- sylviajast
Review: Charlotte Tilbury & Norman Parkinson, Colour of Youth Healthy, Happy Lip & Cheek G
I usually try and stay away from limited edition collections, seeing as some brands release sooo many of them, it’s getting ridiculous. Added to that – limited edition products are usually so-so in quality, so it really does seem like a flat out marketing ploy most of the time. I haven’t tried any Charlotte Tilbury products to date (though I have wanted to try one of her eyeshadow quads for ages) and I have to admit that her new limited edition collection hooked me instantly, because I love historical vintage looking makeup. Charlotte teamed up with renowned photographer Norman Parkinson, who is well known for his iconic celebrity photo-shoots, very reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour, using his photographs for her cosmetic compacts. Charlotte Tilbury’s makeup line isn’t the cheapest, so her limited edition collection is no exception. Because of the prices I was only able to pick up two pieces – the Colour of Youth Lip and Cheek Glow (a cream blush and lip colour) and Dreamy Glow Highlighter (a powder highlighter).
The photographs on the compacts are gorgeous. They are incredible quality and don’t look like the would fade or rub off as the photographs are covered in some type of clear resin. Thank goodness they aren’t stickers or something else equally as awful. The rest of the compacts are a rose gold colour and I have to admit that I was so very disappointed to see that the compacts themselves were made from plastic. They look gorgeous don’t get me wrong – but because of the price of the makeup, I expected the best. If they had been metal and heavy in weight, they would have been so reminiscent of makeup compacts from the 40s. In the 50s metal was difficult to get a hold of because of world war 2 – but these days, that shouldn’t be a problem 😉 So what is the makeup itself like?
Colour of Youth Healthy, Happy Lip & Cheek Glow, $80 (AUD) – A coral, cheek and lip cream with a little translucency to it, so it makes your cheeks and skin look fresh and vibrant! You can build up the colour for a rosier, stronger flush, if that is what you are after. The cream does leave some sheen on the skin, so it would look great on a dewey base. The blush lasts about half a day on my cheeks, without needing any touch ups.
The colour of the cheek glow is a coral, but it leans more pink than orange. I was worried that it would be incredibly similar to Bobbi Brown’s Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks in Coral Calypso, but Coral Calypso is most definitely more orange despite also being a coral. Coral Calypso almost looks neon next the Colour of Youth. The texture of both products is very, very similar.
Above Top to Bottom: Charlotte Tilbury’s Colour of Youth Healthy, Happy Lip & Cheek Glow and Bobbi Brown’s Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks in Calypso Coral (#2).
It’s a lovely rosey-coral which is very youthful. It’s a colour which reminds me of spring and healthy flushed cheeks! The description of the product is captured beautifully on Charlotte Tilbury’s website – here is what she says about the formulation and the picture on the compact:
Capture the youthful, soft-focus light of Parkinson’s lens, encased in the dreamy glamour of vintage Hollywood.I created the Colour of Youth blusher as part of the Charlotte Tilbury X Norman Parkinson collection. It is the colour of love, youth and happiness, inspired by the love story of Norman Parkinson and his wife Wenda. It bottles the delicate, rosy hue you see in young, innocent and fresh cheeks – paint the youth back into your skin with this pretty pink that works will all skin tones.
Berry Flux Vita increases Hyaluronic Acid to moisturise the skin, protecting the epidermis from dehydration.
Microfine pigment technology ensures high colour performance and a long-lasting finish.
