Blog Post Series, Tom Ford Quads I: Purples, #09 Violet Dusk & #04 Crushed Amethyst

I spread the news about the new blog post series yesterday. I aim to cover all the Tom Ford palettes, comparing them within similar colors, trying to help those who would like to decide on which quad to get without being able to swatch it in person. Tom Ford beauty line is full of stunners but unfortunately their beauty counters are rather scarce. In Germany, they can be ordered only from KaDeWe in Berlin. There is no online shopping for TF in Germany therefore you have call the counter to get your items sent to you. Each time a shipping fee of 10 EUR is applied (which I find to be ridiculously high) and at the time of this post, the shipping for orders over 150 EUR is free. The Tom Ford counter in Oberpollinger Munich is long awaited and to the best of my knowledge not opened yet. I am traveling this Thursday to Munich and I will check it out in person to update this post.

If you are following my posts, you may know how much I like a good purple palette. As I decided to purchase one of Tom Ford's purple palettes, I had hard time deciding which one to get. Although there were some reviews of the palettes, I couldn't find a picture of them side by side. There are two permanent purple themed palettes of TF beauty line, called #04 Crushed Amethyst and #09 Violet Dusk side by side. There is also #11 Lavender Lust which has similar shades but is lighter in color and is an asia exclusive, which I am going to cover soon. 

Once put side by side, it is easier to see that Violet Dusk has a vibrant purple (bottom left) shade and one glitter shade (top left) to make it more stand out once applied as opposed to rather understated plums of Crushed Amethyst. Crushed Amethyst also leans all in all more brown, more natural.

Crushed Amethyst on the other hand has a satin white as highlighting shade (top left) which comes handy for inner corner and brow bone as well as layered over other shades to make them appear lighter.  The mid-shade, which is usually applied all over the lid on the upper right of both palettes have similar intensity but Crushed Amethyst's mid-shade is warmer than Violet Dusk's which is cooler and more blue based. Another main difference is how the matte shades are placed. Violet Dusk has a vibrant matte shade which is not very dark ( may not be dark enough for an eye liner application). Crushed Amethyst's darker shade is matte, which in my opinion looks better applied as an eye liner. Violet Dusk has a gorgeous blue based satin dark shade, which can be used to define the look on the crease beautifully. 

Below I applied both palettes to show one example of the final effect. Both can be applied lighter or denser depending on your needs. Below you can see #04 Crushed Amethyst, mid-shade (top right) applied all over the lid, white shade (top left) used as highlighter on inner corner and very lightly on the brow bone. Third shade on the swatches (bottom left) is used to define the outer corner and the crease, together with the darker shade (bottom right) which is also used to set the eye liner (Chanel Grenat) along the upper and lower lash line. I find the final look to be colorful yet wearable which makes this palette the one that I often reach for.

I reach for Violet Dusk to go for a statement look. It is the ultimate party purple smokey eye palette. Also be sure to check out Charlette Tilburry's purple smokey eye make-up tutorial using Violet Dusk, which I recreated for my profile photo (you can see on right corner of the page). Although the photos below make no justice, I included them so that you can get a rough idea. I applied the mid-shade (bottom left) all over the lid, defining it with the vibrant purple and dark shade (bottom left and right). You can stop at this point if you don't like glitters but I think the special effect of the palette comes once the glitter is applied. The best way to apply it is to use your fingers. By doing that tap generous amount of glitter on the mid part of the lid and to the inner corner. You will directly notice the added shiny wet ompf to your vibrant purple smokey eye. Especially under artificial light, it really looks stunning.

Final thoughts: If you are thinking to invest in a purple Tom Ford palette, you may want to think about where you would like to use it. Is it for an special event (Violet Dusk) or would you like to rather use it daily (Crushed Amethyst)? Do you like blue based purple tones (Violet Dusk) or you would rather have a low-key natural plum palette (Crushed Amethyst)? Do you like glitters (Violet Dusk) or you can't picture yourself using them. I hope this comparison was helpful.

Which one is your favorite? Do you own any of those?