Darlings, is it truly a magic cream?

Last weekend in my last bit of makeup shopping for a good while, I stopped by Nordstrom's because finally, blessedly, there was a Charlotte Tilbury counter. I could finally swatch this highly coveted brand in person, pick up a few things, and see if it's really worth all the hype it's getting by everyone from pro makeup artist to the online beauty community.

I picked up two Color Chameleon Eyeshadow Pencils in Dark Pearl and Champagne Diamonds, the Full Fat Lashes Mascara in Glossy Black, Lip Cheat Lip Pencil in Pillow Talk, and Matte Revolution Lipstick in Sexy Sienna. Along with my purchase I received samples of Charlotte's Magic Cream, the Magic Night Cream, the Magic Eye Rescue, Wonder Glow, and Magic Foundation.

And yes, the packaging is really that pretty in person, oh so shiny and coppery rose gold. <3

So is Charlotte Tilbury's cosmetic line worth the hype?

Yes, overall, but in some cases not quite. 

The Nope: the Magic Night Cream has a cleansing balm-like texture and it made me feel like I should wash my face the whole night long. I can't say how effective it is as I used it once, but I think you either love or hate the texture, and I hated it. 

The true "yes they are the hype" winners: Magic Cream, Wonder Glow, Magic Foundation, Matte Revolution lipstick.

Her secret magic cream is so lovely and rich without being too heavy. It made a lovely, moisturizing base for my makeup and seemed to help make it last longer than normal, or at least, it worked well with the other products to do so.

 Wonder Glow is indeed wondrous; whatever makes its fluorescent technology work really does a good job to help minimize problems and be flattering without being thick like silicone-based blurring perfecters. 

The Matt Revolution Lipstick formula is just fantastic, and the shade Sexy Sienna  in particular is a gorgeous warm pink nude that doubles as a great cream blush.

The Magic Foundation, for me, was the standout product. I have an incredibly difficult time getting foundation to stay on my face, no matter what primer or brand or formula. Even ColorStay can't seem to hold up, but this foundation managed to last longer than most every other one I've tried without being drying or heavy. I also really like how creamy it feels, and shade 3 is somehow a dead on perfect match for my skin, another problem I often have with foundations. 

The Really Nice But I Can Honestly Dupe It: Lip Cheat, Magic Eye Rescue, Color Chameleon Eyeshadow Pencils, Full Fat Lashes

The Lip Cheats remind me a lot of the ColourPop Lippie Pencils. Pillow Talk is a fantastic color and my perfect nude/lips but better shade, one I don't always find easily. If I couldn't find a close match for this elsewhere, I'd buy it again.

Magic Eye Rescue is a nice thick eye cream, but it's not that much different from a lot of other eye creams to me. So your mileage may vary here.

Color Chameleon Eyeshadow Pencils do come in some great colors, the two I got are particularly great combined, but I can't say they're so much better than many drugstore eyeshadow crayons that have similar texture and longevity. Milani and Rimmel make fairly comparable shadow crayons, but I will say I haven't seen a color quite like Champagne Diamonds yet in other brands. It's a warm light champagne with fine glitter, and it's really pretty, even if the glitter does transfer quite a bit.

And now we end with Full Fat Lashes. It's a great mascara, it really is, and I bet it will a lot of people's favorites, but I find it performs almost identically on my lashes as essence Get BIG! Lashes Triple Black Mascara. That's $4-5 compared to $29. 

Overall, there are really great products that are totally worth all the hype it gets, and there are some that maybe in the end just have prettier packaging but perform like similar and often less expensive products, but it's definitely a brand worth trying.