Charlotte Tilbury

Feel the Ecstasy With Charlotte Tilbury: Cheek to Chic Swish & Pop Blusher in Ecstasy

October 24th, 2019 by Karen 16 Comments

I can’t wear Charlotte Tilbury Ecstasy blush without thinking of mid-90s club banger Set U Free.

The way the lead singer breathlessly enunciates the word, “ecstasy,” about a billion times…

Welcome to the decade of my formative years.

Anywho…while I like how long this satiny, peachy pink blush stays on my cheeks, the main thing I love about $40 Ecstasy blush is that I can get it on my cheeks in three minutes, which is about how much time I typically have while Coy-Coy uses the potty, so I can walk out the front door looking like I actually slept eight hours and stretched my hamstrings in the morning. (In other words, with a spring in my step!)

Charlotte recommends doing your blush last to best gauge how little or how much you need, and I agree.

So, here’s my Ecstasy three-minute makeup routine:

Dot Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter all over your face with the wand, and blend it in with fingers.
Curl lashes and coat them with a layer of Charlotte Tilbury Full Fat Lashes Mascara.
Draw a thin line of black liquid liner with Charlotte Tilbury Feline Flick on the upper lash line.
Dust Film Star Bronze & Glow Bronzer into the crease.
Coat lips with CT Pillow Talk Lipstick.
And finally, sweep Ecstasy on those cheekbones!

Don’t you love easy makeup? 😄 And don’t you also love it when Charlotte refers to blush as “blusher”?! (Or am I the only one?)

Charlotte designed Ecstasy (and this goes for all of her blushes) to be used as part of a two-step process. First, you swish the outer ring on your cheekbones to sculpt and shape, and then blend the brighter center shade on the apples of your cheeks for some color.

Of course…I usually end up swirling both colors together with a blush brush, and that works just fine for me.

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You’ll Wonder Where Your Experience Lines Go When You Wear Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow

October 22nd, 2019 by Karen 12 Comments

charlotte tilbury filmstar bronze and glow fair medium — When Charlotte Tilbury makes you feel like a fancy lady…

OK, my fair friends, many of my makeup-loving pale pals say that it’s very challenging to find a bronzer that suits lighter skin tones. If this is the case for you, I believe I may have found a solution to your woes, and her name is Charlotte Tilbury. She’s got a bronzer/highlighter duo called Filmstar Bronze & Glow ($68, so start saving your lunch money), and there are two versions — Fair-Medium, pictured here, and Medium-Dark. Fair-Medium could be purrfect for lighter lasses.

If your makeup style is more “Sir John” than “Insta-glam”, I think you’ll love it.

The bronzer in Fair-Medium is a gorgeous peachy tan (no glitter in sight) without any weird or obnoxious orange undertones, so, what you get is a natural-looking, toasty almond tone when you sweep the finely-milled powder across your cheeks.

charlotte tilbury filmstar bronze and glow fair medium swatches — Livin’ that NC42 life

The highlighter is equally beautiful. It’s a peachy gold with dainty shimmer, and, like the bronzer, it’s more on the natural-looking side. If you prefer highlights with a delicate touch, you’ll love it.

Because the powder grains in both products in the duos are so incredibly fine, they soften the look of fine lines and pores impressively well. No tell-tale caked-on makeup here.

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Will Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream Cast a Spell on You?

October 21st, 2019 by Karen 17 Comments

charlotte tilbury magic cream final — Nothing can stand in our way…

Brace yourself: if you happen to see this jar sitting atop your dressing table, it means that any second now, your lady’s maid will magically materialize to dress you, gently brush every lock of hair into place, and pin a diamond tiara on your head.

(Side note: I have watched an obscene amount of Downton Abbey over the past few days.)

Only Charlotte Tilbury could turn a standard-issue makeup artist’s trick — applying a layer of rich moisturizer on your face before putting on your face paint — and turn it into a bonafide F.L.L. (that’s “Fancy Lady Lifestyle,” dahhhling), with one of her line’s most renowned products: Magic Cream.

Lots of people swear by this rich, thick cream, which is made for all skin types and designed to be applied right before going in with your makeup.

Devotees of the Cult o’ Magic Cream claim that it potently plumps the skin, and it does contain heavy-hitting hydrators like hyaluronic acid, shea butter and aloe vera (to name a few), but I’d characterize the plumping effect as subtle.

