Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation Review

The Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation has been at the height of many rave reviews so of course I had to see what all the fuss is about. I’ve been loyal to Nars Sheer Glow for so long so it was about time I tried something new in the high end category. I am a huge fan of Charlotte Tilbury and her always impressive beauty range so it was about time to try one of her base products. So is the Magic foundation all that magic?

PRICE/DESIGN

The Magic foundation retails at £29.50 which is around the average price mark for a high end foundation. It comes in a tad cheaper than her Light Wonder foundation and is actually a decent price for the Charlotte Tilbury (CT) range considering she uses a more premium price point. It is also a little cheaper than the Nars Sheer Glow foundation so whilst it is still on the pricey side, it isn’t as eye-watering as some of her other products. The bottle design also boasts a luxury look as expected from the CT range. It makes a great dressing table decoration with a frosted glass design and a very pretty rose gold lid, I mean who doesn’t love a bit of rose gold!? Paying a high price, you will be glad to know this foundation also features a pump unlike some other high end foundations (*cough* Nars Sheer Glow).

SHADE RANGE

This foundation comes in 15 shades so covers a really good spectrum of skin tones. I have Shade 2 which is a perfect match for my skin tone. Her website shows a very detailed description of each shade so it’s easier to match up if buying online (like me) or if you have a counter near by I would recommend picking up a sample. Also, if you buy from her website you can pick 2 free samples, one being the foundation to try out, something I should have done!

COVERAGE/FINISH

The foundation has a semi-matte/satin finish, much like Nars Sheer Glow. It isn’t too matte on the skin but isn’t dewy either although it does give off a little natural glow. It is probably my most preferred finish for a foundation and one that usually works the best for my combination skin. The foundation is marketed as being full-coverage so one that seems more appropriate for special occasions. However one of the first impressions I took from using this foundation is that there is no way it is full coverage. It is much more of a buildable medium coverage foundation. I definitely have to work in thin layers to build up the coverage as desired which does use up a lot of foundation for one use which is pretty disappointing particularly for a ‘high coverage’ high end foundation.

APPLICATION

The actual application of the foundation was the most disappointing thing for me which sadly isn’t great considering it really is the most important factor to a foundation. The foundation applied incredibly cakey and was so drying on my skin. After trying out the foundation in different ways, I found the best method for application was to actual pat the foundation into my skin with a buffing brush opposed to buffing it in. Using that method, it sits much better on my skin and does appear as cakey or stick to dry areas. It has similar effects to many drugstore foundations I’ve tried were there is days were it looks decent and others were it doesn’t look great. The longevity also seems to vary on me as well but overall isn’t too bad. If there is one good point to mention, it is that the foundation does seem to wear better as the day goes on and with my makeup complete, the foundation looks a lot better than the first application.

OVERALL

As the holy grail foundation for many, sadly this fell a little short for my liking. The shade range is impressive as you would expect for a high end foundation but the application and coverage is such a disappointment for me. Foundations are always different for everyone but this foundation just doesn’t work as well on my skin compared to others. I can get away with it as it usually settles down during the day however I can’t see myself repurchasing this! For me it just doesn’t live up to the hype or the claims behind the foundation.

Have you tried the Magic Foundation?

Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin | Instagram