Is Charlotte Tilbury Worth The Hype?

Happy Halloween everybody! 

I've been a super busy bee lately and I've had a lot of exciting emails but the one email that excited me the most was from the Charlotte Tilbury team!

Charlotte Tilbury are a brand that I have been DYING to try for a very long time. I'm usually a high street budget brand kind of shopper so I've never really been in the position where I can afford to splash out on Charlotte Tilbury which are a more high-end brand. 

When I saw the email asking if I would like to try out some of their products I almost cried, I squealed and immediately called my mum like omg omg omg!

I'm very lucky to be able to work with such a fantastic and prestigious brand. 

So what did they send me?

To be honest I was expecting just some very small samples of things, maybe two? But they spoilt me and I couldn't be any more grateful!

First up, can we talk about the packaging?? 

The cardboard box it arrived in was a Charlotte Tilbury branded box! A gorgeous maroon colour with their logo and matching tissue paper encasing my goodies. 

There was also a beautiful ivory envelope with gold embossed writing on it, it looked so classy and I was really curious to know what was in the envelope. I presumed it was a note from the team. But no, inside this gorgeous envelope was the receipt! Just an invoice. I can't believe they go into so much detail with the simple things like a receipt. It's just so lovely that they would put that much effort into the tiniest things. But it's those little things that make you fall in love with a brand, it's those little things that you remember about the customer service and it makes you want to go back. 

When I opened up the tissue paper I was truly shocked at what I had being sent. 

Scent Of A Dream

Firstly, a full sized perfume called 'Scent Of A Dream' which is insane. The packaging is so so beautiful, a gorgeous ivory box with their signature rose gold detail. It has art deco vibes and I am a huge 1920's fan. Just from the box alone it looked very luxurious. 

I don't have a massive collection of perfumes. I have Calvin Klein Shock and Marc Jacobs Daisy Dreams but no other high end ones so this was a lovely surprise. Perfect in time for Christmas and new year too! Such a sweet gift from Charlotte Tilbury. 

I opened up the neatly packaged box and inside was a very peculiar bottle. Peculiar in a good way.

It looks almost futuristic. Like a very expensive chandelier crossed with a spaceship? 

I don't know how to describe it but either way it glistens beautifully in the light, looks very posh and it's one of those you're afraid of breaking because it seems so delicate and fancy. 

One of my very favourite features of this perfume is the spray on it. That sounds really odd but there is nothing worse than a dodgy spray part on a perfume bottle, which makes the product spurt out in all directions. 

This is the MOST SATISFYING perfume bottle EVER!!! I can't wait to show everyone how perfectly it sprays. It's like a glorious mist that just coats you perfectly. 

The scent is GORGEOUS. It's very mature and definitely my most grown up fragrance. I tend to go for those sickly sweet scents but this is very different. I wouldn't say it's floral or fresh, quite rich and musky. My friend Steph thought it smelt fruity but I didn't. If I had to compare it to anything it would be a mix between Parma Violets and Opium. Two of my favourite scents. It reminds me of a much much much nicer version of my nans perfume which is a really nice sentimental thing for me as my nan passed away a few years ago.

I could NOT STOP smelling my wrists. It smells SO NICE!! I can't describe it in a way that will have you sold but you just have to smell it for yourself. They sell it in John Lewis and House Of Fraser. 

I do think it's quite an acquired taste but although not typically my type of perfume, this is absolutely beautiful. I got lots of compliments when I wore it to work and I'm thoroughly impressed with the durability. 

I wore it to work and I work part time as a bar maid so I get covered in beer and a lot of it goes on my hands but at the end of my shift when I went home it still smelt as strong as when I applied it. It's lasting power is incredible! This means that you only need a very small amount to see you through the entire day, this is such a great factor as when you are splashing out a bit more for a higher end perfume you want it to be worth the price tag, and I can assure you this is definitely worth it! 

I'm VERY impressed with this perfume and will be saving it for very special occasions, it's going to be my special perfume that only gets bought out at important sentimental moments. 

You can buy it yourself or for someone special this Christmas right here!
They sell it in 3 different sizes, mine is the 50ml middle sized one. 

The second item I was sent was a gift box of all the Charlotte Tilbury bestsellers! 

I thought this was such a great idea for pr mail because then bloggers get to try out their best items, a variety of different products and it's a really great introduction to the brand.

Not just for bloggers, but for anybody, it makes for a fantastic Christmas gift! Especially if there's anyone you know out there like myself who really wanted to try the brand before investing. 

Inside the box were 5 products and one was full sized which I was very impressed with. 

Wonder Glow - Instant Soft-Focus Beauty Flash

I was super excited to see a primer in the box as I have a bit of a love hate relationship with primers. The first primer I ever used was the Maybelline baby skin and it was AWFUL for my skin. I looked greasy, not shiny, not even oily, GREASY.

So I figured I needed a mattifying primer. I use No7 Beautifully Matte for my foundation and I always find myself going back to it so I figured the matching primer would do the trick.

