Charlotte Tilbury foundation review; is it worth the price tag?

If there is ever a makeup brand I get asked about the most it is for sure Charlotte Tilbury and considering I have been working with makeup for over 10 years it’s only recently that I have tried the brand for myself.

Why has it taken me so long to review charlotte tilbury foundation?

If I’m honest probably the price. Well known for its coveted lipsticks and magic cream skincare, Charlotte Tilbury is a luxury brand with most of the products retailing above the £20 mark.

If there was anything I wanted to try it has always been the foundations. Promising a foundation for all skin types, ages, and tones that’s quite a big statement for a brand that only offers four types of foundation.

I decided to put two of their most popular foundations to the test analysing the ease of application, finish, buildability, long wear, and any skincare benefits using my normal skincare routine.

Beautiful Skin charlotte tilbury foundation, £34

Available in 30 shades the beautiful skin foundation is Charlotte Tilbury’s latest offering which went viral over on Tiktok. Offering buildable medium coverage that is super hydrating this foundation promises to leave your skin looking beautiful and healthy.

I opted for the shade 7 Warm as I have a medium skin tone with yellow undertones, considering this was bought online I was amazed at how perfect this matched my skin tone if however, you are unsure which shade to go for they have a shade match tool available on the website so you can be sure it will match before purchasing.

Infused with hyaluronic acid, their ingredients list also includes rose water which is great for brightening the skin alongside coconut extract which helps the skin hold water and aid its barrier over time. It claims to even out texture, and reduce dryness and dullness resulting in hydrated, plump skin.

So what did I think?

I honestly didn’t know what to expect, its hard when a product goes viral to not get sucked into the hype without knowing whether a product works for you. I usually wear a medium to the full foundation so I assumed this would be too lightweight for me however it was the opposite, this is much more coverage to what I was expecting. A lot of people had said it felt more like a tinted moisturiser but I would disagree, this definitely covered any blemishes I had and smoothed out my skin with only two pumps. You can however build this up if you like to a more full coverage look.

To apply I used a dome-like brush, you can order a brush from Charlotte Tilbury however I used one from Peaches and Cream. I used this brush to buff the foundation into the skin, it has an almost gel-like consistency that was super blendable and left a subtle radiance on my skin almost immediately. I then applied powder over the top, this is just something I like to do to ensure the longevity of my makeup, however, if you like the ultra glowy look you could skip this step. I adored how this looked on my skin with just the foundation, powder, and gloss my skin looked healthy, natural, and glowy. I also didn’t need to touch it up at all throughout the day.

I would recommend this foundation to those who like medium coverage, glowy foundation, basically your skin-but-better finish. I also think this foundation would work really well on mature skin.

Airbrush Flawless Foundation, £34

Available in 44 shades, this foundation is iconic for a flawless, poreless-looking complexion. Offering a full-coverage formula with a natural matte finish, this is definitely more similar to a foundation I would normally wear.

Again I opted for shade 7 Warm which matched my skin perfectly.

Upon first application, I soon realised how much thicker this foundation is in comparison to the beautiful skin foundation. This is much more of a full coverage matte foundation which covered every inch of a blemish on my face. As you would assume by the name it gave such a blurring effect to my skin it truly did look airbrushed. Although it is a thicker consistency it doesn’t feel cakey on the skin at all and my skin still felt breathable. Containing ingredients promising to boost hydration by up to 216% it didn’t feel dry on the skin even hours later.

I decided to give this foundation the true test by leaving it on my skin for the gym (something I wouldn’t recommend normally, however, I had no cleanser with me!), and apart from a slight movement around my mouth area it really did not budge.

For application again I used a buffing brush to ensure the foundation would blend into the skin, I then used a beauty blender to bounce any remaining foundation into the skin to ensure it would stay in place before powder.

This foundation is super full coverage, so if you suffer from pigmentation or scarring this would be ideal to cover anything you would like. The only thing I noticed about this foundation that I wasn’t super keen on is the scent, it has a slightly perfumed scent to it, so if you don’t do well with that I would maybe opt for the beautiful skin foundation instead.

Overall I think I may be the next Charlotte Tilbury super fan! Both foundations worked super well on my skin, the shade match was perfect and I loved the coverage on both. Yes, both foundations are at the higher end in price but I do genuinely believe both are worth the price.

Both foundations left my skin feeling hydrated, they wore well and applied, and blended easily. I also loved the fact that each product had a range of good skincare ingredients to hydrate and protect the skin. They also offer a range of shades and a shade match system is readily available on their website.