I wanted a witty title for this one but I’ve got nothing.
My first encounter with Charlotte Tilbury makeup occurred in mid-2015 when I sniffed my way through Selfridges (it’s exactly as you’re imagining- my face on the body of some sort of makeup obsessed bloodhound) until I reached the Charlotte Tilbury counter and scooped up every item on my YouTube-guided wish list.
I’ve spent the last 2 years building up my CT Collection, and while I don’t like to play favourites (I do) I display all of my Charlotte Tilbury makeup on a tray on my dressing table while the rest of it is stored out of sight. With that in mind, you’d be forgiven for thinking I am a bit biased in that I try new CT products and I’ll find a way to love them regardless of whether or not they work- this is not the case. While I do love almost everything she’s created (notable exception being the eye cream), I’ve reviewed her new Hollywood collection as honestly as I review anything. I should also note at this point that while the products were gifted, this is not sponsored in any way.
The Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Collection consists of 10 shades of Hollywood Liquid Lips, a Hollywood Contour Wand, a Hollywood Beauty Light Wand and a Hollywood Complexion Brush- all of which I was introduced to over dinner at Cafe Sydney, and some of which I found later in my room at the QT Sydney patiently waiting for me beside a pair of embroidered silk pyjamas and a mojito in what can only be described as me being a spoilt brat for 24 hours and I do not deserve any of this but I hope this is my life now.
In my hot little hands I have the contour and highlighting wands and liquid lippies in Charlotte Darling (described as “a creamy pink beige nude”), Too Bad I’m Bad (“warm rosy pink”), Dolly Bird (“cool pale pink”) and Screen Siren (“classic ruby red”). Let’s start with the lippies.
I love liquid lipsticks, but I’ve been steering clear of them recently as my lips are going through an unusually dry spell and liquid lippies, particularly of the matte variety, tend to make matters worse. I broke my matte-finish-ban out of eagerness to road test the CT offering, and I can report in all sincerity that they are the creamiest, most hydrating matte liquid lipsticks I have ever used. Charlotte’s team reportedly presented her with a liquid lipstick formula two years ago and she wasn’t happy with it, and the finished product feels well worth that two year wait. I prepped my lips with a little Lanolips before hand and the formula glided on without clinging to any dry spots. They don’t set immediately, which is probably why they feel so much more comfortable on the lips than other liquid formulas, then they dry down to a creamy matte finish. I’ve had a play with the shades in my possession, and the formula feels consistent across all four (I find that formulas can often vary slightly across a shade range- not the case here).
I applied Charlotte Darling at around 9am, went about my day and then flew back to Melbourne in the afternoon and the colour hadn’t chapped off (I know this is a very short flight, but I just need to LOOK at an airplane and any moisture on my skin immediately vanishes). I shot the photo above at around 4.30 in the afternoon after reapplying the colour for photo’s sake, but that’s impressive for ANY lip product let alone a liquid variety. If you follow me on social you know I love the Kylie liquid lipsticks as they feel so much more hydrating to me than the Colour Pop formula- these are another step up from that. Heaven.
I applied the Contour and Highlight at the same time as the lipstick and didn’t touch up all day- not even before snapping (hence why my pores are so open and my eyelashes are…whatever they are). They’re housed in a tube with a sponge-tip applicator, which is a delivery system I’ve never seen for a product like this before, and they are truly amazing. The contour is a chocolatey brown hue that I was worried would be too dark for me as I applied it, but it blends out so beautifully and dries down to an almost powdery consistency. No shimmer either, making it a true contour. I would recommend blending this out with a brush as the dry down happens quite quickly. The highlighter is incredibly pigmented but not in an overly glittery way, and it’s a rose gold in colour which I think would be flattering on a lot of skin tones- I normally opt for champagne hued highlighters, but I’m adding this into my regular highlighter rotation without reservation. I’m finding that the best way to apply this, for me, is onto the back of my hand or mixing palette, applying with my finger then blending out any lines with a stippling brush.
The Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood collection is available in Australia via the Charlotte Tilbury website as of TODAY. Chances of me snapping up the other 6 lip colours? Very high.
