Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Foundation : Full Review with Before and Afters.
Charlotte Tilbury does some incredible makeup. It’s luxury, it’s high performance, and if you dust aside the slightly O.T.T marketing for some of the products (gotta love it) it’s actually a brilliant makeup brand. I haven’t used *all* of the Charlotte Tilbury products but I have definitely used a fair bit : I have also assisted Charlotte Tilbury on her masterclasses and worked with her on fashion shows. Favourite products of mine from the brand include the Hollywood Flawless Filter, the Matte Revolution lipsticks, Pillow Talk Lip Cheat, the Colour Chameleon eyeshadow sticks and I also love the Cheek to Chic blushers.
The Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Foundation is a medium coverage, brightening and hydrating foundation. It comes in 30 shades. Priced at £36.
The blurb off the Charlotte Tilbury website :
‘Beautiful Skin Foundation gives everyone skin that LOOKS beautifully HYDRATED, PLUMPER, SMOOTHER and BRIGHTER! This medium coverage, HYDRATING foundation has been expertly formulated with skincare ingredients to combine instant GLOW and buildable coverage with long-term skincare benefits.
With BRIGHTENING Rose Complex and HYDRATING Hyaluronic Acid to IMPROVE THE LOOK OF SKIN WITH EACH WEAR*, my NEW! Beautiful Skin Foundation is the secret to your BEST, HEALTHY LOOKING SKIN DAY, every day!’
ok we *know* there’s a lot of pizazz, OTT-ness and showmanship surrounding Charlotte Tilbury, the launches and marketing. That’s a given and it’s just something we expect. For me, I kind of find it amusing, I don’t take it too seriously (are we supposed to?!) and I am ok with it. I feel like you just need to look through the glossy, sparkly adverts and get to the nitty gritty.
What the Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Foundation DOES for your skin :
- HYDRATES : Hyaluronic Acid moisturises
- SMOOTHS: Bix’Activ™ helps to decrease the appearance of oiliness and visibly reduce the look of shine and pores.
- BRIGHTENS : Rose Complex targets all signs of stress in the skin including dullness, dryness, pigmentation and dark circles
- EVENS : Hyalurosmooth™ targets uneven texture, dryness and dullness, and locks in moisture
- PLUMPS: Coconut Extract improves skin’s ability to hold water by helping to strengthen the skin barrier
- DEFENDS : C.T. Defence prevents pollutant particles from penetrating the skin and strengthens the skin barrier
- LONG-LASTING with 16HR wear
- VEGAN-friendly formula
- The NEUTRALISED BASE, clear colour pigment formula + MOLECULE COMPLEX in all 30 shades mean they STRETCH WIDE across ALL skin tones, skin
I think I was perhaps the only beauty blogger and makeup artist on this side of earth who wasn’t send some shades to try of the Beautiful Skin Foundation. Tears aside, I went online, deliberated for 2 weeks on what my colour match would be (I HATE blind-buying shades of foundation…hate it) and ended up flitting between shades 5 and 6. I ended up with shade 6N after seeing Hannah Martin use it in a live and I decided we could be around the same shade.
I purchased it from Cult Beauty as there was I think 20% off, which spurred me on. It arrived the next day (I paid for that) and the colour seemed good from afar.
Upon opening and trying the 6N shade I knew it was going to be *just* ok : definitely on my warmer side for foundation, but coming into summer this is going to be absolutely fine. Winter, I’ll have to get a shade or 2 paler. You can see swatches below of how the shade 6N looks. I’ve also dug out a few of my warmer-toned medium coverage foundations and swatched the beside the CT so you can gauge the shade and what is similar.
The packaging it pretty nice, I like it. It comes in a plastic (recyclable) tube, see-through for the most-part and it has a pump applicator with a gold lid. Not dissimilar to the IT Cosmetics CC creams. I think I prefer this over a glass bottle as it’s lighter, easier for storage, kits and travel too.
The finish is gorgeous, it applies really well, blends easily and the coverage is medium. It is a cream foundation (aka has a relatively thick consistency that won’t run if you pump in onto the back of your hand : see in the pic below). As with any foundation you can sheer it down to more of a tint by mixing in it with a primer/ moisturiser if you wish. It kind of gave me what I expected in terms of what it does : feels nice on the skin, makes me look fresh, it’s dewy and my skin looks pretty damn flawless after I have applied it.
HOW TO APPLY THE CHARLOTTE TILBURY BEAUTIFUL SKIN FOUNDATION : however you fancy. It will go on well with fingers, a brush and sponges. I like to use fingertips and a brush for a cream foundation as I have more control. I start off with the smallest amount and build it up, as opposed to applying too much and wasting it. I literally pump out a bit onto the back of my hand, dab it all over my face and then buff away with a brush and build up where needs be.
I have tried it solo, with primer, with/without powder and here’s my thoughts on the WEAR of the Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Foundation : this is a foundation geared towards a normal-drier skin. I am oily-combination so you just have to work with it and give it a little more love it you want it to work for you. Don’t expect to put it on at 8am and still have it looking flawless by 2pm – it ain’t happening. I can fore-go a primer with the right skincare and it just needs touch ups and powder a few times thoufghout the day. I also think that on an oilier skin, less is more : if you pack this foundation on to get a fuller coverage, I think you will struggle on an oily skin.
That being said, I think on a more ‘normal’ to drier skin : this foundation will be pretty much perfect. In terms of what I have in my foundation stash that it’s compatible too : It’s not dissimilar to bases like IT CC illuminating, Chantecaille future Skin (not as good), maybe Hourglass Illusion… that kind of vibe.
Here is how the Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin (shade 6N) looks on me. This is applied with no primer and only 1 pump. You don’t need a lot to get a nice looking coverage and you definitely get a bit of glow immediately.
WHO is the Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Foundation For?
They will tell you EVERYONE. And to some extent, I actually agree. The perfect consumer would be someone on the dry-lighter combination spectrum. The least suitable would be someone like me : oily. HOWEVER, I still think it’s a great foundation and I like it on my skin and it makes my skin looks lovely : I just need to touch it up a little more and perfect it throughout the day.
IS the Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Foundation Worth the money?
I think so, yes. I feel it is definitely on the high-end side priced at £38 but it’s not a surprise for a Charlotte Tilbury product. I would say, and have said to many people to try and get it when it (occasionally) goes on offer : you won’t get it for much less than 20% off and I felt much abetter paying £32 for it than nearer to £40. There’s one;y very few foundations I sam happy to pay the £40+ mark for. I have no regrets buying the Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin foundation, I reach for it pretty regularly and to be honest, I can see myself buying a shade lighter when we come into winter and my skin is a little paler. It’s one I want for my stash!