It’s creamy, blendable, weightless, hydrating glamour on the go.Capture the youthful, soft-focused light of Parkinson’s lens, encased in the dreamy glamour of vintage Hollywood. The Colour of Youth blusher is the colour of love, youth and happiness, inspired by the love story of Norman Parkinson and his wife Wenda. It bottles the delicate, rosy hue you see in young, innocent and fresh cheeks – paint the youth back into your skin with this pretty pink that works with all skin tones.The beautiful compact features a previously unprinted picture of Wenda. It is an image of pure, endless summer that transports me to a world of castaway, dream-like paradise. I discovered it as a negative at the archive and this compact is the first time the image has been produced and made available to own. I couldn’t do a collaboration with Norman Parkinson without honouring his biggest muse and wife, Wenda. Wenda was an actress, model and author, and she was introduced to Norman by Cecil Beaton. She was his most enduring muse. They met in 1947 and remained together for the rest of their lives.“Wenda…offered to my camera a quiet beauty that does not look so out of date today. Girls change, clothes change, but beauty itself, in whatever form it is viewed, is sealed there forever – it is frozen, it is permanent and it does not age.” Norman ParkinsonPHOTO CREDITS: CLOTHES IN THE SUN, MAY 1956. Editor: Audrey Withers, Model: Wenda Parkinson. Shot on Pigeon Point, Tobago by Norman Parkinson.
It does feel very weightless and is very blendable. I just use my fingers to apply the blush and it blends out beautifully without any difficulty.
Dreamy Glow Highlighter, Illuminating Youth Powder, $90 (AUD) – I’m a sucker for highlighters and who wouldn’t want one in a compact looking like this?! It reminds me of safaris and sunkissed skin 🙂 The powder is super soft and finelly milled, to the point where it is a little powdery (very easy to pick up with a fan brush) so there is a little fall out over the compact when you pick up the powder with your brush. It is a light peach colour with pale gold shimmer. It isn’t overstated or over the top shimmer but it is a little demure, but not as much as say, the Gorgeous Cosmetics Prism Powder is. It’s sophisticated and again, reminds me of rosey spring and peach tones of makeup.
Here is how Charlotte describes the highlighter and how it’s formulated:
Capture the youthful, soft-focus light of Parkinson’s lens, encased in the dreamy glamour of vintage Hollywood.I created the Dreamy Glow Highlighter as part of the Charlotte Tilbury X Norman Parkinson collection. It is a soft, mood-lit Youth Highlighter that creates ‘peaches and cream’, dreamy skin. It’s the perfect blend of pearl and pigment to enhance your complexion, scattering light and opalescence across the features, transitioning skin from winter to golden summer in one easy swipe.
With golden, mother-of-pearl tones, this highlighting youth powder uses light flex technology to capture light and radiate it out across the skin, for a dreamy soft-focus effect.
The glamorous, vintage-style compact features an image of Carmen dell’Orefice shot by Norman Parkinson for Vogue, in the Bahamas. I fell in love with this image as soon as I saw it – it’s chic, timeless and glamorous. I’m inspired by Carmen’s dreamy, ethereal beauty – her perfect almond eyes, beautiful heart lips and killer cheekbones. Parkinson first shot Carmen when she was a teenager and took countless images of her throughout their careers. Carmen has worked on iconic shoots, shows and campaigns and is still gracing the catwalks today.“Carmen has been my best friend for over thirty years – she’s electrically charged.” Norman ParkinsonPHOTO CREDITS: NEW HOLIDAY LOOKS IN THE BAHAMAS, VOGUE, 1959. Editor: Audrey Withers. Model: Carmen dell’Orefice. Shot on Love Beach by Norman Parkinson.
The cream blush and the highlighter work wonderfully together, but of course they look lovely separately. In the photo below I am wearing both products on my cheeks.
So are the products worth their price? Aghhh* It’s so hard to tell, but I’m leaning towards a yes more than a no. The packaging is seriously gorgeous and I get that you are almost paying for art (the photos themselves) but it *could have* been better if the compacts were made out of metal, like the super duper expensive Burberry blush that I bought – also limited edition, but the compact was metal which felt fabulous. The products themselves are great and I’m not disappointed in the makeup itself. But I do think they did go a touch nuts with the price – if you are going to charge that much, every detail should be perfect. I will also mention that my order was processed sooo quickly (it was sent the day after I placed my order) and it arrived via courier from the UK like lightning! I received free shipping due to a promotion but paying for that kind of service wouldn’t bother me. The compacts were nicely packaged and wrapped in tissue, so everything arrived in perfect condition.
They are still available, so if you would like to pick something out of the line you can find the products here.
Have you tried any products from Charlotte Tilbury? Are you tempted by the collection?
Catch ya next time beauties,
Beauty Bee~
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