Tom Ford Solar Exposure Palette

Thursday, July 6, 2017

Good evening!

I'm having trouble falling asleep tonight, so I thought it was about time that I wrote up my review of the face palette that I've been using all summer. I purchased Tom Ford Solar Exposure a few months ago and it was hard saving it for my vacation, I wanted to use it constantly.

This was the only makeup item I brought to Thailand, other than a stick of foundation. It served me well!

Purchasing this actually didn't go very smoothly. There was a mixup between Solar Exposure and Soleil Warm. They look similar, you can see how they could be mistaken for each other but they're actually different products entirely.

The packaging is 10/10. It's sleek, sexy beyond belief. I'm going a little apeshit for the crisp white against that bold gold. I love the smooth magnetic closure that keeps the palette closed, and adore how there's no space wasted on dinky little applicators.

Swatches over foundation and primer.

Four shadows accompanying a blush and a highlighter. The blush is pinky peach with chunky gold sparkle. The highlighter is an ivory high sheen pearl. The shadows include a vanilla pearl, a warm light brown glitter, a warm metallic taupe, and a matte/satin brown with silver glitter particles.

The blush, highlighter, and shimmery shadows are exceedingly buttery. They don't stick to bare skin well at all, I couldn't even swatch them without a foundation base. They kick more dust than I would like, even if it is silicone-y and fluffy dust. The matte brown with the silver glitter is quite dry and the glitter falls out pretty much completely when applied with a brush. The brown is close enough to my brows that I used it for a brow powder and was able to bring just this palette for the entire week.

I don't do anything exciting with this palette, just do a light catching looking where I apply a little of the vanilla pearl under my brow bone and in the inner corner, sweep the shimmery taupe all over the lid, darken a little with the brown, and finally tap some of the light brown glitter on the center of the lid. I darkened the lashline with a black pencil liner. For night time, I layered even more of the glitter on top of the lid and added false lashes.

Left to right: NARS Orgasm, TF Solar Exposure blush, Kevyn Aucoin Celestial Powder Candlelight, TF Solar Exposure highlighter

Nothing I own is really close to the blush and highlighter shades in this palette. I thought NARS Orgasm would be close, but the pink base is much deeper and the gold is a more yellow sheen whereas Solar Exposure has chunkier glitter. KA Candlelight (reviewed here) is much more satin than Solar Exposure highlighter, and way less pearlescent. TF Solar Exposure highlighter is SO much more intensely shimmery in comparison. Blindingly so.

I don't really feel like I have any business owning a highlighter that is so reflective. I use it VERY very sparingly, or else it really accentuates the poor skin texture, particularly around my nose. Thanks to a tip from Carissa, I've been using a foundation brush (one of those synthetic toothbrush looking ones) to really blend and work in my highlighter, it looks miles better than sweeping it across my skin, that seems to really look rough. I used the highlighter quite a bit on my mom last month when she asked me to do her makeup. Although her skin texture is a big concern for her (wrinkles, not enlarged pores), a very light application gave her a really dainty glow. I've been applying the blush like usual, I've been favoring my Shoushoulang Ebony W207 lately.

While the colors and finishes in this palette are not must-haves, unique, etc but they do wear nicely and I like how radiant it made me (and my mom!) look. The highlighter is so creamy, it's hard to believe that it's a powder product.

If you're in the position to treat yourself with something special, a palette like Solar Exposure might be just your thing. I'm not crazy with the formula of one of the shades (that brown is just so disappointing) but have used the other three shadows and the cheek shades more than enough to make up for it. This is the first blush I've owned that's acquired a dip in the pan in such a short time! I'm not going to attempt to convince you of the worth of these shadows and cheek products, as there are definitely fine products at every price point that would satisfy any makeup maven, not just at $100+.

Tom Ford is Solar Exposure is $155 and available from Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.

Product featured was purchased by me. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.