Mermaid Glimmer

Tom Ford Eye Colour Quad in Emerald Lust is a departure from my usual neutrals, but with emerald as Pantone’s 2013 Colour of the Year, now is as good a time as ever to experiment. When it comes to green, I normally opt for goldish khaki shades or deeper, metallic olive greens with a touch of bronze, but rarely venture out of my comfort zone to wear unadulterated, bright colour.

Emerald Lust is one of two new eyeshadow quads from the Tom Ford Fall 2012 collection, the other being the neutral Enchanted. These new quads have been reformulated for wet and dry application, and contain 6g of product compared to 10g in the original release.

Can we take a minute to just admire the packaging? Architectural, slightly masculine and very serious. There’s no cheap frivolity or tacky excess here. In short, it feels and looks expensive.

The quad contains a silvery white with a touch of champagne, a light emerald green with silver sparkles, a blueish teal, and a deep navy with sapphire shimmer. The shadows are imbued with a kind of diamond dust that makes them multifaceted and richly saturated, though I did take 2-3 swipes of each for the opacity pictured. Applied wet, I’m sure they’d be even more intense.

Rather than using all the shades at once, I’d be inclined to concentrate either of the two middle shades on the lid, then blend the edges or crease with a softer neutral for a more wearable look. Lisa Eldridge also showed the colours worn over a darkened navy or black base for a colourful smoky eye. There’s always the option to just use the shadows as green or blue eyeliner for a more understated pop of colour.

Yes, it costs a a small fortune ($100 from David Jones, or £62 less VAT from Harrods), and I’m sure there are plenty of inexpensive near dupes (Wet n Wild Blue Had Me at Hello comes to mind), but there’s no substitute for the undeniable luxe factor of Emerald Lust. That’s the funny thing about pricing — the more prohibitive, the more seemingly attractive and desirable a product becomes. I haven’t ventured very far into the world of prestige cosmetics, but until my next splurge, I can always fantasise about the Cheek Brush, Golden Mink Eye Colour Quad or a Tom Ford lipstick.

(Product was provided to me for review.)