MY CHARLOTTE TILBURY MAKE UP COLLECTION

I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to dedicate an entire post to my Charlotte Tilbury collection!  This has to be my favourite luxury make up brand and I use the various products daily, so it's about time that I paid tribute to them all on here.

The first things that I bought were the Dolce Vita eye palette and the Matte Revolution lipstick in Walk of Shame, both of which have become staples in my going-out make up routines.  The eye shadow quad is made up of four different shades that together create the Dolce Vita look, which is a beautiful deep red toned look with golden glitter to finish and an iridescent highlight shade to go in the centre of the eyes and along the brow bone.  

Walk of Shame is a dark plummy red lipstick with a matte finish which somehow magically makes my lips look fuller, while lasting for an entire evening without fading.  

The other lipstick shades I have are Nude Kate, which is a neutral beige shade which is the perfect colour for getting that natural lips-but-better look, 1975 Red which is a gorgeous orange toned red from last Summer's Norman Parkinson collaboration, and Sexy Sienna which is a matte peachy orange colour, which is my favourite summery shade.  

I aslo have the Lip Cheat pencil in the shade Pillow Talk, which I have to admit was an entirely blogger influenced buy!  Everyone and their cat seemed to be raving about it, so I eventually caved in to see what all the fuss was about; it turned out to be a good buy as it is the perfect pencil for lining and filling in your lips - the colour is natural looking and it's easy to apply and create the shape that you want.  

In an Instagram competition last year, I won the Lip Magic balm, which contains propolis and usually costs £25.  I would never spend that much on a balm myself, however it is a really nice product and only a tiny amount of product is needed to hydrate and prep my lips for the day. 

My favourite product of the lot has to be the brilliant Filmstar Bronze and Glow, which is a contour and highlighter duo that helps to define and add glow to all the main points of your face, especially the cheekbones.  I use this every day because I just love how the contour shade is the perfect colour - not too dark or orange on my pale skin, and it blends in easily too.  The highlight is also natural looking, and doesn't have any annoying fake looking shimmer.  

Do you own anything by Charlotte Tilbury?  What are your favourite products? xx

MY CURRENT GO-TO BASE PRODUCTS

One thing that I am always on the lookout for is a new base product.  I have so many foundations yet I still buy another if it takes my fancy.  The same goes for blushers and bronzers - I have a lot that all look similar, but if another catches my eye in Boots then I have to have it!  

Over the summer I was embracing the light, dewy skin look, but now Autumn is well and truly here I have been after a bit more coverage and a flawless, more matte finish.  This is wear Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation steps it.  I bought it recently after previously loving their Camouflage version, which was very full coverage and a lot thicker in consistency.  These days, I'm fortunate that my skin hardly ever breaks out bad enough to need a base with thick coverage, however Double Wear is lightweight to apply yet still gives enough cover to smooth over my troublesome pores and my uneven (aka red) skin tone.  

I sweep a little Rimmel Stay Matte powder over my t zone to mattify and set it, as that is where my skin is oiliest and most likely to run during the day.  Stay Matte has to be one of my holy grail drugstore products, it's as effective as any of its more expensive counterparts and it lasts for ages.

I'm 100% sure I'm not the only one absolutely loving the Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow palette!  I am using this so often that I'm actually a little panicky about using it up, it is without doubt the perfect bronze and highlighting duo - I especially love how the bronze shade looks so natural on my skin, something I struggle to find with other contouring products.  I use the bronze to contour my cheekbones and the highlight on the apples of my cheeks and down my nose and chin.  

At night, I add a couple of drops of the Clarins Radiance Plus Golden Glow Booster to my night cream, so that I wake up with a little natural looking colour.  This product is perfect for adding a small, subtle bit of tan to your face - especially in autumn/winter when the sun is pretty hard to come by!  

What products have you been using to create your perfect base lately?  Do you like any of these products? xx

REVIEW | CHARLOTTE TILBURY FILMSTAR BRONZE AND GLOW

I don't feel even a little bit guilty for treating myself to the Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow palette (£49), because it has been on my wishlist for months now and I think that it is actually an achievement that I resisted it for so long and only bought it when I had run out of my last bronzer.  So really I guess that makes it a well deserved treat.  

