Recently, I revisited USA-to-Australia forwarding options – not because it’s any cheaper for us to buy from the US (not anymore… thanks AUD exchange rate, you a-hole) but I was becoming increasingly frustrated with delayed Australian cosmetics releases. As a blogger, it’s a massive disadvantage to be receiving ‘new’ collections 6 months after the rest of the world, if indeed we receive those collections at all.

NB for my Australian readers: I used PriceUSA, which actually purchases on your behalf (cost is then direct deposited or transferred by Paypal) and the service was impeccable – great communication and no sales tax. No affiliation, calm your farm. I also tried ShipItTo but encountered issues ordering from US online retailers, as most require the postage address to match billing address (which defeats the purpose entirely!).

Anywho, I decided to trial the PriceUSA service with a HELLA pricy haul… with my fingers crossed, hoping they didn’t run off with all my moneys.

But then it turned up on my doorstep and all was well in the world of Karima. I know I’m flying to the US in a week but this was for SCIENCE okay… Let’s start with the Tom Ford, yus?

I’ve tried everything on a handful of occasions so I’ll add some first impressions.

Tom Ford – Illuminating Primer // More emollient than the Burberry Fresh Glow Fluid. Smells like decayed rubber but I can look past that.

Tom Ford – Traceless Perfecting Foundation in Fawn // Fawn is actually relatively olive! Hallelujah! It’s about an NC25 in depth and exhibits fabulous longevity and a medium buildable coverage.

Tom Ford – Bronzer in Gold Dust // Hmm not sure how I feel about this one… I dusted it over powdered skin with a Chikuhodo Z4 and it still managed to apply a little patchy. It’s also pulls quite orange on my colouring, and not a Guerlain-orange-but-still-beautiful kinda way. Also random flecks of glitter? On the fence, will report back.

Tom Ford – Cream & Powder Eye Colors in Midnight Sea, Naked Bronze and Black Oyster // The fourth and final shade in the Summer 2015 collection, Golden Peach, was out of stock. All but Black Oyster feature repromotes of previous Cream Color for Eyes eyeshadows but I picked them up anyway because it’s one of my all-time favourite formulas.

I’ve happily worn the creams alone but they’re even prettier when paired with the corresponding eyeshadow. Purely based on first impressions, I’m not sure that the glitter compacts offer as much impact as the glitter shades in the Tom Ford Eyeshadow palettes (Cognac Sable features a superb copper) but I’m pleased to own them all the same.

Now onto the Charlotte Tilbury…

Charlotte Tilbury – Airbrush Flawless Powder in Medium // A decent match for my light to medium skintone but in practice, the coverage is negligible, it acts as a translucent powder. Mutes any serious shine while diffusing the appearance of pores although I’m still partial to my Rouge Bunny Rouge Diaphanous Finishing Powder, time will tell!

Charlotte Tilbury – Rock ‘N’ Kohl Eye Pencil in Bedroom Black // Opaque on first swipe, creamy in texture and a bit of playtime before setting. I am yet to test it for longevity but you’ll be the first to know my verdict 😉

Charlotte Tilbury – Eyes to Mesmerise in Bette and Veruschka // Anything on the market that resembles the Tom Ford Cream Color for Eyes, I must own and test.

So far, I can tell that the Charlotte Tilbury counterparts require an extra layer to develop the same opacity as the Tom Ford creams. Both formulas are rather wet and set slowly – plenty of time to diffuse edges. If you struggle with oily lids, creasing or longevity, I suspect that both Tom Ford and Charlotte Tilbury creams will melt off your eyes – they don’t set to a bulletproof finish.

My dry lids welcome the extra slip; super duper long wearing cream shadows are often problematic on drier skin types, where there is insufficient oils on the skin to aid blending.

MAC – Pro Longwear Nourishing Waterproof Foundation in NC20 // Final wildcard purchase. I am hoping to film a first impressions video on this foundation so I am yet to try it! If you have had the chance to play with this new formula, leave your thoughts in the comments 🙂

Hope you enjoyed the post! I’m not generally one to indulge in haul-types-of-content but I figure this is valuable; by the time I’ve tested a product extensively and compiled a post, the product is old news!

xxkarima