Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette Review – is it worth the hype?

The Charlotte Tilbury luxury palette was on my wishlist for a long
time, so when my blog recently hit a milestone I decided to finally
treat myself. I justified the £38 spend by the fact that I had wrung every ounce out of my last two makeup palettes, both of which were over 2 years old!

I placed my order online and it arrived beautifully packaged in a huge box containing a froth of tissue paper in a deep aubergine hue. The receipt was even presented in a parchment envelope embossed with ‘Charlotte Tilbury’ in gold.

The casing of the palette felt just as luxurious; solid, smooth and weighty. I had chosen the Golden Goddess quad as I thought that this would best suit my skin tone (there are no Charlotte Tilbury stockists in my area annoyingly so I couldn’t try anything out beforehand).

The reviews had been glowing, convincing me that the colours would glide
on like a dream and that in a few small flicks of my brushes I’d achieve the effect that Charlotte herself
demonstrates on the website.

Let me clarify at this point that I am no makeup artist, just your average girl who follows YouTube tutorials which sometimes turn out okay and sometimes don’t! I own some makeup brushes and know the general shape to use for each task but quite often just use the sponge applicator that comes with the shadow because it’s easier and I can’t see a lot of difference usually (don’t judge me – I’m being entirely honest here!).
 

So first things first: You do not get an applicator with this quad. This tells me that Charlotte expects you to either a) already be proficient at using brushes or b) have bought her brushes at the same time after hearing her wax lyrical over them in her makeup tutorial. (I was tempted but had managed to resist!).

The colours are lovely. A good light base colour with a subtle sheen to it, then two deeper shades for the sockets and lining the eyes. I prefer shade 3 to shade 2, it’s a more bronzed colour that suits me better.

The fourth colour stands out the most. It’s a different texture to the
others, rougher and with a gorgeous glittery sparkle. It’s best applied
with your finger. I’d recommend reserving this for after dark when it will really come to life in ambient lighting – it’s a bit too much for daytime.

The colours apply well and last all day when I use a primer underneath.

So… is it worth the hype?

If I’m completely honest, I see very little difference in quality or texture
between these and my favourites from Estee Lauder and Elizabeth Arden,
which are in a similar price bracket (you can buy the Estee Lauder Pure Colour Trio in Amber Alloy for £28 which seems a pretty good dupe).

Personally I think it is a bit overhyped, but it’s still very high
quality and I will buy another quad at some point… I just no longer
feel the desperate need to purchase every single CT item I’ve ever seen
reviewed.

Maybe to the more discerning makeup user there is something more to it that I just don’t see. However I think that secretly maybe it’s less the product itself, and more the prestigious feeling that comes with owning it.. and  that packaging!

In conclusion – Charlotte: You make me feel like a moviestar… even if in my hands your makeup can’t quite make me look like one!

P.s. Here’s how it looks on me anyway (excuse the kitchen background – it was a lighting thing!) so that you can be the judge. (Used in conjunction with the Stila Smudge Stick Eye Liner, which I shall be reviewing shortly. Spoiler: it’s amazeballs!).