A New Beauty Bedrock: Take A Look At Charlotte Tilbury’s New Beautiful Skin Foundation
The iconic make-up mogul launches an expansive and inclusive line of foundations designed to colour-match any skintone
Though it took years to concoct, Charlotte Tilbury’s dewy, natural-glow-effect Beautiful Skin Foundation is based on a science-backed matrix and a unique mix of natural ingredients. Amidst the enduring health pandemic that has the world more tired than normal, this healthy glow in a bottle has arrived at just the right time.
Another reason why this product is so promising is because diversity and recognising today’s multitude of skintones, is one of the biggest issues facing the beauty and backstage fashion industries today. Many women of colour argue that darker foundation shades are limited and not easily available through retailers. In addition, models of colour are often still expected to bring their own make-up backstage to avoid a mismatched visage.
“Diversity and inclusion is really the thinking behind this and is hugely important for me,” said Charlotte, who started her own career as a make-up artist to runway models and cinema stars. Today, as the founder of her eponymous brand, she is working closely with her research and development team. The brand tested its latest product on 600 individuals with a variety of under and overtones. “We are for everyone, regardless of what age or community they hail from. Be whoever you want to be and we will support it. The purpose of this brand is to support you in feeling and looking your most confident and feeling empowered,” she enthused.
Tilbury’s latest product to hit the market provides 16 hours of medium coverage and comes in 30 different shades. The beauty mogul has high expectations for this foundation as she has a proven track record of tapping into the beauty zeitgeist.
Until she launched her own line in 2013, the British make-up artist earned a reputation for mixing her own Magic Cream for fashion shows, film sets and celebrity clients like Kate Moss, Amal Clooney and Penelope Cruz. It went on to sell out in seven minutes in the U.S., as soon as it hit the shelves when it was first launched. Today, she has science and figures to back up her genius. Magic Cream, she says, renders the skin 236 per cent more hydrated and 219 per cent more elastic in one hour and promises “insane” long-term benefits. Tilbury’s Beautiful Skin Foundation, which follows an array of celebrated brand foundations like the Dewy Finish, Demi-Matte and Natural Matte, has the same hydration-sealing star quality. This is thanks to ingredients like hyaluronic acid and rose wax that are used in the foundation’s formula. They have been mixed with something called Bix Actif, which smoothes the skin out by 198 per cent; and coconut extract that plumps the skin by 181 per cent.
“This is a superfood for the skin that reduces water loss, which is why we are able to render the skin younger, plumper and smoother. So many people don’t realise that when a woman has been in an air-conditioned space and they get dehydrated, they also get more lines. This new product is about locking water into your skin,” Charlotte explained, noting that Beautiful Skin Foundation’s rose complex boosts radiance by 285 per cent and has an instant radiating and illuminating effect.
“I know I drive my chemist crazy sometimes. That’s why things take time,” said the make-up artist with a laugh. And she admitted that some lucky few have already been privy to its magic potential. She said she has tested foundation no. 7 on Kate Moss, Salma Hayek and Amal Clooney. The product surprisingly caters to the undertones of all three, despite their diverse cultural backgrounds. “In the last months, I have used it on all three of them,” Charlotte said, adding that the neutrality of the product transcends pink, bronze, golden, the caramels and the deep browns and olive skin tones.
Tilbury, who sold a majority stake of her company to Barcelona-based fashion and fragrance company Puig last year, has garnered a strong celebrity following with her go-to products, like the Smoothing Clay mask reportedly one of Jennifer Aniston’s favourite products or the Matte Revolution lipstick in Very Victoria, the famed shade used by Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.
During COVID, the company didn’t waste any time and took their beauty consultancy virtual, advising women at home about what products best match their skin. Its new Foundation Shade Finder allows users to select their skintone, undertones and desired coverage before uploading a quick selfie to reveal their flawless shade match. The Beautiful Skin Foundation, said Charlotte, comes at a time when people are feeling ‘blah’ and emerging from one of the toughest periods of their entire lives.
“You know what? The whole world is tired and we’re all exhausted. We are just coming through a pandemic. Just a little Beautiful Skin Foundation can give you that confidence and radiance,” she said with a smile.
Images supplied
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s January 2022 issue