The idea is that it’s supposed to smooth your canvas, so to speak, before you layer your foundation, concealer, powder, etc. on top. So, basically, it’s a rose-scented moisturizer/primer combo in a very pretty jar.

One thing about it? It smells fancy and expensive, and my skin absorbs the rich cream right away. Immediately after applying my base makeup on top of it — my foundation, powder, concealer, etc. — my base products look a little richer, more vibrant and slightly smoother. Everything looks a little more…natural and less like “makeup.”

If you’re a seasoned makeup person, you’ll see a subtle difference, but I dare say that most people won’t.

Here’s the thing: you can get a similar effect with any moisturizer, and doing a quick hit of moisturizer before base makeup is one of the oldest tricks in the book. Be that as it may, this cream’s ability to actually adhere to whatever you layer on top is its super power. In that way, it’s far better than a run-of-the-mill moisturizer. A lot of similarly rich creams will make your makeup slip right off, but this doesn’t. So, as a primer, it’s very effective.

I like it. A lot. But I don’t like the price. AT ALL.

INGREDIENTS

This product is gluten free.

AQUA/WATER/EAU, C12-15 ALKYL BENZOATE, GLYCERYL STEARATE SE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, GLYCERIN, OLUS OIL/VEGETABLE OIL/HUILE VÉGÉTALE, ISONONYL ISONONANOATE, CETYL ALCOHOL, ETHYLHEXYL PALMITATE, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, DIMETHICONE, POLYESTER-7, PHENOXYETHANOL, NEOPENTYL GLYCOL DIHEPTANOATE, BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII (SHEA) BUTTER, STEARETH-21, AVENA SATIVA (OAT) KERNEL EXTRACT, CARBOMER, DIMETHICONOL, POTASSIUM CETYL PHOSPHATE, CHLORPHENESIN, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, XANTHAN GUM, HYDROLYZED VIOLA TRICOLOR EXTRACT, ALLANTOIN, ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF JUICE, DISODIUM EDTA, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, CAMELLIA OLEIFERA SEED OIL, ROSA CANINA FRUIT OIL, ROSA DAMASCENA EXTRACT, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, HELIANTHUS ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) SEED OIL, MICHELIA ALBA LEAF OIL, SODIUM LACTATE, COCO-GLUCOSIDE, PEG-8, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, SODIUM HYALURONATE, TOCOPHEROL, PALMITOYL TETRAPEPTIDE-7, PALMITOYL TRIPEPTIDE-1, ASCORBYL PALMITATE, PLUMERIA RUBRA FLOWER EXTRACT, ASCORBIC ACID, CITRIC ACID, NICOTIANA SYLVESTRIS LEAF CELL CULTURE, LINALOOL, CITRONELLOL, GERANIOL.

The 30-ml. jar at top is $64, a 50-ml. jar is $100, and a 150-ml. jar is $225. (Wow!) Sephora also sells a tiny 0.5-ml. mini jar for $29. Every size it comes in is crazy pricey!

If you aren’t too keen on dropping your beauty budget on a product that’s basically invisible, not to worry; you have other options. Head over to MAC, and give Prep + Primer Natural Radiance a try (it’s an underrated rock star, IMHO).

While it isn’t anywhere near as luxurious as Charlotte’s Magic Cream, it does basically the same thing, and it’s about 50% less pricey at $42 for a 50-ml. size.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Lip Cheat and Lipstick Is Smoother Than a Silk Pillowcase

October 18th, 2019 by Karen 29 Comments

Yo, if my pillow could talk, it would probably tell a sordid tale of insomnia and drool, ha ha ha! That’s not nearly as sexy as Charlotte Tilbury’s iconic Pillow Talk Lipstick ($34) and Lip Cheat Lip Liner ($22), I know, but such is the life of a sleep-challenged lady. 🤷‍♀️

Chances are you’ve heard about Pillow Talk, the nude-pink lipstick and lip liner famous for flattering so many different skin tones, and bumping and plumping lips to bodacious, billowing proportions.

It’s a pricey combo…but if two lip products can get me some juicy Angelina Jolie lips without any needles or pain, sign me up!

Just to be clear, neither the lipstick nor the lip liner are technically lip plumping products. When used alone or together, both are supposed to make your lips look bigger. How? By combining a smoother-than-smooth semi-matte finish and a universally flattering pinkish-brown nude color.

charlotte tilbury pillow talk swatches — So smooth

Whenever a brand calls something “universal flattering”, I think it’s always a good thing to temper your expectations, because let’s face it — one woman’s lip ecstasy is another’s agony.