Nope, it went patchy, it rubbed off in little flakes, it made my skin dry, it was also awful.

So I just gave up on primers but recently I was kindly gifted an Illamasqua primer and it actually works really nicely and is a lovely texture so I've been more open to trying new primers. I was really hoping this would be on par with the Illamasqua one.

Luckily, it was a good primer! I used it before a long busy shift at work, I had been running about and sweating so I was expecting to see the usual patches of foundation at the end of the night. But my foundation had stayed nicely put, the coverage was still perfect, and although my face had got quite shiny, I would say it was more shiny than oily or greasy.
I would rather have that though and just have to blot it with a beauty blender than have to reapply the whole thing, so for me, this was a great addition to my make-up collection.

It doesn't have a particular smell which I suppose isn't a bad feature. It's a really really nice buttery consistency and is a pleasure to apply. I also found it dried really nicely. It moisturises the skin but it doesn't linger so you can't apply your make-up. I feel like if you were in a rush or needed to take your time, this primer will work with any time-frame.

I really liked how well this worked and now I have two good primers to choose between. Another great factor is that it has two other uses, you can use it over make-up for a nice glow but as I'm prone to oily skin I probably wouldn't, but I think it's great that I have the choice to change my matte foundation into a nice dewy one should I want too.

I think this would be great for people prone to drier skin. You can also use it after moisturising to extend your lovely glow. It's slightly tinted too so would even your skin tone if you don't want to cover your skin with foundation.

Such a great multi-purpose product!

Get yours here.

Charlotte's Magic Cream

This moisturiser is called Charlotte's Magic Cream and as cliche and cringey as it sounds...I can see why they would call it that. I'm just going to put this out there straight away. This product is 100% worth the hype, yes.

I got quite a small sample of this product however I do believe the packaging goes down fairly deep and you only need the TINIEST amount so I believe this will last me a long time. In fact, I shall make a note to remind myself to let you all know when I run out so you can get an estimate of how long this product will last.

The cream has a lovely smell that reminds me of Turkish Delight. It is such a beautiful velvety texture and it just glides onto your skin beautifully. On the packaging it says instant and it really is instant results. The second it touches you it's like it just melts into your skin and you instantly feel so soft. It's very rich but not heavy. It's actually very refreshing but in a relaxing way.

It melts perfectly into the skin but doesn't make you feel like you are wearing a ton of product. If you applied too much it definitely would so take it easy. My favourite thing about this product is how it feels lovely and rich on the skin but you could rub it into your face all night and it wouldn't leave the product on your hands. 

You know when you apply a moisturiser and then your hands feel SO greasy afterwards and very sticky? You don't get that at all. The product sinks into the skin so quickly that it doesn't transfer on to your hands leaving them covered in excess cream. That is one of my biggest pet peeves so when I found out it didn't do that, I was over the moon and also astounded.

My skin feels very plump and ridiculously soft after using this and the cream lasts for ages, I apply this at night and wake up still feeling moisturised and hydrated.

I'm about to confess a sin...
 I don't moisturise. Ever. Purely because I have acne prone skin and every time I try a new moisturiser I break out and it makes me worse, even oil free ones. So I use a really good cleanser from Lush called Ultrabland, that keeps my skin super soft. So I was very scared to try this because I enjoyed applying it so much and the first impressions were great, but what if I woke up with a break out? I'd have been gutted.

I woke up the next morning and made my way to the bathroom to look in the mirror for the moment of truth. 
My skin was clear. Completely clear. Not a single spot. It hadn't CLEARED my skin but it hadn't made it worse, just softer. I was AMAZED. I'm going to continue using this product daily and hopefully it stays that way. I'll keep you updated but if I find this is good for my skin I would definitely invest in this product in the future and recommend it to everyone. It would make the perfect special gift for somebody too if you wanted to get them something luxurious.

Take a browse here

Full Fat Lashes Mascara

In all my 25 years, I have never come across a mascara that I have fallen in love with. I have my holy grail foundation, my staple eyeliner, my go-to blusher but I have never found a mascara that has blown me away.

Until now.

This mascara is perfect! I feel like when we look for a mascara we all want a similar thing, something that looks natural and not clumpy yet gives us length and thickness. We want something that is waterproof, that doesn't leave those little marks on the top of your eyelids but trying to find one mascara that combines all these factors is pretty much impossible.

This mascara is all of those things. When I first opened the mascara I thought 'this is going to clump like crazy' as the brush is quite thick and the product is just all over it and it doesn't look like it could separate the lashes. I was setting myself up for disappointment but I take it back!

It instantly separated my lashes as soon as the brush hit them and the product just glided onto my lashes with no clumping at all. I noticed the length and thickness increasing as I was applying it and I was very very impressed. I also noted that it was build-able. Something I've never been able to find in a mascara. It doesn't dry all crispy and flaky, so applying another layer just smoothes on top so you can make it as natural or dramatic as you like.

Below is a photo of my Charlotte Tilbury mascara compared to my usual mascara on the left.

