Charlotte Tilbury seems to be a very polarizing brand. People either love it or hate it. I haven’t tried enough of the products to make a definitive statement on the brand as a whole, but I think the products that I have tried are good. The two lipstick colors that I am showcasing today are part of the Hot Lips 2 line. It is $38 to purchase these shades that come in a refillable casing and the refill bullet is $26 (shown below). There are 5 collectible cases available with the Hot Lips 2 shades in them. Charlotte Tilbury does occasionally release new shades in differently designed refillable packaging, but they also have a classic bullet available for $35 although, the shade availability is different.

Charlotte Tilbury Glowing Jen, K.I.S.S.I.N.G Formula – Tawny Beachy Rose (Soft Rose according to Sephora)

I think this is a nice lipstick formula with a satin (slight sheen) finish. It wears well, which for me, is about 4 hours. That is typical for the bullet lipstick formulas that I consider to be good. The wear-down is subtle and not at all patchy.  I drink water and tea all day, so for lipstick to hang on and have enough color left to not need a touch-up until the 4-hour mark is great for my expectations. The K.I.S.S.I.N.G formula is comfortable to wear (doesn’t dry out my lips), it doesn’t accentuate my lip lines, and it sits nicely even if I have some dryness/chapping. With one caveat, it doesn’t slide around, get on my teeth, or bleed into the fine lines around my upper lip.  The caveat is that this formula does cling better to my lips if I don’t use too much lip balm, or at least wipe off excess lip balm before applying it. This is not necessarily unique since I use emollient lip balms, but it is something to keep in mind if you are someone who has dry lips and applies lip balm right before lipstick. It isn’t that you can’t, but I do think it wears better and moves around less when my lips are not slippery before applying it. For a point of reference, there are several formulas that I don’t have to make sure to remove excess lip balm to get good wear. Some that I can think of right now are the Propa Beauty Luminous Satin, Huda Beauty’s Cream, Chanel Rouge Coco Ultra Hydrating, and Maybelline Color Sensational (which contains lanolin).

You do pay more for this Hot Lips 2 refillable packaging, but I do love it. I know Charlotte Tilbury’s packaging has a history of the gold plating flaking off over time, but I have not had any issues with this lipstick (purchased in April 2022). The bullet is weighted and it feels luxurious to me. The lipstick’s texture is not thin or thick but more middle-of-the-road with great pigmentation. I will say that although I do like this formula and think it is nice, for $38 I wish it worked well with even a light layer of lip balm. Considering all of the other lipsticks I’ve tried over the years, I know that it’s possible, so it stands out as an issue. On the upside, in my experience, it doesn’t need lip balm to wear comfortably and it doesn’t cause dryness when I go without applying lip balm first.

Charlotte Tilbury Viva La Vergara, Matte Revolution Formula – Soft Wine

This Matte Revolution Lipstick has a comfortable, non-drying matte finish that doesn’t accentuate my lip lines. Viva La Vergara is nicely pigmented, thin, and lightweight. By lightweight, I mean that I can definitely forget that I’m wearing it at times. I do have dry lips and occasional rough patches/chapping and this is one of the better mattes in my experience. I don’t have any issues with this drying my lips out. The wear down on this formula is decent, but it needs to be touched up to look its best after about 3 hours. To me, this is a bit short for a matte finish but maybe not surprising based on how lightweight it feels. Regardless of why, there are matte formulas that last better for me. MAC’s Matte formula comes to mind as well as the Givenchy Le Rouge Deep Velvet Lipstick. In the Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution lipstick’s defense, it is more comfortable than the MAC formula and is less dry than Givenchy’s velvet/powder finish. The Givenchy formula, although drier in appearance, doesn’t dry my lips out either, but it is $4 more and you’d have to want that type of finish.

Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips 2 Refills, $26

There are some lipstick shade refills available for $25, but the shades falling under the Hot Lips 2 collection are all $26. The downside of the refill system is that you do have to have a case and the only way to get the case is to have purchased a different shade. The upside, is obviously that if you love a certain shade, it is cheaper to repurchase it and use the same case again. Another option is to rotate the shade you are wearing for the day to the case so you can carry it with you and reapply it more easily. The refill is sturdy enough to use without adding it to a case if you don’t care much about packaging. However, if you don’t care about the packaging, I’d steer you toward another product entirely.

Shade Comparison

The closest lipstick I have for shade comparison to these Charlotte Tilbury shades is the Chanel Rouge Coco Ultra Hydrating Lip Colour in 406 Antoinette.

It is a little challenging to talk about how these Charlotte Tilbury Lipsticks stack up to claims because the brand’s marketing can be very hyperbolic and based on telling a story. The claims listed on Sephora’s website mention that both the K.I.S.S.I.N.G and Matte Revolution formulas are moisturizing and hydrating. I do agree that the K.I.S.S.I.N.G formula is both hydrating and moisturizing but I think the Matte Revolution formula is only moisturizing. Hydration is about getting water into your cells while moisturizing is about trapping water/moisture in your cells. If you want more information on the difference you can read about it here and here. So if my lips are dry, the K.I.S.S.I.N.G formula hydrates them and keeps me from losing that hydration. However, the Matte Revolution formula doesn’t give me hydration but does keep the condition of my lips from getting drier.

Charlotte Tilbury’s website mentions that the K.I.S.S.I.N.G formula gives a luminous pout and lit from within plumper-looking lips. I do think the formula smooths out my lip lines nicely so I can get behind the plumper look claim. On the other hand, I don’t think it’s all that luminous. At least not on my dry lips.

Sephora’s site specifically claims that the Matte Revolution formula has long wear. The language from Charlotte Tilbury’s website doesn’t claim long wear for the Matte Revolution formula that I could see but does call out that 100% of the 20 people who tested this lipstick report a wear time of 10 hours. I don’t think 20 people is enough to conclude something is long-wearing, so I guess I’m not so shocked that it doesn’t last that well for me.

I do think the Charlotte Tilbury Lipsticks are a nice option for someone who appreciates nice packaging and traditional bullet lipsticks. While I don’t dislike the Matte Revolution formula, I have decided to stop wearing matte lipstick. I just don’t personally like how they look on me anymore and they aren’t as comfortable to wear as cream and satin finishes. Since purchasing the two featured colors I have also bought the shade Nude Romance in the K.I.S.S.I.N.G formula, so I am clearly a fan. If you are curious about the color, you can see a swatch of Nude Romance by clicking here.

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What do you think of the Charlotte Tilbury brand? Love it or hate it?

Thanks for reading!

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If you enjoyed this post, please give it a like down below.  If you’d like to check out more of my content, here are some places to start. 

• Brands A-Z: Check out this index if you want to know what products I have posted about in the past.
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Disclaimer:  I purchased all products featured with my own money.  For my full disclosure policy, click here.