I’m a MAC NC42, and my lips are fairly pigmented, and on me, both the Pillow Talk lipstick and liner are pinkish brown with a little bit of beige. It skews a little warm, but not so warm that it appears yellow-based. I definitely get a nude vibe, and I like the color, which is like a blend of MAC Velvet Teddy and MAC Half ‘N’ Half.

The lipstick also smells and tastes very similar to MAC’s signature vanilla (the liner has no flavor or scent), and now that I think about it…when I’m wearing both the lipstick and the liner, the combo feels and looks very much like a mashup between a MAC Cremesheen and a MAC Powder Kiss Lipstick. It has the same light and feathery texture, along with a similar hazy, semi-matte finish. Very, very pretty and very comfortable.

Charlotte does take it to the next level, though, because the way both products glide across my skin is absolutely superior. They’re so, so smooth. No skipping, no dragging, no sort of hesitation when you run the tube or the pencil across your lips. And my lips, after the first application, look extremely smooth.

Pillow-y and plump? Not so much, but definitely smoother. And this effect lasts a while. I’m talking four or five hours. But at the tail end of it, my vertical lip lines look more pronounced than I’d like… It’s not like my lips look like a sad prune waiting to be chucked into the garbage, but they do look a little dry.

I’ll finish both the liner and lippie eventually because the color is totally my thing, but I don’t know if I’d freak out like I do when I’m about to finish a MAC Velvet Teddy. While the Pillow Talk lipstick/liner combo is noticeably smoother, I think Velvet Teddy’s similar enough, and if I were chatting with a stranger on the street about lipstick (as one does, LOL!), I’d suggest that they try Pillow Talk once, but I’d also recommend that they give MAC Teddy a go, since it’s a little more affordable ($18.50).

For about the same price as the Pillow Talk lipstick/liner combo, you could also buy three tubes of Velvet Teddy — one to keep at home, one to keep in your purse, and one to perhaps keep as an extra in case one of the others falls in the toilet…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

3 Important Cat-Related Housekeeping Items of Note…

October 15th, 2019 by Karen 73 Comments

Just a few VIP cat-related news items happenin’ ’round these parts…

1. Charlotte Tilbury has a black liquid liner called “The Feline Flick,” and it’s the cat’s meow.

It’s absolutely worthy of its kitty-inspired name, because this stuff will last you through nine lives and then some.

charlotte tilbury feline flick — Truly worthy of kitten flicks and cat eyes

Much like a napping cat on your lap, THIS STUFF DOES NOT MOVE. I’ve been re-watching Downton Abbey (right now I’m at the end of season two; so scandalous!), and I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, I’ve fallen asleep and smooshed my face on my pillow multiple times, and this liner stays put. However, when I’ve gone to remove my makeup at night, it slips right off!

So weird, yet so cool.

It’s blacker than a black cat, and has a slightly shiny finish, and the flexible felt tip draws lines sharper than kitty claws. It’s $30, and you can find it in Charlotte’s permanent collection.

Second kitty-related item of note…

2. We’ve taken on a new boarder (!)

Her full name is Pretty Girl Rosie, but she also goes by Rosie Posie, or just plain Rosie.

She’s the mama kitty a friend of mine fostered last month, and now that her kittens have grown up and moved on with their lives, she’s decided to start her next adventure in a home with lots of love to give.

Ours. 😊

When she isn’t chillin’ on someone’s lap or chasing after her wand toy, Rosie adores styling hair. She’s known for her scalp massages and her tousled, cool-girl aesthetic. 😎

And because everyone in our family has to pull their own weight, we’re casually talking about her perhaps opening up her own full-service salon. No pressure, though. She doesn’t have to go into fashion or beauty. She can be an engineer, or work in law enforcement. Whatever her little heart desires.

(I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she’ll pick Connor as her very special human.)

Also in cat-related news…

3. These Chocolate Cat Cookies at Trader Joe’s are the human equivalent of catnip.

low fat chocolately cats cookies for people — I warned you.

Once you start eating them, it’s very, very, VERY hard to stop. They’re super crunchy and chocolaty but not overly sweet. It’s like eating an extra crispy chocolate graham cracker.

So good with tea or coffee…

You may think you’d be able to stop after just a few, but you’d be wrong. 😁 Before you know it you’ll be scooping out handfuls and shoving them into your mouth like there’s no tomorrow.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen