RapidReviews Charlotte Tilbury Newness
RapidReviews is a series in this blog where I provide quick reviews of new products. Longer posts of curated edits (which are my favourite thing to do) can be found outside this series on the rest of the blog.
Charlotte Tilbury has come out with some delicious new products in the last month and I wanted to do a quick roundup of this newness to share my thoughts and swatches (since it’s hard to sample products in person these days!).
First up is the Charlotte Tilbury Superstar Glow Highlighter. A limited edition offering, this highlighter appears more pink in the pan than on the skin. On the skin it is a pink-bronze; with definitely more gold-bronze in it than pink. This is a soft, smooth powder that goes onto skin looking a little forebodingly dry but ends up blending beautifully once I buffed out the edges with a brush. This highlighter is meant for both the face and body - which would make sense given that it’s massive! While the packaging looks beautiful - I thought it resembles a silver oyster - it doesn’t feel quite as luxurious in my hand. That could be because the material it is made of doesn’t feel very heavy or substantial in my hand ( and I don’t think it is of the best quality either). But hey - as long as you don’t pick it up, it can pass for a really fancy object on your dressing table. While this is a beautiful highlighter, if you didn’t manage to buy it before it sold out, you shouldn’t feel too bad - I would have preferred it to be slightly pinker in order to really differentiate it from the billions of gold-bronze highlighters on the market, and slightly better quality packaging to justify its price tag. Overall, while a beautiful product, I am sure you can find very similar if not exactly the same highlighters from other brands (swatches below).
Next up are the brand new Charlotte Tilbury Jewel Pots and if you want them, I suggest you buy them asap given that Charlotte Tilbury’s new offerings seem to get sold out fast. I am generally a sparkly/glittery eyeshadow lover so I was very excited to try these. This formula is very different from her regular cream eyeshadows that are more creamy and mousselike. These are stiffer formulas, packed tightly, and while you can apply them with fingers or a brush, I prefer a brush when I want more payoff and fingers when I want a light wash. The base is pigmented enough, but the sparkles and glitter is more evident on my eyes when I use a brush - which would be different from say, the Hourglass Scattered Light shadows for example, that deliver a lot of sparkle no matter how you use them. I think these would probably be classified as true “grown-up” sparkly shadows though to be honest, is there any such thing as “grown-up” makeup?! Makeup should be fun, it should give you joy - and if super sparkly, glittering eye shadows give you that (as they do me), I say more power to you and who cares how young or old you are. But for the days we want a subtler sparkle (and by subtle, I mean subtle for me which will probably still be very sparkly for many), these are perfect.
They come in two shades - Walk of No Shame (what a great name!) - and Pillow Talk. The Walk of No Shame is a warmer, coppery-rust-gold; and the Pillow Talk is a marginally cooler pink with bits of gold and silver sparkles spun through it. The Pillow Talk is definitely more visibly glitzy when I apply it on my eyes. I had to work more with Walk of no Shame to get the glitter to its rightful visual glory. Applied, they stand true to Charlotte Tilbury magic - they look instantly blended, polished, impossibly chic. I prefer the Pillow Talk - mostly because I love pink eyeshadows but also because I think it is a bit more unique in hue and tone than the Walk of No Shame - but, if you like warmer, coppery tones more, you will probably prefer the latter. (swatched below)
Finally, I want to talk about the Charlotte Tilbury Lip and Cheek Glow. These are slightly thick, balmy formulas that come in a pot and that you can apply on your lips and cheeks. The wash is sheer and therefore instantly blendable. They come in two colors and I have one of them - Color of Passions - that appears to be out of stock (!). However, the second shade - Color of Dreams - is still available. These Lip and Cheek Glows are, indeed, very glow-y as the balm texture would imply. However, they don’t feel stick, feel comforting when you put them on, and they have impressive lasting power for how emollient they are. Color of Passions appears like a dark plum-brown in the pan but applies less brown and more plum on the cheeks. Is this a truly unique product? No - so don’t sweat it if you couldn’t get this color - but if you are in the market for a balmy sheer wash of blush for the winter that gives you an almost-cheek-pinched look, these are a pretty good deal - and the second shade is still available!
Swatches
In outdoor light, under the sun - frm LtoR: CT Superstar Glow Highlighter, CT Jewel Pot in Pillow Talk, CT Jewel Pot in Walk of No Shame, and CT Lip and Cheek Glow in Color of Passions
In indoor light, under a lamp - frm LtoR: CT Superstar Glow Highlighter, CT Jewel Pot in Pillow Talk, CT Jewel Pot in Walk of No Shame, and CT Lip and Cheek Glow in Color of Passions
In natural light, facing the window frm LtoR: CT Superstar Glow Highlighter, CT Jewel Pot in Pillow Talk, CT Jewel Pot in Walk of No Shame, and CT Lip and Cheek Glow in Color of Passions
I hope you enjoyed this quick review and that it was useful for you! Let me know what you think!
