I didn't enjoy the run up to Christmas - for various reasons I won't go into but due in part to the most horrific cold I've had in a long time. I had to cancel all my fun early December plans and was generally snotty and abstemious until the 12th by which time I was so behind with the boring bits of Christmas that there was not that much time left to do fun stuff (yes, yes I know, cue tiny little violins).
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| The outer packaging - which you have to throw out |
This is how I came to hop off the tube at Bond Street on my way to meet friends* and head straight into
Selfridges with a four year old voucher burning a hole in my pocket and a hankering for some of the new Charlotte Tilbury products.
I thought I deserved a treat and never having scraped together enough money for the Mulberry bag or Chanel sunglasses I wanted to use the voucher for come really high-end cosmetics for personal use. I'd heard and read some fantastic things about Charlotte Tilbury products and the beautiful, classic packaging made my mind up.
I ended up with three products -
Filmstar Bronze & Glow,
Charlotte's Magic Cream and the
Retoucher (reviews on the other two to follow). I have to say you do pay for the packaging - a lot of which you throw away but it's been incredibly well thought out and produced, I almost didn't want to put it in the bin, but that's where it has to end up which and I'd rather not have all the disposable packaging and pay less.
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| The actual case. Nice isn't it! |
I was originally going to get the gold
Bar of Gold highlighter but was instead persuaded to try the
Filmstar Bronze & Glow face sculpt and highlight and having tried it on there really was no decision to be made. Yes the
Bar of Gold may be really lovely to have in your kit for photographic shoots and the more glamorous looks but as this was a personal, rather than a work purchase, the
Filmstar Bronze & Glow was much subtler and more wearable and I often contour my face so it's wonderful to have something that does the job so beautifully. It really does transform your face. As long as you blend, blend, blend.
This is now available in two colour options light to medium and medium to dark. Although I usually prefer a matte colour to use as a sculpt this has a lovely tone - you just need to be careful with your blending - and the darker contour powder is beautiful on its own as a bronzer.
The gold-based highlighter is beautiful - very subtle and glamorous. This set is definitely for those who like a classic style of make-up and have a bit of money to spend as it's £49 for 16g of product so not cheap.
I really love this and I would like to keep in my collection, whether I can afford to at that price remains to be seen. I'll also be interested to see how long it lasts and whether it breaks up eventually, as so often happens with products in beautiful packages. There's no denying a lot of thought and time has been put into the new Charlotte Tilbury range and this is one of the products where it really shows. If you try one thing from the range this would be the one to go for I think.
What You Need to Know - Filmstar Brzone & Glow
- £49 for 16g
- Two colours available - light to medium (the original) and medium to dark
- Paraban free
- Available online and at Selfridges
* for supper at Canteen on the South Bank - lovely and fun but I had completely lost my sense of taste so I have no
idea what my Mac Cheese tasted like but I'm assuming it was delicious
UPDATED JANUARY 2017
It's rare for me to rush out and buy a new release because over the past 11 or so years of doing this I've had to learn some discipline. If I could I could quite happily spend hundreds of pounds on products within the next five minutes and still feel like I hadn't scratched the surface on my wish-list. I could bankrupt us on make-up and beauty.
Finding a bronzer that will suit everyone is pretty tricky and this isn't the exception. If you are really pale this can just make your face look dirty so do go to a Chanel counter and try it out before you buy it. If it does suit you this is great for doing contouring over, and under, your foundation, adding a sun-kissed look or even on it's own if you are lucky enough not to need a base. I really love this and think it's worth every penny. It also smells really good - which helps.
It is shiny but the four different tones are really blendable and give a really natural, slightly highlighted sunkissed look. I've been using it lightly on the cheeks, up to the temples, across the centre of the nose and chin and it's really worked in making me look healthy and post-holiday which is just what I need. I try to wear the highest factor available on my face and wear a hat as often as possible when on holiday so quite often I come home with a face quite a bit paler than the rest of me. This is a very good, amazingly cheap, healthy option to having a suntan on your face and because it's only £2.50 I don't really mind that it's started to break up... my fault for taking it absolutely everywhere with me I suppose! Will be definitely trying their mosaic blushers next xx
