You know that effortless, sun-kissed glow you get after a perfect day spent by the sea—when your skin feels warm, radiant, and touched by golden light? That’s the feeling Charlotte Tilbury has bottled with her latest ‘Unreal’ range. Designed to capture the magic of those unforgettable holiday moments, the new Unreal Blush Healthy Glow Stick and Unreal Lips Healthy Glow Nectar Oil promise to give everyone that fresh, dewy, just-back-from-vacation radiance — no matter where you are. We caught up with Charlotte to dive into the inspiration, science, and inclusivity behind these glow-getting beauty essentials.
COULD YOU PLEASE ELABORATE ON THE NEW COSMETICS RANGE: THE UNREAL BLUSH HEALTHY GLOW STICK AND THE UNREAL LIPS HEALTHY GLOW NECTAR OIL?
Darling, my new Unreal Blush Healthy Glow Sticks and Unreal Lips Healthy Glow Nectar Oils are my Unreal Summer-glazed secrets to juicy, sun-blushed cheeks and glazed, glossy, juicylicious lips! After launching my viral sensation Unreal Skin Sheer Glow Tint Hydrating Foundation Stick, I knew I had to create more Unreal magic, this time bottling the beautifying effects of summer so that everyone can cheat the holiday, not the glow! With my Unreal Blush, I wanted to mimic the way your skin blushes when you’ve spent the day on the beach and look fresh, radiant and healthy, so I created a holiday glow-up in a stick! With a sunset spectrum of six universally flattering shades, my easy-to-use cream blush sticks have a buildable, blendable, long-lasting formula that is so weightless, it looks and feels like second skin. Supercharged with the same skin barrier defence matrix as my Unreal Skin Hydrating Foundation Stick, Unreal Blush is clinically proven to improve the look and feel of skin immediately and over time. Who else can say that about blush, darling? And my Unreal Lips give you the most unreal nectar glassy-glaze lip effect in seconds! Infused with an unreal blend of hydrating ingredients, they are a 3-in-1 holiday glow-up in a tube, with the glow glide of an oil, the glass-like, glazed shine of an amplifying gloss and the cocooning, cushioning comfort of a nourishing balm. With six juicylicious shades to choose from, Unreal Lips give you the plumpest-looking, most juicylicious lips of your life!
BOTH PRODUCTS INCORPORATE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES, SUCH AS COLOUR LIGHT MAPPING MESH TECHNOLOGY™ AND UNREAL MOOD-BOOSTING SCENT TECHNOLOGY. COULD YOU ELABORATE BRIEFLY ON THE SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES BEHIND THESE INNOVATIONS?
What makes my Unreal Blush so innovative is its Colour Light Mapping Mesh Tech™. Smoothing Emollients and Glow Moisture Mesh instantly retexturize and blur the look of skin, allowing Light-Mapping Pearlescent Pigments to evenly diffuse light across the cheeks. This glazes them in juicy, dream-sheen, luminous summertime colour that has a 3D lift effect, while the balmy glow-glide texture melts seamlessly onto the skin. Everyone will be asking if you’ve been on holiday or spent a day at the spa! With Unreal Lips, I wanted to transport everyone to summertime happiness, so I worked with Parisian experts and mixologists to unlock the power of scent! After all, darling, our lips sit right under our noses, so I wanted to make my lip oils a sensory dream. We used the IFF SCENTCUBE™ algorithm to identify the perfect combination of notes to create six fruity, juicylicious essences that replicate the scented nectar of real fruit and enhance feelings of happiness. I never enjoyed the sickly sweetness of existing lip oils, so we tested iteration after iteration to perfect my essences so that each one smells super-natural and juicylicious! It’s like the scent of a juicy watermelon when you crack it open; sumptuous strawberries you share with your loved ones; coconut water fresh from the palm tree; a juicy cherry or perfectly ripe peach; or a candied ripe fig. Darling, you won’t be able to resist Unreal Lips!
YOU OPTED TO DEVELOP UNIVERSALLY FLATTERING SHADES FOR BOTH THE BLUSH STICK AND LIP OILS. COULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CONSIDERATIONS INVOLVED IN FORMULATING SHADES THAT ACCOMMODATE DIVERSE SKIN TONES?
