After having fallen in love with Charlotte Tilbury‘s Matte Revolution lipstick formula (see my review on Lost Cherry here), I was more than a little excited to see her expanding her lipstick range with her brand new Hot Lips.

Unlike I originally thought though, the new Hot Lips lineup has shades in both the Matte Revolution formula as well as her original K.I.S.S.I.N.G. formula. Of the shades I have, Kim K.W., is a cream and Miranda May is a matte.

Although the formulas are slightly different, the bullets are shaped like Charlotte’s matte lipsticks. They have a square cut bullet which is not only extremely appealing to my eye, but it’s also just as easy to apply to my lips as a traditionally cut bullet. Of course, as you wear the lipstick down, the shape of the bullet won’t matter.

Unique to the Hot Lips line is the etched kiss mark into the side of the bullet. It’s a small touch, but an appreciated one!

Kim K.W. is in Charlotte’s original K.I.S.S.I.N.G. lipstick formula which is a soft cream finish. This particular shade is an ode to Kim Kardashian-West and it’s “a vintage inspired pale pink nude makes lips look instantly fuller, and irresistible”. In some shots it looked like a very pale pink nude, but in others it looks almost yellow based. It was an odd shade to photograph and I wasn’t sure how it would look on me!

I feel like nude lips (much like mascara) varies so much between people that it can be hard to nail down an appealing shade that will work on a wide variety of people. But low and behold…

There’s something utterly perfect about Kim K.W. on my lips. I was blown away! The texture and feel of the lipstick is completely comfortable and it doesn’t disappear on my lips as some creams do.

Kim K.W. definitely came out slightly pink on my warm undertones and I loooove the way it looks on me. There’s also a slight sheen to this formula so it looks and feels hydrating.

The next shade however… I knew I was going to love this one! This beauty is Miranda May and it’s a “fresh, pinky coral inspired by Miranda Kerr’s fresh faced beauty and the sunsets of Malibu and Bondi Beach”.

Pink-coral? Beach sunset inspired? This might as well be my shade in a tube as far as I’m concerned. The tube colour comes out slightly brighter than it does on the lips (not complaining, just saying).

I say this every time I wear, swatch or review a coral… I love it. I LOVE IT SO MUCH! This such a stunning colour and it just makes me so very happy to wear it.

One thing worth noting, and I can’t think of anyone else mentioning this in other reviews I’ve seen, is that even though this is in the Matte Revolution formula (and it does feel consistent with the other matte I’ve tried in her line) this particular shade has very, very fine particles of gold glitter in it. I was actually a bit stunned when I put it on my lips the first time because I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. The particles are incredibly tiny, but they ARE there. You can see them a bit better in this swatch shot:

Final Thoughts

As you can see, the Kim K.W. and Miranda May Hot Lips lipsticks are at pretty different ends of the colour spectrum for lipsticks, but they both worked so, so well for me. I know the Charlotte Tilbury lipsticks can be a bit of a splurge item, but I’ve always been pleased with the formula of her products and these lipsticks are no exception. It’s also rather endearing that she’s named her lipsticks after celebrity women because it gives us a sense of intrigue with some of these items.

Additionally, $2 from each lipstick sold within the first two months of sales will be donated towards the Women For Women International charity. So buy a lipstick, and help out women worldwide – that’s a win in my book!

The Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips can be purchased online at charlottetilbury.com for $38 CAD apiece, or $32 USD apiece. In Canada, Charlotte Tilbury can also be purchased at Holt Renfrew.

The products featured in this post were sent to by PR me for review.

Is there anything more luxurious than Charlotte Tilbury makeup? I mean her packaging, her products… they’re all incredibly swoonworthy. And I mean… they aren’t cheap either! So imagine my surprise when Katherine of the The Green Bows just handed me a Charlotte Tilbury Wonder Glow when we were having brunch one day! (She already had it and she knew of my love for the brand so she gave me a brand new tube she just happened to have.)