Obviously this beautiful little palette has been raved about on so many blogs, and you can't really escape it right now; however I think it is with good reason - it looked so good in the photos I'd seen, and now I've tried it myself I totally get why it is so popular.  

I bought the light version, and when it arrived the first thing I admired was just how good it looks.  Gold packaging is an instant win in my books, and having a mirror in a palette i also something I love, as it makes them extra handy useful for keeping in your handbag.  

The bronzer is a soft brown shade; I have been using it to carve out some cheekbones and it really does work - it's perfect for my skin tone and looks natural too thanks to there being no orange tones in it.  Since I wasn't bless with visible cheekbones, I trace the shape with my brush by slightly sucking in my cheeks which makes it easy to see where you should contour.  I also take it up to my temples, blend it around my jawline and also down the sides of my nose to make it look slimmer.  

The highlight shade looks really subtle in the palette, and compared to some other highlighters that I've used it doesn't look very shimmery at all, so I was a bit dubious about how well it would show up.  However, it is actually a gorgeous soft shimmer that both looks natural and makes my skin look 100% more glowy and radiant, in a way that I've never found another product to do.  

Quick warning: below is a selfie taken from my phone which best shows up how it looks.  Apologies in advance for the complete un-bloggerishness of the picture, but since rain has made the light awful for photo taking today then it will have to do!  

I hope that gives a good idea of how it looks on, my skin is certainly not that glowing without help so Bronze and Glow has immediately been put into my daily make up bag, and I can't see anything replacing it anytime soon either. 

Have you tried Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow?  What do you think of it? xx

REVIEW | CHARLOTTE TILBURY MAGIC FOUNDATION

I'm a sucker for a new foundation release, and I'm also a sucker for all things Charlotte Tilbury; so when these two things combined and Magic Foundation (29.50) was born, I was naturally all over it and bought it straight away.

I don't have any stockists local to me, so I had to choose my shade online which I usually don't like doing as 50% of the time I choose wrong.  However, I picked up the second lightest shade and hope for the best.  

When it arrived I was instantly in love with the packaging - rose gold lid = ummm yes!  It comes in a glass bottle and has a pump so from the outside all is perfect.  

I've been wearing it for almost two weeks now and as much as I really hate to say it, it's just not completely bowled me over like I thought it would.  As a base, it does tick most boxes in that the coverage is full but lightweight, it's easy to blend and it evens out my skin tone which is always a good thing for me as I get a lot of redness.  I love it for all of these reasons and I think it does out do a lot of other bases out there that claim to do the same.  The only bad thing for me is that when I'm having a bad skin day and I have some dry patches - it clings to them.  This has happened a few times now, so it makes me think that to get the full benefit out of this otherwise lovely base you would be better having more oily combination skin rather than dry.  My skin switches annoyingly between the two, and my cheeks are the places to get dry whereas my t zone is always combination.  I think this would definitely be the perfect base if you have more oily skin, as the finish is matte with a slight sheen to it. 

I'm really disappointed, as this was one product that I was sure I was going to love!  I do like it for every other reason, but while I still suffer with dryness I won't be able to use it on a regular basis which is such a shame.  However, I totally recommend it if you have more oily skin and want a base that will leave it looking sheer but matte.  

Have you tried Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation?  What do you think of it? xx 

CHARLOTTE TILBURY | MATTE REVOLUTION LIPSTICK in '1975 Red'

Charlotte Tilbury.  That woman really can do no wrong, and her latest collaboration with photographer Norman Parkinson is proof of this.  I am always adding make up from her range to my wishlist, but when I saw her latest addition to the Matte Revolution lipstick range I had to add it to my basket straight away.  My bank account said 'please don't do this', but my heart said 'YES YES YES' so that obviously won, and I'm now the very proud and excited owner of this beautiful new lipstick in the shade 1975 red.  Inspired by the flirty and glamorous 1970s, this red is orange toned and a bright, vibrant shade that is perfect for summer nights (and days).  As with the rest of the collection, it is a velvet matte lipstick, the lasting power is super impressive and somehow it manages to make my lips look fuller.  I really love the formula of the matte revolution shades, and I love this sunset red colour and how looks against my awkward colourless complexion!   

