tl;dr: Tom Ford's Lips & Boys Lipstick in Jack and William

Lips & Boys: Jack (left) and William (right)

Lips & Boys: William (right) and Jack (left)

Swatches of William (right) and Jack (left)

Wearing William (could I look anymore miserable?)

Wearing Jack

So many boys -- baddies, goodies, loners, exhibitionists, simpletons, nerds, freaks, hotties, cuties, narcissists, liars, heartbreakers, flirts.. the list goes on. Jack and William, they both wooed me during an intense swatch session so much that I smuggled them home in my suitcase.

Do you know Jack?

• Of the Fuchsia to Magenta Family
• Creamy
• The big spoon to the little one
• Lasts for six hours
• Loud, but never obnoxious

William? I could just kill him..

• Of the Metallic Family
• Manspreader 
• Wears unevenly
• Pash and dash
• Exotic looking, but when you hover near him you notice he wreaks of garlic
• Wash his number off your hand

Vanilla scented, smaller in size (clutch-sized), and please try before you buy.

Lips & Boys, they're all the rage. Just keep in mind some don't behave as well as they ought to.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Tom Ford's Lips & Boys:

• $45.00 AUS / $32.00 USD

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

• Jack: 8 out of 10 bags — likes long walks on the beach.
• William: 2 out of 10 bags —  all talk and, no action.

Would another purchase be on the horizon?:

• Hey now, Giacomo.

Lipstick week

A handful of my recent purchases

Apologies for my recent absence. Between my post-holiday crash and burn, and my return to work my mind increasingly became muddled, overwhelmed, and unable to grasp ahold of the words.

The words, why do you escape me?

This week let's take a closer look at some of the lip products I picked up during my trip to Hawaii.

Recycled beauty: Tom Ford's Lip Color in Aphrodisiac

Tom Ford's Aphrodisiac

Released many moons ago as part of the Jardin Noir collection, Tom Ford's unrelenting tomfoolery yielded one of my all-time favourite makeup releases

I wouldn't shell out $65.00 on any old tube of lipstick.

Yet, for as much as I was smitten, I stowed Aphrodisiac away for a long, long while -- I don't know if this has ever happened to you. But let me tell you, stumbling upon it was like finding a Golden Ticket.

Aphrodisiac (limited edition) isn't for everyone. It's bright or at least that's what my boss thinks, told me so himself. I would describe Aphrodisiac as a bright magenta, with varying undertones of blue and red, it all depends on the lighting. Honestly, I don't think I fully and accurately captured Aphrodisiac's intensity.

For the price alone, you're probably wondering what makes this particular shade so great. Well, up until now it's unlike anything I've ever seen in tube form. The finish is creamy and lustrous. It lasts well over eight hours on my lips with minimal chapstick touch-ups and finally, the subtle vanilla scent punctuates this rediscovered treasure.

Break me off a piece of that!

Swatch of Aphrodisiac 

Going further, in an effort to justify such an extravagant purchase, I'd like to demonstrate Aphrodisiac's versatility. You can even try this with any super pigmented lipstick.

A whisper of colour

To achieve a light wash of colour simply dab all over your lips.

Ka-pow!

For full opacity apply as normal. It doesn't take much effort to go from 1 to 10 in the colour spectrum.

And to those who think they could never wear a shade similar to Aphrodisiac, think again.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Tom Ford's Lip Color in Aphrodisiac:

• $65.00 AUS / $49.00 USD 

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

• 10 out of 10 bags — Tom Ford knows what he's doing.

Would another purchase be on the horizon?:

• Can I haz them all?

Tom Ford's Narcissist and Aprhrodisiac

I apologised to the lovely Tom Ford makeup artist for stalking the counter for the past week. Yesterday my perseverance paid off -- I toted away Narcissist and Aphrodisiac for my personal consumption. Both colours are part of a limited edition collection called Jardin Noir (Black Garden). Methinks Tom Ford drew inspiration from his private blend fragrances: Narcissus, Hyacinth, Rose and Lily -- four romantic aromas to tantalise our senses.

I'm a touch obsessed, can't you tell?

Narcissist and Aphrodisiac are a perfect match. I feel like Jeremy Piven's character from Rush Hour 2, "Croc skin! Buttercream, buttercream, croc skin!" Luxurious, decadent and forbidden.

Excuse the frizz; I couldn't be bothered with doing my hair on a holiday.

Yes, today is a holiday. We (used loosely here) are celebrating the race which stops the nation, well, Melbourne really. Chamilla is here, a.k.a. Prince Charles and Camilla, as well as Mishca Barton and Aussie-born Rose Byrne.