Charlotte Tilbury has been a luxury brand I have always wanted to try but never got the chance. ย The brand has been around for a couple years now but wasn’t released in North America until recent years. ย If I’m not mistaken, Charlotte Tilbury was only brought to Canada in 2016. ย There is a lot of hype behind the brand and many swear by some of the products she has to offer. ย When I got the chance to sample these through a PR company, of course I had to accept. ย I know this isn’t the usual world of cosmetics I dabble into but since there isn’t many reviews on the brand and I’m testing it already, might as well document it somehow and share it with you guys, am I right? ๐ ย So let’s get started and see how these high end lipsticks perform.
Full name of product:
Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipstick
Limited edition/ Permanent?:
Permanent
Description of product:
“This is my fail-safe recipe for perfect lipsโฆ Enriched with a breakthrough, secret ingredient, the Lipstick Tree, an anti-oxidant that naturally protects lips from UV damage and external pollution leaving them cashmere soft and irresistible. Blended with special waxes and clever light-diffusing pigments for pert, full-bodied, ultra-brilliant lips that ensure you leave a lasting impression!
K.I.S.S.I.N.G is my signature range of 10 lipsticks curated with modern and classic icons in mind. It is a capsule colour wardrobe of backstage nudes to red carpet reds made to suit any skin tone. Perfect, full, kissable lips really do grow on treesโฆ”
Price:
$32 USD/ $38 CDN
Amount of product:
3.5 g
Duration before expiration:
16 months
Country of Manufacture:
Made in Italy
Where to buy:
Holt Renfrew
Nordstrom
Net-a-port
Bergdorf Goodman
Shades available:
Ingredients:
Penelope Pink:ย OCTYLDODECANOL, POLYBUTENE, PENTAERYTHRITYL TETRAISOSTEARATE, ETHYLENE/PROPYLENE COPOLYMER, CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, VP/HEXADECENE COPOLYMER, DIISOSTEARYL MALATE, SILICA, DICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, HYDROGENATED STYRENE/METHYL STYRENE/INDENE COPOLYMER, OZOKERITE, STEARALKONIUM BENTONITE, PROPYLENE CARBONATE, PENTAERYTHRITYL TETRA-DI-t-BUTYL HYDROXYHYDROCINNAMATE, CRAMBE ABYSSINICA SEED OIL, ETHYL VANILLIN, BIXA ORELLANA SEED EXTRACT, BHT, TIN OXIDE, [MAY CONTAIN/PEUT CONTENIR (+/-): MICA (CI 77019), TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), IRON OXIDES (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI77499), CARMINE (CI 75470), RED 6, RED 7, RED 7 LAKE (CI 15850), RED 28 LAKE (CI 45410), RED 30 LAKE (CI 73360), YELLOW 5 LAKE (CI 19140), YELLOW 6 LAKE (CI 15985), BLUE 1 LAKE (CI 42090)].
Hepburn Honey:ย OCTYLDODECANOL, POLYBUTENE, PENTAERYTHRITYL TETRAISOSTEARATE, ETHYLENE/PROPYLENE COPOLYMER, CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, VP/HEXADECENE COPOLYMER, DIISOSTEARYL MALATE, SILICA, DICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, HYDROGENATED STYRENE/METHYL STYRENE/INDENE COPOLYMER, OZOKERITE, STEARALKONIUM BENTONITE, PROPYLENE CARBONATE, PENTAERYTHRITYL TETRA-DI-t-BUTYL HYDROXYHYDROCINNAMATE, CRAMBE ABYSSINICA SEED OIL, ETHYL VANILLIN, BIXA ORELLANA SEED EXTRACT, BHT, TIN OXIDE, [MAY CONTAIN/PEUT CONTENIR (+/-): MICA (CI 77019), TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), IRON OXIDES (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI77499), CARMINE (CI 75470), RED 6, RED 7, RED 7 LAKE (CI 15850), RED 28 LAKE (CI 45410), RED 30 LAKE (CI 73360), YELLOW 5 LAKE (CI 19140), YELLOW 6 LAKE (CI 15985), BLUE 1 LAKE (CI 42090)].
Product packaging:
From the looks of Charlotte Tilbury as a brand, she bases her whole concept around old Hollywood glamour, with the very vintage feel to her packaging. ย Rose gold packaging is the signature look and these lipsticks are no exception. Each of the lipsticks come in a weighty rose gold metal lipstick case with the signature CT on embossed into the top of the lid. Popping off the lid, the lipstick bullet is housed inside and the tube seamlessly glides up and down to your connivence.
