“Oh, hi there!

You have sit in my wishlist ever since I discovered your existence a few years ago. Yes, you. You in that gorgeous shade. I waited for so long before I finally got the opportunity to see you in person and bring you back home with me.

Now that you’re here, let’s fill out this memories book, shall we?”

Call me mad as a hatter but the story is true. I waited, and waited. I hold off getting True Coral for the longest time even though I had a lot of chances. I know it’s going to be mine, but I want to pick this beauty up myself. It needed to be that way.

Tom Ford Lip Color True Coral.

That day, 29 November 2014, I made my way to Lane Crawford Harbour City in Hong Kong, knowing that I’d find the counter there. I walked slowly and sure, swiftly in my gesture, trying to pass through seas of people. It was a Saturday, after all. Apparently it was a common sight according to the Beauty Assistant.

Anyway, I made sure I keep my eyes peeled so I won’t miss it. This was a tremendously challenging task for me, as I am short and I am not comfortable being in crowded places. I get anxious and usually ended up in a massive headache. And this wasn’t just any crowd, it’s the mother of all crowds: women (and men) getting their beauty shopping fix done.

Then I arrived.

Call it a divine intervention, but the counter was empty. Lights above it. As if, good things come to those who wait. As if, that moment was meant for me to earn my reward in peace. Even with the less-than-proper lighting, I spotted it. The one that I had been waiting for.

It just lit.

Who can resist this?!

Without hesitation, not even as much as swatching it, I asked the BA for a new one. To be fair, I got a few others (like its matte sister Pink Tease) but True Coral was the number one on my list. Even if I didn’t get the others, as long as I have True Coral, I’ll be sated.

Because it took me really long to get True Coral, I was in between being sentimental and trying to find the utmost, precise time to use it. I didn’t use it properly until a couple of months ago. The product photos were taken sometime in January 2015 and it just sit in my drawer afterwards. I often like to take a look at it and admire the shade in its untainted bullet. I know the shade itself is going to be phenomenal, but that somehow drew me back to use it.

One day, I just decided that heck, “I’m going to wear True Coral today”.

And it’s everything that I’ve envisioned. It’s just too perfect. I was actually intimidated and after that one initial try, I put it back inside my drawer. A lipstick like this needs to be savored properly.

True Coral is the first Tom Ford lipstick I have that is in the ‘normal’, classic formula. I say normal because the rest of my collection (the ones I’ve tried) is either limited edition, or discontinued. For example, in Black Orchid, as we all know, dark shades tend to be more temperamental. Therefore, I can’t use it as a gauge for the rest of the Tom Ford Lip Color collection. In short, I was walking in the dark here.

After using it for quite some time, I will say True Coral is g.l.o.r.i.o.u.s in almost every way possible. It’s intensely pigmented, richly saturated. Application has never been any easier, one swipe really does cover my lips. That being said, I never wear any lipstick with just one layer, because I won’t be able to get the perfect pout and line. So 2-3 layers with blotting in between is my standard protocol. It has the right amount of creaminess to carry the robust pigment and perfect slip, not too much for it to migrate around. In fact, I don’t find it moves around much and it doesn’t feather.

That first swipe was a slice of heaven. It encapsulates my lips with its sexy, ultra smooth texture and a luminous finish. It magnetizes itself to my lips. I suppose whatever-magic of soja seed extract, Brazilian murumuru butter and chamomile flower oil in the formula really hit the note on this one. I want to bathe in its smoothness (sans the pigment, obviously) and its sweet-soft-smelling vanilla scent. Sigh. Pure luxury in a bullet.

Wear time is considered to be fantastic in my book. A plus point is that True Coral stains my lips like a baws. To be honest, with a color like this and such a stellar formula, I want to wear this head-on, full blown all the freaking time! So I quite often find myself touching up just so I can have that sheer coral perfection all day long. True Coral is destined to be a star in its own birth right.

Oh, Tom Ford, what have you done to me.

There’s a reason it’s named True Coral.

It really has the perfect balance of coral. Not too yellow, orange, pink or red. It sits right there in the middle, making it my favorite coral shade, ever. I think corals can be a hit and miss from time to time. In my opinion, the tell-tale of a true coral shade (no pun intended) is the way it lit up in different lighting. The brightness and the way it stands out is really what sets it apart from those faux impostors.

Of course, corals are possibly the hardest shades to be captured in photos and they show up differently on different screens. Ugh, the frustrations! And it’s kind of pointless to explain it because you just have to see it for yourself. True Coral is beyond words, I am not eloquent enough to describe the glorious-ness.

The photo above was taken on my “what the heck Imma wear True Coral“-day. Its first grand day out. Pardon the low light and the fuzziness. It was 4.27 PM and it was cloudy and drizzling outside. I didn’t retouch or color correct this photo. But it proves my point. True Coral pops out like no one’s business.

I may be partial to my reds, but corals have a special place in my heart. I remember when I showed this to my girlfriend Attika, she said that corals are made for my skin tone (or the other way around? Something like sort). In my eyes, True Coral gives an enlivening effect that is unrivaled and completely unattainable by the reds, or any other bright colors for that matter.

True Coral, undoubtedly, currently sits on the highest throne.

Moral of the story? It was worth the wait, every second and every cent.