Review: Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipsticks

Monday 20 July 2015


Like most beauty addicts, I’m a massive fan of Charlotte Tilbury makeup.

The beautiful formulations, the gorgeous packaging – and the lady herself, who I would die to have my makeup done by!

But despite being a big fan, and lingering over her counter every time I paid a visit to Selfridges, I didn’t actually own much from the range at all.

As part of my Bump to Baby Bucket list, I’d resolved to treat myself to some real wish-list products before the baby comes, while I still have a disposable income, so I decided to pick up a couple of the lipstick shades, which we’ll look at here.

The first shade I chose was a nude, because that’s probably my most worn type of colour – I tend to favour dramatic eyes and paler lip looks a lot of the time, or if I’m going for a natural look its also my pick.

After years of trying to wear Brigitte Bardot beige colours and ending up looking like I’d been dug up, I worked out that pinker tones seem to work better with my golden skin.

The hint of contrast works a lot better than tone on tone for me. Charlotte has lot of beautiful nude colours in her range, but I was drawn to Bitch Perfect.


It’s a sort of light ‘tea rose’ shade – a mix of dusky pink and a warmer toned vaguely coral nude-ish brown, and it just looks gorgeous on. I have heard that the colour reads a bit orange on paler gals, but I found it a perfect nude on my (NW20) skin. A real holy grail shade.

I think this is definitely more suited to warm skintones and probably doesn’t work well on paler or darker skins, but there’s plenty of other nudes in the range to combat that (paler ladies might want to try Nude Kate or Penelope Pink).


 


It lives in the same shade family as Nars Julie or Mac Reel Sexy, but for me it’s the perfect balance – it has enough impact to hold its own on a natural look, while not being bright enough to distract from a statement eye. The orange tones are muted on me, and it comes out more of a pink.

The creamy formula totally pops but in an understated way that I love. Do you ever just want to look like a rich girl? Polished, sophisticated and subtle, like a Gucci ad? Well, this is the shade for that. And I love the cheeky name.

The second colour I picked up couldn’t be further at the opposite end of the colour spectrum. It’s ‘Night Crimson’, a deep, full blooded dark red that oozes film noir glamour.


I’ve been searching for ages for a dark red that didn’t come out too purplish and plummy on me, and this does the trick nicely. It’s a beautiful crimson with slight brownish undertones and I love the drama it creates.

This one takes a couple of extra swipes to build up to full colour impact, but the pay off is beautiful.

Dark vampy lipsticks can be dangerous territory because they tend to make lips look thinner, but the formula really goes the extra mile here – there’s a subtle sheen to the shade that still gives you a killer pout without having to rely on sparkly particles. Its extremely clever.

I adore this colour because its really unique – a complete statement maker and very vintage vamp without coming across as childish – a sort of very grown-up goth.

Charlotte states that the K.I.S.S.I.N.G formula delivers rich colour, a luminous finish and leaves lips ‘softer, perter, soothed and hydrated’. I don’t think the formula is as moisturising as some, but at the same time its rich and gives a very light, natural sheen – pretty similar to the MAC Satin formulas.

This was more apparent with the darker shade, which had a luminosity to it without being shimmery – helpful with darker shades as they can make lips look thin.

This is my favourite type of lipstick finish as its more flattering than matte or a heavy gloss. The pigmentation is dense, but I needed a couple of coats to get full coverage. Once on, it sits lightly on the lips, and the formula feels premium.


It glides on without any dragging and feels comfortable to wear – I thought it also made my lips appear fuller. I got about four hours wear with some fading, which is pretty decent. The formula is also supposed to contain a plant antioxidant that protects from UV rays and fights skin-damaging free radicals.

The packaging is what takes these to the text level – its that beautiful fluted rose gold casing that looks so vintage. These honestly could have come off your Grandma’s dressing table, and there’s a really luxurious, old Hollywood feel to whipping one of these out.

A thrill that Mac’s functional black plastic just doesn’t give – these feel solid and precious. Whipping them out in the ladies is practically a piece of performance art!


These lipsticks are beautiful, but I think they’re a little bit overpriced. I would definitely repurchase both just because they’re standout shades, but considering you could get two MAC lipsticks for the price of one of these, and MAC is on a par formula-wise, these feel a little dear.

The packaging sort of makes up for this but although the lipsticks are undoubtedly beautiful, they’re still too pricey.

However, if you’re looking to treat yourself, these are definitely the ones – you feel spoilt just looking at them!

Charlotte Tilburt K.I.S.S.I.N.G Fallen from the Lipstick Tree shades are priced £23.00 each and are available from Selfridges.

1 comment

  1. I love Bitch Perfect! It's the only Charlotte Tilbury lipstick I own but it's very beautiful. They are a little pricey, which is why I haven't bought another one (so many other things to buy these days) but I do agree, they are very good quality. xo

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