Charlotte Tilbury’s New Foundation Is Beautiful — 6 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 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 $44 price tag, below.

I'm more of a tinted moisturizer kinda gal and haven't had much luck in the foundation department...up until now. I usually find foundations to be quite heavy, but this one was hydrating, thanks to the hyaluronic acid, and didn't leave me feeling caked. It's a true medium-coverage foundation and it evened out my cheek hyperpigmentation nicely — without making me look ashy or grey. Bonus points because it left my skin radiant and glowy, but not shiny, which is important to me as someone with oily skin. Overall, I would definitely recommend this as an everyday foundation. 

My skin isn’t the happiest with me at the moment, thanks to a New Year's Resolution to up my retinol game (for the thousandth time) and a winter cold snap, both of which have left it achingly dry. So, I’ve been skipping foundation for a healthy smothering of Magic Cream followed by an SPF (always) and tinted moisturizer. Two words in this product changed my mind: hyaluronic acid. (HA is a humectant, which means it helps skin hold onto water, which I desperately need right now.) I opted for the shade 4 Neutral, using two pumps of product, and focusing on my T-zone, which is prone to redness, and my chin, which has been breaking out a bit thanks to the aforementioned retinol routine. I loved how this foundation went on lightly and smoothly, but was easily buildable. There’s no heaviness or cakiness and my parched skin looks radiant and supple. Beautiful Skin Foundation, did we just become best friends?

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 favorite 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 realized 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!