Charlotte Tilbury

[Buttwing]

I was thinking of getting some new makeup, it's my birthday on Friday and I thought I might go to one of the counters in selfridges and get some advice. I keep hearing loads about Charlotte Tilbury so thought I might try there. Does anyone us any of there products I suppose really I would be looking at concealer, foundation and any other things that might make my skin look brighter.

Also 15% off Bobbi Brown on John Lewis too (and Laura Mercier). They are price matching Harvey Nicks.

oh and NARS too!

Hi I went to selfridges today and tried Charlotte Tilbury. The woman who "did" me was actually very good ,obviously she was trying to sell to me but I did like the products. The doing half the face must be a thing though, she took off all my face makeup used the moisturiser and primer then said "shall I just do half your face so you can compare?"

She used the magic foundation, concealer and the bronzer and highlighter and a blusher. It stayed on all day and I've got to say my skin looked flawless. It will be interesting to see what it's like tomorrow when I've applied it rather than them!

Oh and after spending rather a lot I'm loving that Harvey Nichols and John Lewis have 15% off grrrr.

Oh, the half face thing is their way of ensuring that you're not just there for a free makeover.

I have never had half a face done at any stand. Do they finish it off if you buy it?

Another Bobbi Brown fan here. I'm going to John Lewis today and have booked a lipstick lesson. They don't do make-overs as such but do offer free lessons. The products are really lovely and not too expensive.

Ahh that makes sense! When she said shall I do half so you can compare I said no I knew what my face looked like without makeup! She was fine and said ok I will do all of it. She did say come back anytime if you want your eyes or anything else doing. Saying that I had just spent a lot with them so I suppose she was touting for more business which is fair enough!

I had a make over at the MAC stand at Selfridges. Had to wait an age for my turn. I told the girl I wanted subtle and wanted to know what she my skin was and what colours I should use. She didn't speak to me the entire time. When she finished I looked like a man in drag; there were huge streaks of unblended bronzer down my cheeks and nose, bright orange lipstick painted way outside my lip line which was also lined in a shade much darker than the lipstick.
I was so horrified that I couldn't speak. I looked at my daughter and said " does this look good?"
She slowly shook her head.
Never again.
Whenever I have hung round the CT stand in Selfridges, obviously looking interested, I have been completely ignored by the reps.

The BB lessons are great - I tend to have the "eye makeup" one done at bout 5pm if I am going out - they do a lovely smokey eye and then just add lipstick in the taxi!!! Very effective when going out straight from work and I don't need to lug a whole load of make up with me. Also my colleague has had a couple of the skin/foundation lessons when she has been hungover and has a big meeting in the afternoon - made her look all glowy despite feeling crap

I have a CT lipstick (Penelope Pink). It's dreadful. It's very thick and has a sort of grainy texture that is most unpleasant. I won't bother with anything else from her range.

I had a BB lipstick lesson yesterday as I wanted a red lippy to try and get a more glamorous look for the evening. The girl was brilliant and we found the perfect shade but also I got a very generous sample of some foundation and I bought some under-eye concealer which was really light and would go claggy and cakey. IME the BB girls are all friendly and very approachable (unlike some high-end companies who's salesgirls are snotty and caked in make-up and look down their noses).

I've got the CT Magic foundation. It's lovely and I will use it up, but I don't think I'd buy it again. I bought it after reading rave reviews in the press gullible but I don't think it quite lives up to the hype

I am not usually over sensitive about such things and the lip formulations are very nice...
But went to the counter at Selfridges London not long after the launch and was really annoyed to see the lack of diversity in the "who could you be?" make up looks. It's not the fact that one particular model was chosen, but the use of one model with a very particular appearance in a campaign which is obviously meant to make consumers think we could buy any of the looks. Beautiful model, but she is not an everywoman. How are those with very different skin tones and hair supposed to relate to it?