It has always been my purpose and passion to create shades, textures and formulas that flatter everyone, everywhere. Diversity and inclusion are so important to me, so I work with my product development team to test my formulas and shades on hundreds of models of different skin types, tones and ages. A product does not launch until it’s perfect, which can sometimes take years, but you all deserve nothing but the best! My Unreal Blush comes in six universally flattering shades that stretch across every skin tone and mimic different sunsets, from the pink and lilac hues you see in the desert to the red tones you see across breathtaking mountainscapes! Inspired by golden sunsets and juicylicious peaches, Peachy Glow is a poppy peach with complexion-enhancing peach pearls. Berry Glow is a rich, blue-toned berry shade that enhances every skin tone, especially deeper complexions. Cherry Glow is a deep, juicy cherry red, with golden pearlescent pigments that give it a warm, golden, sun-kissed shift on the cheeks. Pinky Glow is a vibrant cool pink that gives a beautifying soft-focus glow, while Rosy Glow is a warm rosy pink with golden pearlescent pigments for the most gorgeous dream-sheen dimension. Finally, Pretty Glow is the dreamiest lilac that I have engineered to be universal and super wearable, thanks to its soft-champagne pearlescent pigments. Darling, whichever shade you choose, you will look unreal! For Unreal Lips, I have developed six juicylicious shades that are infused with Unreal Summer-Glow Sheer Pigments, which have been individually balanced to perfect the subtle haze of true-to-you tints that mimic the glaze of juicylicious fruit nectar. My Pro Artists are obsessed with Juicylicious Coconut Water, as they needed a clear lip glaze that they could layer over my iconic Lip Cheats without shifting their true tone. Juicylicious Cherry Glaze is an irresistible, ripe cherry red inspired by freshly bitten cherries, while Juicylicious Pure Peach is a sheer peachy glow that pairs perfectly with my Unreal Blush in Peachy Glow for that golden goddess look. Juicylicious Candy Fig is a 90s-inspired berry russet that you can combine with a deep brown liner like my Foxy Brown or Pillow Talk Intense Lip Cheats for that gorgeous latte lips trend. The stretch is incredible, especially on medium and deep skin tones! Finally, Juicylicious Pink Watermelon and Juicylicious Strawberry Vanilla are supercharged with pH-powered Filter Tech, which adapts to the pH of your lips to create your own unique shade. It’s like custom colour, darling!
YOU HAVE CONSISTENTLY CHAMPIONED A GLOW-ENHANCING AESTHETIC. IN WHAT WAYS DO THESE NEW LAUNCHES COMPLEMENT YOUR EXISTING PRODUCT LINE?
I am known as the queen of glow for a reason, darling! I have seen countless times how my signature Tilbury glow can make everyone feel and look like the most beautiful, confident version of themselves, and my Unreal Summer-glazed secrets give you that unreal Tilbury feeling! It’s you with a golden hour, dreamy holiday, post-spa glow. It’s the happiest version of you! Everyone is obsessed with my Unreal Skin Sheer Glow Tint Hydrating Foundation Stick, which is like a ring light effect in a stick! With sheer-to-light, buildable coverage and a weightless second-skin finish, it is infused with Light-Mapping Mesh Tech, which cascades light to flatter the angles of the face for an instantly smoothed, snatched, blurred-looking soft-focus glow. My hydrating foundation stick is so speedy and easy-to-use – you don’t even need a mirror or a brush to apply! I wanted to create the perfect beauty wardrobe of unreal summer-glazed secrets. Together with my Unreal Skin Hydrating Foundation Stick, new Unreal Blush and Unreal Lips form one speedy, easy system of mirrorless makeup magic that allows everyone to cheat that unreal, fresh girl, beach girl, Ibiza summer glow-up, all year round! Darling, it’s unreal skin, unreal cheeks, unreal lips and an unreal you!
YOUR PRODUCTS CONSISTENTLY BRIDGE SKINCARE AND MAKEUP. COULD YOU EXPLAIN HOW THESE NEW PRODUCT LINES INTEGRATE SKINCARE COMPONENTS?