Near the top of the lipstick case has Charlotte Tilbury faintly etched into the rose gold case. ย On the bottom of the case, there is a label with the shade name, where it is made, brand name and how many months until it is expired. ย The overall packaging and the feel of the lipstick definitely screams luxury but these do not weigh as much as a YSL touchรฉ eclat lipstick which can get quite heavy if you were to carry a couple in your bag.
Color/ Pigmentation:
I can’t really speak too much about the pigmentation since I was sent two nude shades. ย If only I had one of the darker shades like night crimson or something, that would be a great shade to test out its pigmentation. ย On the back of my hand, these glide into the skin effortlessly, silky and is very pigmented. ย On the lips, these took about a swipe and a half to get the desired look.
I was sent Hepburn Honey and Penelope Pink. ย I honestly thought they accidently sent me two of the same shade since in the tube, they look super similar. ย Swatched, they are definitely different. ย Hepburn Honey is a warm toned muted brownish rose shade and Penelope Pink is a warm toned pink shade with a hint of brown undertone.
Okay let’s try these lipsticks!
Here are my bare lips. ย They aren’t super dry but there is bits of dry skin on the left side. ย I can’t win honestly. ย I do lip scrubs, moisturize my lips religiously but it still gets dry :S. ย When I buy lip colours, I always look for if the product will cling onto my dry patches because that drives me nuts!
So this is the Hepburn Honey swatch on the website. ย Now let’s compare it with a real life swatch. ย In the promo picture, it looks like tomb stone brownish shade…
On the lips, in real life (not at a graveyard), The shade looks less brown but still mutes out the reddish in my lips. ย Unfortunately for me, the shade is not flattering to my complexion since it is way too brown and does not match my super yellow undertone.
The promo Penelope pink shade looks almost the same thing as Hepburn Honey but not so gray and a lot warmer. ย On the Charlotte Tilbury website, they have 10 different women, all with different ethnicity and skintones which is super helpful since the color looks a lot more true to colour. ย You can also determine if the shade would work well with your complexion.
Penelope pink on my lips looks pinker than Hepburn Honey but not like a baby pink shade. ย It still leans towards a deeper nude, something I actually enjoy a lot more then those super light pink shade that gives my whole complexion, this cheap “I’m using kid’s makeup” type of look. ย This shade looks a lot better with my complexion and I’d definitely see myself using this shade if I have a heavier eye look or even just an every day “my lips but better” type of colour.
Texture/ Finish:
The texture of these lipsticks is definitely creamy and with one swipe, you get the full pigmentation. ย Unfortunately, the formula isn’t moisturizing enough for my dry lips which causes the lipstick to cling to any unevenness on the lips which is an unpleasant look. ย The finish of this lipstick isn’t too glossy, just the usual lipstick look with a hint of a hydrated lip look. ย I personally really enjoy YSL’s lipsticks since they are pigmented and hydrating enough so that even if I do have dry lips, it never clings onto my dry patches. ย I’m quite disappointed with Charlotte Tilbury lipsticks honestly. ย The colors and texture is nice, but you would pretty much only be able to use this if you have perfect-condition lips which I know, isn’t something that a lot of people have. ย I mean I’d get frustrated right away if I end up having to dab on the lipstick with my finger to get a decent look.
Lasting power:
These lipsticks last the average lipstick time, about 2-3 hours max if you don’t lick your lips or eat. ย These do transfer if you are to drink something out of a cup.
Fragrance?:
To my surprise, this lipstick has the same scent as Mac lipsticks, that vanilla scent. ย The ones from Charlotte Tilbury has about half the amount of vanilla so it doesn’t make me want to throw up and you’d really have to put the lipstick bullet up to your nose to really smell the vanilla. ย Smell-o-scale: 5/10 in terms of the strength of the scent.
Pro:
-pigmented
-creamy
-gorgeous packaging
Con:
-clings onto dry patches
Repurchase?:
Most likely not.
Stars given out of 5:
โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
Overall thoughts:
I have to honestly say, I’m not too horribly impressed with these “fail-safe recipe” lipsticks. Yes, they do have gorgeous packaging to them, something that definitely feels and screams luxury but what is most important is the lipstick itself. ย Maybe this is just my experience but for $32, I expect these to be flawless, adhere to my lips with no problem and definitely shouldn’t cling onto my dry patches. If I could do it all over again and got to pick my own shades, I would have picked something like “stoned rose”, “so Marilyn” and “velvet underground”. ย I have a feeling, maybe because the shade sent to me was the super beige nude shades, maybe that is why it looked more uneven. ย Overall I wasn’t too impressed with these lipsticks since the formulation was just average and I definitely could not justify the hefty price tag.
