Why I'm Not Obsessed with Charlotte Tilbury's Pillow Talk Blush

I'm sure only someone who's not into makeup has never heard of Charlotte Tilbury and her eponymous brand with the legendary Pillow Talk shade, which is considered universal and suitable for all. I was also intrigued by all the rave reviews, so when a colleague asked me if I needed to bring anything back from Europe, I nonchalantly asked for a couple of products in this shade, basically blind, since they're not available in our stores.

☆ General info

Price: $42.00 on the brand's official website

Where to buy: in Russia, blushes can be found on the Oskelly resale project, prices start from 6900 rubles, and this option is more for those who don't mind paying a premium and want to get the product 'here and now' without the risk of getting a counterfeit. The second option is the classic, Avito, for many people, reselling cosmetics is a mini-business, just don't get caught up in low prices (and it's not profitable for anyone to sell below the official price), check the seller's profile for counterfeits in other ads and don't forget to read customer reviews

Volume: 8g

☆ Packaging

The blushes come in a cardboard box with a soft pink color and the brand's signature embossing in the form of a carriage buckle. Unfortunately, the gold diamond started to fade even before I got the product in my hands, but that's just a minor detail. If you want to take a look at the ingredients and other information from the box, just click on the photo to open it in high quality.

The case itself is made of lightweight but very durable plastic in a dark burgundy color. I really like that the case is sleek and rounded, it's comfortable to hold in your hand and takes up minimal space when storing due to its thinness. The downsides are that fingerprints easily leave marks on the glossy surface and all scratches are visible.

On the back, there's a sticker, I saw in another review that it fades, but mine has been fine for a year of storage so far.

The lid opens almost 180 degrees, there's a decent-sized mirror, but I have nothing to say about its convenience, I don't carry the blush with me and prefer to get ready in a full-length mirror. The blushes come in two colors, the outer one being the main color and the inner one being the highlighter that mixes with the blushes for a more radiant look. I prefer mixing both shades, but you can use them separately if you want.

The texture is nice and velvety, but they do get dusty pretty easily - inside, everything ends up covered in powder, and while the golden parts around the blushes can get away with it, the mirror in the dust is a different story altogether.

From top to bottom: the main color, the highlighter, and the mixed color. The blushes have a really complex color, a dusty rose-orange hue that leans more towards the latter.

Application

Since I couldn't test the blushes before buying them, the much-hyped color turned out to be a major letdown for me. I have pretty pale skin, and while my skin type is generally warm, the blushes look almost orange-brick on me. In my opinion, they make me look older and more tired, I don't know if it's because I'm not old enough for this shade yet, but with them, I feel like I'm showing my age more than I do with my usual peach-colored blushes, which have a much more subtle pigmentation.

The pigmentation on the blushes is actually really great, but when applied to a bare face, it can pick up more color than intended, maybe it's just my fair skin, though.

My skin is far from perfect - I get inflammation and closed comedones on my cheeks, and the texture is pretty uneven. Because of the high shimmer content in the blushes, all these carefully masked tone and lightweight matte powder issues come to the surface, and the uneven texture gets accentuated even more.

One thing you can't take away from these blushes is the amazing glow they give - it looks super luxurious and like it's coming from within. On smooth skin, it must look absolutely stunning, but I'm not sure when I'll get to test that on my own face.

I'll give credit where credit is due - even on me, this shade looks pretty good 'on parade' with a full evening makeup look and some contouring to create the illusion of a tan - so I can imagine it would suit owners of darker skin tones way better than it does me.

Okay, so I'm going to show you how these blushes look on my skin and how well they last.

This is right after I applied them, and you can see it's a pretty light layer - it's hard to capture on camera, especially on my cheeks because of the shimmer.

And here's the same blush after 9 hours. The staying power is amazing, and while the color transfer might not be super clear, I can tell you that in person, the color hasn't faded at all.

Now, I have to admit, I'm not exactly blown away by these blushes, but I can honestly say they're not bad. The quality is great, and the shades are gorgeous - it's just that they look better on swatches than on my face. If you're unsure about the shades, I'd recommend checking out dupes online before buying, maybe you'll find something similar that works for you.