I challenged one of the (charming) assistants who admitted that I was not the first to bring it up, and this was why they had added a black model for some of the looks. I said in 2015 if we as consumers are being asked to shell out shed loads of money for products, it just wasn't good enough and that fact alone would put me off buying the admittedly beautiful looking makeup on principle. An international makeup artist of such standing should know better.

my friend was involved in the concept and marketing of CT line

CT actively chose the cheapest ingredients available to keep down production costs so could spend in marketing and PR and to keep exclusive slapped the products with an expensive price tag

the aggressive marketing where the money was spent was to pay high end influencers on social media & blogs etc to give it a cult following to drive sales - it worked initially to grow awareness but now real reviews (like some posters here) are coming through and the quality of the products is not holding up

it doesn't take much to work out who CT and co paid - look at all the big beauty you tubers, bloggers and on Twitter at that time and you will see at a certain time the likes of Caroline hirons and cronies all start to mention their love for CT, ditto Mary Greenwell and all those in the industry etc making it very cult to use/buy it but all those mentioning it were/are on lucrative ad deals for it.

Coincidentally sali Hughes just happens to have an In The Bathroom with Charlotte - no coincidence there

same friend says in terms of wmquslity you'd be better off with cheapest own brand than CT

Makeup artist friend raves about Kevyn Aucoin privately and uses it on her own face, but doesn't mention it in her online presence. I don't know why as I don't think she's paid to endorse/use any particular brand, she's not well known enough for that (although she is very good).

Oops, posted too soon.

She really doesn't rate CT at all, she won't use the products on her clients.

OMG, a CT mole! Very interesting, although I'm sure lots of other big brands are also guilty of similar behaviour. It was a beautifully produced campaign (including the stands in dept stores) which looks as if it had lots of money spent on it. Nevertheless I am surprised to hear that the quality is not all that. The eye shadow quads looked lovely and (I'm trying to be ultra fair here after my last ranty post) the creamy lipstick I tried felt really moisturising, like a balm, but I guess ninared's post demonstrates how powerful marketing is.

Too late for OP now but for foundation I would look at Armani Luminous Silk and/or Nars tinted moisturiser and radiant creamy concealer.

I've used a few bits from CT's range. Some I like but there's nothing I've been wowed by and I think at those prices you should be wowed! IMO it's a bit too hit and miss considering it's marketed as a luxury/high-end brand.

I think a lot of the buzz around the brand is good PR and marketing...so interesting to read ninareds post. Like PP I've noticed a lot of beauty bloggers raving on about her stuff too.

Ninared, that's fascinating. She certainly does have a cult following among trendy beauty bloggers and the like but I've barely come across a regular person with a good word to say about her products. I've asked for reviews of her lipsticks a couple of times on here coz I was very tempted but not one person said anything positive about them.

Lotta I bought one of the colour chameleon eyeshadows for blue eyes, champagne diamonds, and it was awful. Terrible falldown, really chunky glitter and dried down so quickly it was impossible to blend.

OTOH the other one I bought (bronzed garnet) is much nicer but....it's virtually identical to one of the Rimmel Scandaleyes, which is a fraction of the price. I honestly think you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between them. I'll do a swatch if anyon'es interested!

I have one of her lipsticks and it's nice...but I've bought a lot nicer for the same price (or less).

Rimmel is absolutely bloody marvellous for the price. I use their Match Perfection foundation all the time, the Salon Pro polishes are excellent and no complaints about the Scandal eyes gel liner either. I just can't justify £25 on a lipstick or £35 on an eye-shadow quad unless they're amazing, which it sounds like they are really not!

Yes they are! I love the Scandaleyes chunky pencils, waterproof eyeliner and their lipsticks are lovely, I have several.

I agree - if you are going to spend £25 on a lipstick, there are better brands out there. If you did want to spend that much, for a treat, I would recommend the NARS Audacious lipsticks and the Estee Lauder Pure Colour Envy. I'm saving up my Boots points for the latter :).

Is scandal eyes a tunnel product?

I may have to check these out. I have never found an eyeliner I love. I tend to use black or dark brown eye shadow. But it's not intense enough.

Sorry if I'm being a but thick here but not sure what a tunnel product is?

The Scandaleyes range has shadow sticks, which are chunky eyeshadow pencils and also eyeliners. I would recommend giving them a go as they are so cheap - I think the most expensive product is £4.99 - and they are almost always on special offer in Boots/Superdrug if you have access to one.

The Pixi silky eye pencils are EXCELLENT if you are looking for something thats very pigmented and doesn't budge but they are more expensive (around £12) and harder to get hold of.