We all have a crush or two don’t we?
That overwhelming feeling that if you could pick who you could be, you’d be them?
I have a list. When I grow up, I want to be a cross between Helen Mirren, Amy Poehler, Tilda Swinton and Beatrix Ost. so much so, I have a whole Pinterest board devoted to these inspirations.
And now I have a new one to add. Charlotte Tilbury.
I met her at a Selfridges beauty event, where a host of beauty bloggers (and me, I fully recognise I’m not one) got to look at her new make up collection and meet the lady herself. This lady has toured the world creating the visages of celebrities, Hollywood Royalty and Supermodels, and she is, quite plainly, gorgeous.
I mean, just look at her. Proper glamour.
She has a few years on me (not that many mind), but as a lady who travels all the time, likes good food, a glass of wine or two, is never our of her stillettoes and has two young children (one only born in July) the woman looks amazing.
And if that weren’t enough, she’s also a savvy lady. She’s taken the skills learned through 20 years of making up the rich and famous, to show us how to do it. Decoding is the key word for Charlotte when it comes to make up. Showing all of us how to achieve the looks she uses on Kate Moss, Penelope Cruz and Rhianna. I was certainly intrigued – I freely admit, that though I wear make up daily, I can be incredibly lazy with it. It’s a daily battle with my need to cover up dark circles and blemishes, and my need for things to be quick and easy.
The range is designed to suit everyone. Even on the make up counter, the model in every image is the same model, only her make up differs – giving you or I a great idea of what a different colour can do.
Everything down to the eye palette has a method to it, to make your skin even, your eye colour pop, and your lips luscious.
Even I can manage this.
And just in case I can’t, all the videos on how to apply everything are accessible on Charlotte’s website, whether you’ve bought the product or not. Open source make up guides. I can get behind this.
But the question remains. What is the make up actually like?
On the day we got to play a little with some of the samples. There’s Charlotte’s Miracle Cream which sinks into the skin beautifully and contains ingredients that moisturise and hydrate, soothe and soften the skin. Just using a dab on the back of my hand gave visible results.
And the Wonderglow primer and Light Wonder foundation are incredibly light and, though I’ve yet to try it on my face directly, on the swatch on the back of my hand, hid marks well, while still being comfortable and not too matte.
Additionally, each of us attendees got a couple of samples to try. An eyeshadow palette – mine was Golden Goddess (despite me being anything but), Amethyst Aphrodisiac Colour Chameleon eyeshadow pencil, Pillow Talk lip liner and Bond Girl Matt Revolution lipstick.
And this was where things got really clever. Someone, during the chat and meet with Charlotte had picked up on our eye colour. You see the colours are matched to your eyes. So Colour Chamelon in Amethyst Aphrodisiac is going to make my green eyes stand out.
As you can see, in both artificial and natural light, the effect is rather good. And it’s incredibly easy to apply. The make up is so finely milled it’s soft and gentle – all you need is a soft brush. No dragging of the eyeshadow pencil across the eye, it goes on like butter, is workable for around 30-40 seconds before it settles and stays put for 10 hours or so. Long enough for me to get through a day at work and then some.
The lip liner too, goes on beautifully, and the lipstick, though matt is also buttery in texture, meaning, as someone who chews their lips (yes, I know, dreadful habit), it doesn’t irritate or make them dry.
The only issue I found and perhaps it’s just me and my lack of day to day makeup, but I found that if I wore the eyeshadow heavier and added the lips, it was too much. I looked like I’d been playing in my mum’s make up box. A bit like a painted doll.
And although I love that the colours are matched to your eye colour, I found them very reminiscent of the 1990s – yes I know, showing my age. I would love to see other options than these – Perhaps a larger palette to play with but that has the same quality as the smaller ones would be a lot of fun and take us away from what feels like the current fashion trend.
That said, you cannot deny the quality of the products and as soon as I’ve finished my current batch of foundation, I’m going to splurge and try Charlotte’s range – a big change for someone who’s been using the same mineral foundation for 3 years!
And I love the idea of these interactive kits – including video in the lid of the gift box.
Your own personal Charlotte Tilbury in a box, as well as everything to recreate the look.
I suspect I may be sending a last minute request to Santa…
With thanks to Charlotte, her team and Selfridges. The items mentioned in this blog post were given to me to review. As ever, any review doesn’t ensure a positive review and, though I love the products quality, I have some issues with the palette and lipstick combined as the colours are a little heavy for my features.