Charlotte Tilbury‘s Wonder Glow is an Instant Soft Focus Beauty Flash Primer.  And the claims are lengthy:

• The state of the art Fluorescent Core Light Diffuser absorbs UV particles from the sun & re-emits their energy as visible light, flooding the skin with powerful luminosity.
• Soft focus ceramic microspheres “roll” into wrinkles and over imperfect skin tone, scattering light to create an anti-age optical illusion. Wrinkles are disguised and skin tone is corrected.
• The anti-age hero, BioNymph Peptide Complex, multi-tasks in the skin to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, improve skin elasticity & generally smooth things over. This is combined with wrinkle-preventing matrikines that recharge the skin’s natural renewal rhythm.
• Sodium Hyaluronate forms a film of hyaluronic acid over the skin, sealing in moisture, whilst extracts of Wild Pansy promote the renewal of hyaluronic acid in the skin surface to retain and flood the skin with moisturize.
• Floral accents of rose hip oil and camellia oil regenerate, restructure and moisturize the skin.
• Paraben-free

The bottle is a sleek see-through tube with a spout that you squeeze the product through to dispense it. I love that the bottle is see-through because you can see how much is left in the bottle. The product also slides down the tube easily, so you’re not left banging it repeatedly against your hand to get the product out! The tube also indicates that it can be used under your foundation or in place of foundation.

The product itself is a warm-toned primer with a hint of gold sheen running throughout it in a heavy swatch. The sheen/sparkles don’t really show up on the face though – so I suppose they blend in nicely.

And here’s how it played out on my face under foundation.

Final Thoughts

This is hard, because I really do love Charlotte Tilbury… but I don’t find Wonder Glow does anything at all for me in terms of “glowing”. Sure, I have a faint sheen on my face in the shots above, but that’s primarily thanks to my highlighter! I also don’t notice it increasing the longevity of my foundation either (not that I needed it extended wear with my foundation though). I’ve worn it under foundation or alone many times now and neither seems to really visually do anything at all for me. It kind of seems like an expensive product for no good reason, which makes me sad since I’ve loved her eyeshadow quads, lipsticks and Filmstar Bronze + Glow. Very disappointed in this one. 🙁

Ever since their launch several months ago, I’ve lusted over the Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution lipsticks. My husband was super sweet and got me one for Christmas!

At $38 CAD ($32 USD) a pop, this is quite possibly the most expensive lipstick in my collection (I… think!). The packaging is solid all around though – the lipstick is encased in a solid rosegold tube that has weight to it. This feels like a luxury item, which I super appreciate considering the price tag associated with it! The formula has a nice marshmallowy-vanilla scent, but no discernible taste.

One of the more intriguing things about the Matte Revolution lipsticks is that they come shaped into a really bizarre bullet. It’s basically a square tip, and I wasn’t really sure how that would work for application. (As it turns out, I basically just twist the bullet to match whichever direction I’m applying the lipstick in and it goes on just fine.)

The formula is very comfortable to wear and not overly drying, which is always great news for a matte formula. It’s more of that newer matte formula that a lot of brands are coming out with lately; has a slight gel consistency during application, but feels and looks like a soft matte formula.

The colour I opted for was Lost Cherry because it was the closest shade that they had to something really, really vibrant while sticking to a colour family that I really enjoy (coral-ish, red-pink). Oddly, the Charlotte Tilbury site lists this as “a pop of pastel fuchsia”. I definitely don’t see pastel nor fuchsia (isn’t fuchsia more purple??).

Although CT’s description is not how I would describe the shade, I still really, really love Lost Cherry. It’s beautifully pigmented and a shade and finish that I love to wear.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for something luxurious in a lipstick for yourself or as a gift for someone, you really can’t go wrong with the Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolutions. They are super comfortable to wear and the pigmentation is on point. The packaging and presentation are also stellar, so you really do feel like you’re getting your money’s worth. Due to the price tag though, I’d suggest going for a shade you really, really love and one you know you’ll get a lot of use out of. Too often I find people buy an expensive lipstick in a shade they wouldn’t traditionally wear because they want that lipstick to be extra special. Heck no man! Buy it in a shade you know you’ll love, because then you’ll get your money’s worth!