the center.  Lined lower lash line with taupe and added the pink to my inner corner.  I could have added a touch of black liner, but I went without just to show you how Lilac Dream really looks like unaided.  And to put the look into context:

Tom Ford Lilac Dream does work indeed, and gives that very soft and pretty look effortlessly.  Probably not the most versatile Eye Color Quad I own, and when you have as vast a collection as I do, there isn’t 1 killer shade in there that makes me jump up and want it straight away.  But it is a nice one for those who are just starting to venture into high-end makeup, and for those looking for an easy Spring-to-Summer palette.  Wear the purple all over for spring, and then the taupe all over for summer!  Or use a darkening base to get an evening look.  I do think it is easier to use than Lavender Lust, and a nice addition to Nude Dip.  In terms of quality, I feel Lilac Dream is on par with the rest of the Tom Ford eyeshadows, but I always use a primer anyway as my lids tend to be oily.

Have you picked up Lilac Dream, if so what are your thoughts?

_{This post featured a product that was kindly provided for my consideration.  Regardless, all opinions expressed here are my own honest, unbiased views.}

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