Can This Award-Winning Charlotte Tilbury Contour Really Give Me the Hollywood Cheekbones I Was Promised?
Main image – Charlotte Tilbury
If you’ve read a few of my reviews before, you’ll probably know by now that I love most of Charlotte Tilbury’s makeup (just not so much her skincare, sorry hardcore Tilbury fans). So, when the opportunity to test out a Charlotte Tilbury product that I hadn’t tried before cropped up, I jumped at it.
The product in question was the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Contour Wand (£30 from Cult Beauty UK /$42 from Sephora US). This liquid contouring formula aims to create the illusion of a more sculpted face, particularly in the cheekbone department, all from one squeezy tube.
As someone with a notably round face (I’m sure my cheekbones are in there…somewhere) I was intrigued to know whether I would, in fact, look like Angelina Jolie after using this or if my skin would just end up looking muddy like it does with other contouring products I’ve tried.
Keep scrolling to read my honest review.
The product details
Packaged in a 12ml tube, this liquid contour comes in Light to Medium and Medium to Dark shades.
Described on the website as buildable, blendable and natural looking, it has a cushion applicator which can be locked after use to avoid spillages.
@charlottetilbury Sculpted-looking skin and a Hollywood glow, coming right up ? Shop Charlotte’s Hollywood Contour Wands now! ? #CharlotteDoesItBetter
First impressions
I was familiar with the packaging since it is (confusingly) almost identical to the Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Light Wand highlighter blush, a product I already use.
Pull off the lid, twist the cushion nozzle to ‘on’ and squeeze the tube – hard – to reveal the liquid through the white cushion.
Image – Courtesy of writer
This can take some time – the tube is a little bit stingy, frustratingly. In fact, even after a few days I felt like half of it had gone already and I really hadn’t used much.
As soon as the cushion went from white to brown, I stopped squeezing as I know Tilbury’s formulas have a habit of being on the heavily pigmented side. I applied some directly from the applicator onto the slant under where I can only guess is my cheekbone and blended it in with a brush.
I already had foundation on, but nothing else yet, so you could clearly see a bit of definition. “Brilliant,” I thought.
The formula was much less muddy looking than I thought it would be and much creamier too. It felt smooth to blend, not dry.
Image – Courtesy of writer
Some liquid formulas can just feel a bit stop-starty when you’re blending them in on your cheeks can’t they? This can then result in patchiness and an unnatural finish. So I was pleasantly surprised with this so far and I felt positively chiselled.
I tried to apply it around the top curve of my forehead and around my temples, as shown on the website, but the shade (Light to Medium) was unfortunately too dark for this to look natural on my fair-ish skin.
I also used it to draw and blend in two very thin lines down each side of my nose in the hope that it would look smaller and straighter. Unfortunately it wasn’t as effective as it had been on my cheeks and it looked like I just had two lines down my nose – which I did.
So, I stuck to my ‘cheekbones’. Which were now, in fact, cheekbones! Not quite Angelina status but they were certainly more prominent than before.
My results – sculpted, but for how long?
And now for the bad news. Whilst I was impressed with the initial look and feel of the product, I did notice the formula and therefore, effect, wore off quite quickly. I have come to the conclusion that I will need to apply way more than I did that first morning to get a longer-lasting finish.
Image – Courtesy of writer
I found that it almost stains your skin, therefore lasting longer, but only if you’ve applied it hard and dark. And this is when I take a big step back from contouring.
You see, whilst I do like to wear a full face of makeup most days, I don’t want to wear a full face of makeup with multiple layers of contour. I already love my bronzer, so that on top of two or three lines of contour, just to make it last, would look far too heavy, particularly for doing the weekly shop or taking the kids to school.
For a night out or special occasion though, it’s great! Using more than one subtle slick works well in the evening – in artificial light you can get away with wearing a bit more coverage and it still doesn’t look muddy or too heavy.
It blends easily and I like its creaminess. So I’ll save it for evening time, stick to my bronzer for day and probably not buy it again once I’ve run out. The reason why? You’ve probably already guessed…
Overall value for money
Spending £30/$42 on this just isn’t worth it for me considering how much I’ll use it. Yes I will apply it in the evenings but honestly? A tired mum of two kids doesn’t go out much and she could be putting her money elsewhere. Namely, a really good anti-ageing night cream.
If contouring is your thing though and you’d use it daily, or at least more than once in a blue moon, it might be worth saving up for. But no matter how good it is, I still think that charging this much money for a contouring product, just because you’re Charlotte Tilbury, is completely unnecessary. Even £20 might be pushing it.
What other users are saying
There seem to be quite a few comments online about how stingy the tube is – so it wasn’t just me then.
NobleNova says, “I expect a lot more product in the tubes for the price I paid for this. If you squeeze it, literally half of it is air. It’s like a luxurious bag of lays chips. Half of it is perfection, the other half is just air.”
I totally agree with this! It makes that suction noise you hear when you’re shower gel is running out, only I’ve had this open for just a few days.
Andrea T also dislikes the applicator. “For the price you pay, you get very little product. You waste SO much product that ends up sitting on that little puffy applicator. The applicator is like a hotbed for bacteria to grow. It’s just so wrong. For such a luxurious brand that I absolutely love, I can’t believe they put such a beautiful product in the worst tube/applicator I’ve even.”
This is a really good point and not one I had thought about until now.
On the other hand, Djay1996 is a huge fan. “Out of all my contour products this is definitely the best. I love the texture it is so easy to blend out for natural every day looks and easy to build up for a full on makeup look.” And Dellfar says, “really easy to dab in place, then I use a flat large brush to blend. Love it. I’m a MUA and this is one of the nicest colour contour wands I’ve used.”
The takeaway
Angelina Jolie I am not, but with this contouring wand, I am one step closer.
Is it blendable? Yes. Buildable? Yes. Natural looking? Well, yes but only if you want it to last an hour or so. Once you’ve built up your layers to have a longer lasting finish, the result doesn’t look what I would call natural.
But although it’s unnecessarily pricey, the formula is lovely and creamy and the applicator makes it comfortable and easy to dispense onto your skin. Overall, it really is a decent contourer. It’s just a shame you have to use so much of it to get lasting results, particularly as there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of product in the tube in the first place.
Get Glowing!
