Charlotte Tilbury’s New Foundation Is Beautiful — 4 Editors Try It On

Charlotte Tilbury recently launched a brand-new liquid foundation range, called 'Beautiful Skin.' The name is based on the formula, which is infused with active ingredients you know from skin-care labels, like hyaluronic acid for hydration, and a rose complex for brightening — which you seldom find in makeup.

Its design: to both smooth and illuminate the skin, increase its radiance. In the dry, dead of winter — we, the R29 Beauty Team, got on board to try it out first. Read our honest reviews of the Beautiful Skin formula, coverage, shade range (there are 30 options — we recommend using Mime to help shade match), glow, and the overall worth-it-ness of its £34 price tag, below.

I adore Charlotte Tilbury makeup, so the expectations were high for her new Beautiful Skin foundation. When I tell you Charlotte did the damn thing with this tube, I don’t lie: The coverage lies somewhere in between my other fave CT foundations — Magic and Light Wonder — but has a satin-y matte finish that I personally love for my oily skin. Anything too dewy tends to read greasy on me. The shade 5N was a perfect light-medium with a hint of olive, and disappeared into my skin. Really, it doesn’t even look like I’m wearing foundation — which is kind of the best compliment I can give to complexion makeup. A little goes a long way with this stuff — which is good, since it’s on the pricey end: I used a little less than one pump for my entire face, but if you want to build up coverage, you can definitely do that.

I’m typically foundation-averse — shade matching makes my brain hurt — but let me tell you: I applied this foundation and my skin drank it up. This photo is me over applying the foundation, and my skin still looks truly glowy, clear, and best for me: like my own skin. Some foundations just sit on your face like they’re waiting for the school bus, but this one provides skin-like coverage without the heavy, gloopy feeling, and this… this might be the foundation that turns me into a foundation girl. Only time will tell.

My favorite "foundation" is a tinted sunscreen — so that tells you how I feel about coverage: I want my skin to look bare. When I read that this was a "medium coverage" situation I went for the use-a-teeny-bit approach. I dispense one single pump on the back of one hand and used the other to dampen my Beautyblender, for a sheer application. After blending, my skin looks glowy, and not airbrushed or covered — my freckles still show through. Because this doesn't have an SPF, I don't know if I'll be using it before an average day of working from my apartment and going on a single mental-health walk. Instead, I can see myself wearing it as a base when I'm going out to dinner or drinks. On those nights, I'd probably use my favourite fancy cream highlighter blush wand, too, also c/o Charlotte Tilbury.

These days, you’ll be hard-pressed to find me wearing more than my skin-care routine plus a sunscreen. But for those important Zoom meetings and brief outings, I like to put on a little something-something to make my skin look like the best version of itself. For this reason, I typically turn to coverage products that are on the lighter side. Not only do I like my skin to look like my skin, but I also don’t want to wear anything too heavy, especially when I have to shield it with a mask. Enter: Charlotte Tilbury’s new ‘Beautiful Skin’ foundation. When I first applied it, I wasn’t sure I had even put anything on — that’s how well the shade matched my skin tone. But upon further application, I realised that this formula really did just blend into my skin so seamlessly, giving me the perfect amount of coverage and radiance — not matte (which I don’t love because of my dry skin), but not overly dewy (which can look greasy, even on Zoom!). This is definitely going to be my new day-to-day foundation. Thanks, Charlotte!