As you can see the Charlotte Tilbury mascara is much more spread out, with no clumps it's a nice dark colour and my lashes look longer, more curved and thicker. I feel like they look very fluttery and light. 

However, my normal mascara is clumpy, heavy and uneven. 

I wore it to work and every time I would go to wipe the marks off my eyelids (force of habit) I realised that there was nothing there. This doesn't transfer which I really love.

When it came to removing the product I was so so happy. I use a Nivea eye makeup remover and everytime, I end up with black flakes all over my face and the product is smudged everywhere and I look like a panda and I always put it down to the Nivea product, I never thought it could be the actual mascara.

When I first went to remove my Charlotte Tilbury mascara I was worried because it didn't seem to be budging. But I guess that means it's waterproof? Even if it doesn't claim to be. Handy for people who want a long lasting mascara.

But after leaving the eye make up remover on it for a few seconds it started to melt away, and it all came off in one nice slide. No black flakes, no smudging onto my skin, it all came off together and left me looking like I had never applied anything to my lashes.

10/10!

Below is an example of my fresh clean lashes after removing the Charlotte Tilbury mascara and then on the right, how it usually ends up after scrubbing at my eyes for AGES. 

Buy it here.

Lip Cheat Lip Liner

I had heard SO MUCH about the Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Lipliner. I was super excited to see it in the package. I completely see what all the fuss is about. 

It's aesthetically pleasing, it's a gorgeous pinky nude colour and would compliment any skin tone. 
A gorgeous buttery texture, this lip liner is perfect for making your lips look bigger and fuller and can be used as a full lipstick. 

I used it as a lipliner as you can see below and it matches my natural lip colour perfectly. 

I then used it to shade in all over my lips and it makes a beautiful lipstick substitute. Sometimes using lipliners as a lipstick can be very drying but this is such a gorgeous consistency that keeps them feeling moisturised.

I love this lipliner and it is now a firm favourite in my lipliner collection!

Grab one here.

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

I was very happy to see a lipstick in my box of goodies and I really liked the sound of the shade. Pink Penelope. However when I opened the lipstick it wasn't actually pink, it's more a nudey pale brown tone.

It's a very cool-toned shade and is very natural. I thought this is my perfect autumnal shade! I was over the moon. 

However when I applied it, it was a lot lighter than I thought it would be, it's actually lighter than my normal lip shade and those sorts of colours don't suit my skin tone. because I'm deathly pale, having a lighter lip makes me look a bit poorly so I was a little gutted that the shade didn't suit me.

On the other hand, I did actually get so many compliments on my appearance that night and my friend said 'that lipstick colour really suits you' which surprised me so maybe it's just me?

I wore it to work and expected it to last really well because I had heard such good things about the Charlotte Tilbury lipsticks but I just wasn't that keen on it. It was quite glossy. Not sticky. But I personally prefer a matte lipstick and very rarely wear glossy lips anymore.

However, having the glossy lipstick definitely made my lips appear fuller and healthier. That is one very positive note about this product. It looked very nice but I didn't feel it lasted very well.

It started to crack and wear off and almost looked patchy? I figured maybe this was because I had used Lipcote over the top and maybe the formulas didn't mix well so the next day I wore it without Lipcote and the same thing happened. 

I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or maybe it's just the colour being lighter than my skin causing this but I think I would maybe have more luck with a darker shade. I'm not giving up on it just yet but my personal experience with this shade wasn't great.

This is it on...it actually works really well with the pillow talk lip liner so it's nice that they compliment each other in the Beauty Icons gift set.

I truly believe the Beauty Icons gift set is a great introduction to the brand and I highly recommend it for a gift, you can purchase it here.


So overall, do I think Charlotte Tilbury is worth the hype?

If I had to give an overall answer I would say yes. But let me explain why.

I really loved the overall presence of the brand, for example the customer service and packaging was spot on. They make for the most instagrammable products and it's not all about the appearance, the products actually work too!

I felt as though the majority of these products amazed me and took my breath away and the only product that didn't wow me was the lipstick and that's more so based on my skin tone and personal preference so although I might not like that product, that doesn't mean someone else will not love it.

Would I recommend people to spend that bit extra and buy Charlotte Tilbury for themselves?

I would. However, I would definitely recommend buying one of the cheaper items such as a lipliner (highly recommend pillow talk) because when you order something off the Charlotte Tilbury website you can choose two samples per order so I would definitely recommend ordering a sample of a more expensive product that you are dying to try! 

I think it's a really good system they have there because you can try it out before you invest in it. 
I can guarantee you will fall in love with the products though!

I can certainly see why there is such a big hype around Charlotte Tilbury and I would certainly be happy to invest myself to this brand in the future. I feel like they gave me such a great introduction to the brand and I cannot thank them enough! So kind of them!

I hope this gave you a good insight to the brand and helped you out if you were thinking of trying them. 

Let me know what you think if you do decide to order anything! 

All my love, 

Disclaimer: I was sent these items free of charge in exchange for a review. All words, photos and opinions are my own and 100% honest. This is not a paid collaboration. I use Skimlinks as an affiliate link.