My Honest Charlotte Tilbury Skincare Review

With flashy displays and gold-toned packaging, Charlotte Tilbury seems more like a luxury brand for celebrities than a makeup line you'd find in a department store. Still, Charlotte Tilbury has found a home in Ulta, Sephora and hundreds of malls. If you're thinking about adding a little glam to your life, find out what to expect with my honest, non-sponsored Charlotte Tilbury review.

What is Charlotte Tilbury?

After a star-studded career, professional makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury launched her own makeup brand in 2013. The line offers a wide range of products, including moisturizers, facial oils, setting sprays, tanning drops, undereye patches and more. To enhance customer service, the brand often invests in new technologies, such as virtual try-ons, shade matching and 3D virtual stores.

Magic Cream

According to the website, Magic Cream is a "facelift in a jar" that revives your skin in 28 seconds, reduces signs of aging and gives your skin a youthful glow. The formula includes plant oils, powders and extracts, plus an exclusive Recoverstem Peptide. To use, you'll massage this cream into your face before applying makeup.

The site made a lot of extravagant claims, so I was intrigued to see if Magic Cream lived up to the hype. Turns out, this cream really is magic: within minutes, my skin looked brighter, cleaner and fresher with less redness and reduced pore visibility. Before, I'd looked a little red and sweaty, so this made me feel more confident about my appearance.

I wouldn't go so far as to call Magic Cream a "facelift in a jar," but the ingredients can effectively prime and refresh your face at the start of your skincare routine. Plus, the earthy fragrance and creamy, lotion-like texture make it fun to apply. The jar is small, but you don't need much.

Magic Water Cream

Magic Water Cream aims to hydrate and nourish your skin with a blend of plant juices and oils, niacinamide and a biopeptide complex. The website claims that the hydration lasts for up to 100 hours. For best results, you'll apply this cream near the end of your morning skincare routine.

From the start, this product emphasized hydration. The formula's light, fluffy texture reminded me of Starbucks cold foam, and once I'd massaged it into my skin, my face had a fresh, dewy look that reminded me of the "glass skin" trend. While the shine eventually faded, my face maintained a clean, healthy glow for the rest of the day.

As I used this cream for the next few days, my face developed a silky, pliable texture and looked clean and cohesive. The surface did feel sticky, and some people might think the sheen looks oily instead of dewy. Still, my pores drank up this formula, so I'd recommend it to anyone struggling with dullness or dry patches.

Magic Night Cream

Magic Night Cream offers an eclectic blend of ingredients, including vitamin E, red algae marigel, winter daphne stem cell extract and time-released retinol, which may smooth your skin and reduce signs of aging. You'll apply this cream before bedtime and let your skin absorb the ingredients overnight.

With a thick, jellylike texture and a waxy fragrance, using this cream felt like smearing wax on my face. When I woke up the next morning, my face felt tight and sticky, leading me to quickly wash it off. Fortunately, the mild discomfort was worth it.

Once I'd rinsed my face, the surface felt soft, pliable and elastic like a velvet cushion. My skin also looked clean and refreshed, and the plush texture lingered for the rest of the day. My only complaint is that my pores were still visible, but maybe this cream doesn't target that issue. In any case, this was definitely a heavy-duty product that needed plenty of time to work.

Goddess Skin Clay Mask

Goddess Skin Clay Mask may smooth and brighten your skin with a blend of vitamin C, Spanish clay and sweet almond oil. To use, you'll apply the mask to your face, let it sit for ten minutes and rinse it off.

I love skincare products with fun tactile sensations, and this mask definitely delivered. The tan hue, earthy aroma and thick, claylike texture made me feel like I were smearing mud on my face--but in a fun, satisfying way. As instructed, I waited ten minutes and washed off the mask.

When I checked my face in the mirror, my pores were almost invisible--an impressive feat--and my skin looked fresh, clean and rejuvenated. The mask had also mopped up excess oils, leaving the surface smooth and clear. My skin also felt soft to the touch, and the youthful glow was undeniable.

Like most Charlotte Tilbury products, this mask is a little pricey, so I recommend grabbing a sample at your local department store to see how your pores react. If it's anything like my experience, you'll have healthy, silky skin that surprised me every time I looked in the mirror.

Life-changing Lip Mask

Life-changing Lip Mask is your source for ceramides, botanical butters and exclusive Lip Lift Technology, which may plump and define your lips. The formula can also soften your lips, reduce wrinkles and strengthen the barrier. You can apply this product throughout the day, use it as a primer or leave it on overnight for a lip mask.

I have fairly dry lips, so I was curious to see if this mask lived up to the "life-changing" label. To get the full effects, I decided to use it as an overnight mask. The formula had a sugary aroma, a bright pink hue and a thick, waxy texture that was a little hard to spread, but I got it on eventually.

The next morning, my lips felt soft and cushiony without the usual layer of dead skin on the surface. They also had a cleaner, more cohesive look, creating the perfect canvas for lipstick. Surprisingly, the hue was slightly darker as if I'd applied lipstick already. I did notice that the top lip was slightly dry, so I'd probably apply more if I used it again.

Overall, this mask wasn't quite life-changing, but it was more effective than any other lip mask I'd tried. Plus, it's versatile, so you can incorporate it into your routine in a variety of ways. The only downside is that my lips didn't look plumper or more defined, but you might have a different experience.

Glow Toner

Glow Toner gets your skin ready for makeup with a blend of peptides, niacinamide, plant extracts and sodium hyaluronate. This formula may smooth your skin, refine your pores and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. For best results, you'll apply this toner twice a day.

My face looked puffy and sweaty from the heat, so I decided to apply this toner and see what it could do. The formula was a thick, yellowish liquid with a strong pineapple-tinged scent. After applying the liquid to my face, the redness and puffiness quickly disappeared. My pores were still visible, but my skin looked fresher and more relaxed.

If you're looking for another step before applying your makeup, Glow Toner is an effective primer that turns your face into a blank canvas. As a bonus, it acts quickly, so you can throw on this primer when you're getting ready in the morning or use it to achieve a "no-makeup" look.

Overall Verdict

While Charlotte Tilbury didn't deliver on every claim, the formulas effectively cleansed and refreshed my face, restoring the glow and making me look a few years younger. Unfortunately, Charlotte Tilbury is one of the pricier brands, so it's hard to experiment if you're on a budget. I recommend grabbing a sample or trying one or two products before placing a large order.

Have you tried Charlotte Tilbury before? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.