With every beauty innovation I create, I always put skin first, supercharging each formula, whether it is skincare or makeup, with science-backed, skin-loving ingredients to create incredible formulas that are suitable for all skin types. Both my Unreal Blush and Unreal Lips deliver clinically proven results! Unreal Blush is infused with plant-based Collageneer™ for skin that looks and feels bouncier; Hyaluronic Acid, which intensely moisturises and locks in up to 24 hours of hydration*; and Nourishing Daikon Seed Oil and antioxidant-rich Vitamin E to help strengthen the skin barrier. This skin barrier defence matrix – the same as my Unreal Skin Hydrating Foundation Stick – is clinically proven to improve the look and feel of skin both immediately* and over time**! My Unreal Lips are infused with a skin barrier-boosting matrix of ingredients, including Hyaluronic Acid Microspheres, which hydrate skin while creating a volumising effect that optically fills the look of lip lines! My lip-loving formula also includes nourishing Vitamin E and an antioxidant-rich blend of fruit oils for lips that feel soft and smooth. This unreal blend helps fill the appearance of fine lines, increase hydration and improve the feel of skin flexibility for lips that look smoother, plumper, healthier and more youthful. In just an hour, your lips will be 249% more hydrated, and after 24 hours, they will be 40% more hydrated!
IN YOUR VIEW, WHAT QUALITIES RENDER THESE NEW LAUNCHES “UNREAL?”
Darling, with my new Unreal Blush and Unreal Lips, I wanted to give everyone that unreal glow you get from Ibiza sunsets, from golden hour, from the spa, from a holiday, when you’ve been kissed by summer, when you’re glowing with happiness. We are all our happiest when we are on holiday. Our frequency changes! So, I studied the beautifying effects from the time I’ve spent on beaches in Formentera, Hawaii and Brazil, and the iconic beachy looks I have created for celebrity clients and friends over the years. I have always been fascinated by the goddess skin glow you get after a day at the beach, the way the sun gives a golden glow to your cheeks as it sets, the healthy colour of your cheeks after a day spent on a boat in the sea breeze. My Unreal Blush bottles the effects of summer light, making you look fresh, youthful, healthy and glowing with confidence! And for Unreal Lips, I wanted to capture the way your lips look when biting into fresh, juicy berries, or when the sun is glistening on your skin after a swim in the ocean. As well as optically filling the look of vertical lip lines, they give an incredible juicy, glazed lip effect that plays with the light to make your lips look plump and juicylicious in just one swipe. This is thanks to the formula’s Oleogel Technology – the same technology used in my iconic Hollywood Flawless Filter – to create that optical illusion of a 3D pout. Unreal Lips are the secret to a happy, healthy, holiday lip glow!
IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE THREE ESSENTIAL CHARLOTTE TILBURY PRODUCTS EVERYONE SHOULD OWN?
Darling, it’s impossible to choose just three of my legendary beauty icons – that’s like making me choose a favourite child! But, if I had to, the first would have to be my world-famous Magic Cream. My miracle moisturiser instantly hydrates, smooths and plumps the look of skin. It is infused with Cushion + Lift Mesh Technology™, which softens and smooths the feel of skin and lifts the look of facial contours, perfectly priming the skin for makeup. Loved by everyone from supermodels and celebrities to dermatologists and makeup artists worldwide, my Magic Cream is legendary for a reason. I cannot live without it! The next would be my iconic Pillow Talk Lip Cheat. My universally flattering nude-pink hue mimics the tones we are naturally blessed with. I use it every day to reshape, resize and define for fuller-looking lips, pairing it with my Pillow Talk Matte Revolution lipstick. It’s the secret to my signature pillowy-pink pout! And darling, there is a whole beauty wardrobe of Pillow Talk magic for every complexion: two deeper, sweeter berry-rose tones with Pillow Talk Medium and Pillow Talk Intense, and the cooler-toned, nuanced pink of Pillow Talk Fair. Pillow Talk amplifies everyone’s natural beauty and is the perfect shade for everyone! Finally, my Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray is a must-have for anyone who wears makeup! With a clinically proven waterproof formula, my award-winning Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray instantly locks in your look for makeup that always looks freshly applied, with no melting, fading or creasing for up to 16 hours. Darling, it’s the ultimate airbrush makeup fix!
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