The Matte Revolution lipsticks are £23.00 each and when I bought it from Charlotte Tilbury's own website, I got two free samples!  

Have you tried any Charlotte Tilbury lipsticks?  Do you like this shade? xx

FAVOURITES WEEK | HIGH END SKINCARE

Skincare is something we are always told to get right, as when that is perfect it creates the best possible foundation for our make up.  And obviously it helps to keep your skin looking young and beautiful too!  

I'm no expert at all on what skincare is best etc., but these bits that I have picked out as my favourites are ones that have made a noticeable difference to the condition of my skin.

I bought Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair after seeing so many positive reviews on other blogs, and I really love it.  I've had it since around December and I've still got over half of it left, so it earns it's price tag in lasting power.  I love the non greasy formula and I do believe that my skin, especially my eye area, looks better and smoother since using it.

Now I know that this technically blurs the line a bit between skincare and make up, but Clarins Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster has made it here because it is mixed with my moisturiser to enhance my complexion and give it a boost of much needed colour.  I love that I can just mix a couple of drops of this into my night cream and by morning my face has a subtle and totally natural looking tan.  I cannot recommend this enough, if you have a very fair complexion like me then I'd definitely consider this if you're after a easy way to get a golden glow.  

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser and the Instant Boost Skin Tonic are two products that I will always repurchase and use for taking my make up off at night.  The hot cloth cleanser is gentle yet removes my make up easily and thoroughly, along with the muslin cloths that help to exfoliate too.  I use the skin tonic afterwards as a toner, and it makes my skin feel squeaky clean and refreshed - I think it's always good to use it as it can sometimes feel that cleansers leave some trace behind.

Clinique Superdefense SPF 25 eye cream is a product that I wear over my moisturiser to give my eye area some extra protection from the sun, and I would always repurchase it now.  I think sPF is so important, and as the eye area is extra fragile and prone to aging, I think this cream is excellent for giving it a boost - and the bonus is that it isn't greasy and the formula is really light!

Benefit It's Potent eye cream is something I use a small amount of to hide my dark circles.  I'm not sure what kind of magic it is but somehow this cream seems to fade my dark circles so that they are much less noticeable and therefore much easier to conceal!  I end up using much less concealer and therefore no little creases appear throughout the day.  You also need only the tiniest amount of this so it is going to last absolutely ages.  

Last up is Charlotte Tilbury Lip Magic, which is probably the priciest but best lip balm on the market!  I won this in an instagram competition, and I love it!  My lips get dry all year round, and this contains Propolis which is made by bees and has powerful healing properties.  On top of that it also has vitamin e, hyaluronic acid, argan oil and shea butter - a pretty impressive list of ingredients!  I love how it leaves my lips feeling super soft and conditioned, and it works a a long term fix rather than just hydrating them for a few hours before needing to be reapplied.  

My last post will be my favourite drugstore skin care products!  What are you favourite high end products?  Do you like any of these? xx

FOTD | FT. CHARLOTTE TILBURY MATTE REVOLUTION LIPSTICK

Today I thought that I would dedicate a post to the beaut that is the Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution lipstick in the shade Sexy Sienna, which I was lucky enough to win in an Instagram competition.  I felt extra lucky because I was sent Sexy Sienna, a warm peachy orange shade which would have been the next lipstick I purchased from the Matte Revolution collection as I find oranges suit my skin tone best.  

The lipstick applies really well, which is helped by the angled shape of the product as it traces perfectly round the shape of your lips..if that makes sense!  The formula is quite creamy yet the finish is matte (clue in the name!) and the colour payoff is fantastic.  As you can see it is really pigmented and the colour is an orange/peach shade that is perfect for summer.  Obviously the packaging cannot be ignored, and if the product itself isn't enough to sell it, then the beautiful rose gold design is!  I love rose gold, and these lipsticks just look so beautiful on my dressing table that's it's almost worth getting them for that alone (almost!).

This range is branded as being able to create the look of fuller lips, which is a bold claim but somehow it works, and I think that my lips definitely look more shapely - especially my top lip - but I can't really explain how!  These lipsticks are definitely a treat at £24 each, but in my opinion they are totally worth it and earn their value.  

Have you tried any of the Matte Revolution lipsticks?  What do you think of them? xx