Charlotte Tilbury Makeup Line: Event Preview with Swatches, Photos, and Thoughts

On Sunday, I had the pleasure of taking a study break to drive down to Santa Monica to preview and swatch Charlotte Tilbury's makeup line thanks to Beautylish. I have been extremely excited for the launch of Charlotte Tilbury ever since it was released and have waited patiently for it to come to the US.

In the post, I have included swatches of a few products, written my thoughts on some, and included a look using one of the Blushers and three of the Lip Products.

Since the post is a long one, I've put everything behind a read more tag!

Overall Thoughts

Before I get to the nitty gritty, I do want to give my broad thoughts on the line. It did seem like most of the colors were geared towards those towards on the light to medium skintone spectrum. This isn't to say that if you've got a deeper skin tone that you should skip the line but keep in mind that the foundations lean light and the blushers are more mid-tone. You won't have a problem with the lip products for the deeper skin tones but I'd love to see an expansion of the face products to cater to tan and deeper skintones. 

The products appear to be housed in plastic or a thin metal because I remember thinking that the line didn't feel as heavy or weighted as I thought a luxury brand would have been. That's not to say the products inside aren't great or that they feel cheap, it's just something to note if you come in with certain expectations. 

Onto the swatches and photos!

Cheek to Chic Blusher

First row: Love Glow, Love is the Drug, The Climax
Second Row: Ecstasy, Sex on Fire

Cheek to Chic Blusher: The line of blushes lean shimmery. There are a few colors (The Climax and Sex on Fire) which weren't as shimmery and The Climax in particular didn't highlight my pores. If you love shimmery blushes, you'll like the range but if you strictly prefer satin or mattes, I'd skip. The Climax also looks scary on Beautylish's website but trust when I say that the color is perfect for medium skin tones. Trisha, a makeup artist with Beautylish recommended Ecstasy, Sex on Fire, and The Climax. The blushers are $40.00
My Pick: The Climax

Colour Chameleon Eyeshadow Pencil

Swatches in natural daylight. One swipe across clean bare skin.

From left to right: Golden Quartz, Smoky Emerald, Dark Pearl, Amber Haze, Amethyst Aphrodisiac, Bronzed Garnet, Champagne Diamonds, Black Diamonds

Colour Chameleon Eyeshadow Pencil: This was product I was most looking forward to and I completely loved most of the colors. Skip Champagne Diamonds and Black Diamonds because both shades are packed with glitter and a little gritty as a result. I purchased Amber Haze, a deep bronze. The shades (excluding Champagne Diamonds and Black Diamonds) were creamy and easy to apply. Work quickly since they dry down within 30 seconds to a minute but they don't budge once dry. Skip if you hate pencils that you have to sharpen. These are $26.00.
My Pick: Amber Haze (which I already bought) and Smoky Emerald

K.I.S.S.I.N.G. Lipstick

(Forgot to take product pictures) Swatches are in natural daylight, one swipe over clean bare skin.

From left to right: Coachella Coral, Stoned Rose, Bitch Perfect, Hepburn Honey, Nude Kate, Penelope Pink, So Marilyn, Night Crimson, Velvet Underground, Love Bite

K.I.S.S.I.N.G. Lipstick: The lipsticks were beautiful. The shade range is heavy on the beiges with a few colorful shades. I especially adored Coachella Coral, a bright pinky coral that may lean watermelon depending on your skintone. Coachella Coral looks real intense in my swatch but it applied lighter on my lips. The pink and reds were very pigmented, the beiges were moderately pigmented but not as intense as the reds. They are expensive at $32.00. Try one or wait for reviews before purchasing.
My Pick: Coachella Coral or Night Crimson

Light Wonder Foundation

Light Wonder Foundation:  If you have a light to medium neutral to cool skintone, you might like the foundation. Skip if you have oily skin or have a medium to tan golden skintone.  A Beautylish artist mentioned that you need to use the Wonderglow primer with the foundation and the difference with and without was obvious. Using Magic Cream and Wonderglow gave a glowy look and helped the foundation meld into the skin but without Magic Cream and Wonderglow, the foundation seemed to sit on the skin. Personally I feel that if a foundation is supposed to go with a specific primer, then they should be sold together so I'm not down for it. 

Swatches are in natural daylight, the foundation was squeezed onto my skin (which is around an NC 35)

I personally found it difficult to find a color match. Fair skintones will find it too dark. I thought the foundations weren't golden enough for my skintone. I tested 5, 6, 7, and 8 but none were a match. There's only one deep shade. Hopefully more shades will be released. This is $45 for 1.4 oz or about $32 an ounce.
My Pick: None since I have oily skin and can't find a match.

Lip Cheat Lip Pencil: I only wore the shade Pink Venus briefly. The formula doesn't seem unique enough to warrant the investment unless there's a shade that you have to have. It applied easily on the lips and didn't get draggy. Skip if you hate pencils that have to be sharpened.
My Pick: None since I'm too cheap to pay $22.00 for a lip pencil

Lip Lustres

From left to right: High Society, Blondie, Seductio, Ibiza Nights, Bardot Beige, Unleash Me, Hall of Fame, Red Vixen, Sweet Stiletto, Portobello Girl, Candy Darling

Lip Lustres: I didn't get to test these lip lustres out long term but these didn't feel overly sticky or uncomfortable on the lips. These are $22.00 each.

Luxury Palette:

The Dolce Vita, The Vintage Vamp, The Sophisticate

The Golden Goddess, The Rock Chick, The Uptown Girl

The Rebel, The Glamour Muse

Luxury Palette: The eyeshadow palettes are a signature item of the line. There are four shades in the palette, an allover Prime shade (top left), an Enhance shade for the outer corner (top right), a Smoke shade to add drama (bottom right), and Pop shade to add sparkle (bottom left).

I preferred the The Sophisticate Palette because it contained all matte eyeshadows. I also liked The Rebel and The Rock Chick because the Pop shade was smoother and finer than the other palettes in the line. I think all the eyeshadows felt pigmented but the price tag of $52 and the fact that the colors are fairly dupable might make you pause. I wouldn't say there's a must-have palette in the line.
My Pick: The Sophisticate if I had the cash

Magic Cream

Magic Cream: I tried out a tiny bit of the Magic Cream but I'm way too cheap to pay $95.00 for a jar of cream.

And lastly, a look using The Climax Cheek to Chic Blusher, Lip Pencil in Pink Venus, K.I.S.S.I.N.G. Lipstick in Coachella Coral, Lip Lustre in Portobello Girl. See? The Climax doesn't look as scary as it seems!

Final Thoughts:

The brand is a luxury brand so the prices are higher than your typical makeup brand. I think the Cheek to Chic and Colour Chameleon Eyeshadow Pencils are worth the price because frankly they're not as dupable as the other products/colors in the line. I wasn't fond of the foundation and I'm not too excited by the lip lustre and lip cheat pencils. The K.I.S.S.I.N.G. are pretty fab. I'd say pick one or two things up now and wait for further reviews before getting more.

I hope you found this overview of the brand useful when it comes to purchasing decisions! I've already bought the Colour Chameleon in Amber Haze and may pick up the Cheek to Chic Blusher in The Climax.

Are you a Charlotte Tilbury fan? Have you/will you pick up anything from the line?