Shade & Illuminate Highlighter & Shader Duet

I know, I know I am in the minority here, but I am makeup artist and contouring is an essential skill for my profession and this folks does not do the trick. First off, the dark shade is far too warm and too sheer as well as not long lasting, the highlighter is so sheer it is barely visible. Yes the texture is lovely and sheer and easy to apply but what's the point if the end result is off or short lived. There are so many great contour/highlight products on the market, both cream and powder, that this just does not hold up even when compared to the garden variety brands.

I have NC 20 skin and purchased this product in Intensity One. The product comes in a protective dark brown velvet pouch. After slipping it out, you'll see that the product case is glossy, and fingerprints show up easily. However, the packaging feels pretty weighty and well-made. The product case has a magnetic closure. Upon opening the case, you'll see a large mirror built on the top half and the two-part creme contour on the bottom half. The texture of both the illuminate portion and the contour portion is very creamy/emollient. The illuminate portion swatches as a pearlescent sheen with no color. The contour portion swatches as a matte chocolate brown. I found the product easy to work with due to the creamy texture. However, the product's creamy texture also moves any makeup underneath it. This can make contouring look messy, so I personally ended up using the illuminate portion more than the contour portion of the product. I also purchased Tom Ford's Shade & Illuminate Brush to use with this product. I felt that this brush worked well for applying the product, but I needed to use another (more fluffy) brush to buff out the application. The result did end up quite natural. Overall, I would recommend this product to people who don't have oily skin. I don't view this as a must-have product, but I do think it's worth trying out if you're looking for a more unique contouring product.

I have fair skin so I must be very careful with bronzers as they can end up looking like I have a brown stripe down my face. Because I am over 50, I need to be careful with highlighters as they tend to be too sparkly and illuminate wrinkles, especially around the eyes. Once again, the investment in Tom Ford makeup is totally worth it. I use Intensity One with the TF Shader and Illuminator Brush. The brush seems stiff and hard to use at first but it applies the contour product perfectly. For a more subtle effect I use the top of the brush and achieve a very thin line for contour. Using the brush on the side gives a wider contour underneath the cheekbone. Then, I take the TF Cream Foundation brush and blend, blend, blend in an upward motion. For the highlighter, I put a dab on my hand and warm it up and then dab it on to the upper part of the cheekbone and blend. A little goes a long way. It's also divine underneath the eyebrow for highlighting. The TF Blushes in Frantic Pink and Love Lust are wonderful brushed on top or it is a stunning look left without blush as well. This is not a slap on and go product. It takes time to work it in but it gives a "killer cheekbone" look. In addition, it is creamy and looks more natural than powder and it is not too dark or too orange so that it truly looks like your cheekbone structure and not makeup! It requires patience in terms of blending it in but it is well worth the effort! I think for fair skin it is best as an evening look rather than day time. For daytime the TF Bronzing Powder in Shade One is perfect. It is very light and natural.

I bought in shade 1 and have fair skin. Pros: The palette is large, and very masculine looking but solid in construction. Cons: The dark color was way too dark for my skin tone. I would need to mix / match / do too much work to make this work with my skin tone without looking weird. It does not dry to a nice powder finish either. Felt greasy. The light highlighting color I used more often, about 4X more than the dark. It too was greasy. I switched to Becca Skin Illuminating perfecter. Yes that too is expensive, but works so much better. I put a few drops into those small make up sample jars (I buy online) they have at the cosmetic stores, and keep in my make up bag. That way I don't have to carry around huge bottles or huge compacts. BOTTOM LINE: This may work for a MUA, but is not practical for every day make up sans you want shine on your face that is not subtle, and very dark contour brown on your face, that is best applied with a bronzer for a natural mistake proof effect. I ended up tossing this using about 1/4 of the product. I toss out cream make up in 8 - 12 months; as that is the shelf life. Sad as I wasted quite a bit of money and my Becca sealed in a pump looks great, and lasts until I pump out the last amount. My brown powder / bronzer / lasts years and years. I do not recommend. I think Tom Ford make up is way over rated.

I bought this product online and afraid I was going to return it and thought it was not worth $77. I was wrong. It's very glamorous but subtle and very wearable. No glitters! Trust me.. For someone (me) who doesn't like "make up" this product is a gift sent from heaven. I love the packaging and the size is fairly generous. The texture is AMAZING! It'll last me for a while. I'm NC42 with prominent South Asian features; high check bones, wide nose bridge and thick lips. I'm not crazy about contouring as it looked too "made up" on me but using TF's shade and illuminate had changed the way I do my make up. I don't wear foundation, powder, and only use concealer sporadically. I've ditched a few things in my make up bag after using TF shade and illuminate .. These days, I only apply Naked tinted moisterizer, TF shade and illuminate, and a touch of Nars' multiple in Napali and apply another lightly dabs of the highlighter (illuminate) for that sun-kissed look... and I'm out the door. It's very subtle and I get that pre-natal glow look!! You really have to know how to apply and pray that either shade 1 or shade 2 will match with your skin perfectly.. in this case, shade 2 was perfect for me. If it's too light, I believe it won't work as well and if it's too dark it'll look weird. I've seen it on others, it looked a tad tacky.