Charlotte Tilbury in Conversation with Jessica Diner Event
About 10 days ago I saw that Charlotte Tilbury was going to be at Selfridges with Jessica Diner the Beauty and Lifestyle Director at British Vogue having a “in Conversation” event. I was so excited. I had to go! Tickets were £95 which was redeemable against products on the night, there was a goody bag and a glass of Champagne. Stupidly, I thought I would get my ticket later and when I checked back about 2 hours later the event was sold out! I was in panic mode, what am I going to do? I tweeted Selfridges and someone with the initials EP was on the case. They were very good and within an hour, I got the very last ticket! Special thank you to EP! You are a star! For those of you who don’t know, Selfridges is a huge luxury department store on Oxford Street in central London. Bizarrely, even though I have worked in some of the most luxurious department stores worldwide I have never worked in Selfridges. You can get everything there from Gucci and Dior to Topshop. You can literally spend hours even days there.
The event was being held at the Champagne Bar on the 2nd floor, when I got there I was greeted by a lovely girl with an iPad checking people in. Then I was greeting by another makeup artist applying Charlotte's Magic Cream to the back of everyone’s hands and then another girl spraying Charlottes Scent of a Dream Fragrance. There was lots going on so you didn’t get bored waiting. I also ran into a fabulous makeup artist friend that I haven't seen in years. Sarah Jane works as part as Charlotte's pro team. Just goes to show how small this industry really is. She is wonderful so if I hear of any events in your area then I will let you know!
When we were allowed in an instantly found my seat, I wanted the best view so I ended up sitting behind the “Reserved” row, let’s call it FROW as its London Fashion Week now. When Charlotte and Jessica walked in their smiles lit up the room! It was fantastic! After the introductions, we settled in to hear all about what influenced Charlotte, her busy schedule, her life, what she was wearing, there was lots of chat. Charlotte wants to make every woman the most beautiful version of themselves and created the line to reflect that. It is true Charlotte has created 10 iconic looks that can be adapted to every woman no matter the age or skin colour, below are 9 out of the 10 Dolce Vita is missing. If you like Debbie Harry and Kate Moss’s style then chances are you are a Rock Chic, if you like Grace Kelly and Olivia Palermo then chances are you are a Uptown Girl or you may be The Bombshell one day and The Sophisticate the next. Honestly, have a look at www.charlottetilbury.com and you will see what I mean.
Charlotte is very funny, she does an excellent impression of Donetalla Versace. She chatted about how Gisele Bundchen skin is lit with this golden glow from within and how she created Wonder Glow based on Gisele golden glow. She spoke about Gisele eating bags of sweets on set and not putting any weight on claiming she talks the weight off! God, I wish that would happen to me! Charlotte talked about her Hot Lips collection was influenced by the colours she designed for her celebrity friends. You can find shade such as Kim KW, Secret Selma (one of my favourites), Kidman’s Kiss, Sexy Sienna and 8 more on her website. She even held up the Hot Lips Luxury Collection saying these were her little friends. It made me laugh as I speak to my lipstick so Charlotte and I have a common bond already! Both Charlotte and Jessica where very generous with their time. I was expecting maybe a 15 to 30-minute conversation but they kept talking for well over an hour! Charlotte spoke about her friend ship with Kate Moss and how Kate was her inspiration for the line. She spoke about being born in London and raised in Ibiza and how her dad was an artist. She was inspired by Mary Greenwell to pursue makeup artistry. I didn't quite get the entire story but I even think she sold makeup in her school when she was 13. Charlotte knew all about her ingredients, she takes her time when developing products, one product took 7 years to make! Charlotte has received 120 awards in the past 4 years for her products and according to Jessica Charlotte’s Film Star Bronze and Glow keeps going missing from the Vogue office! When asked who Charlotte would love to play her in a film Charlotte responded with Nicole Kidman. I could see that! Charlotte's legs go on for days too, she was wearing platforms from Zara but if I had legs like that then I would probably walk around in hot pants all day!
The latest products to launch are the Hollywood Contour and Hollywood Lips. Charlotte created the Hollywood Contour to give you a natural effect contour not like the ones we see on Instagram where the person looks like they have been punched. These are a liquid contour that come in an application tube making them very easy to apply after you have applied your foundation. I wish I took a decent picture of them to show you but I was too excited and forgot. That usually happens to me. The Beauty Light Wand Easy Highlighter is simply stunning, I would even say if you love to strobe or highlight then you need to see this one! The contour comes in 2 shades. All you need to do is draw where needed over your foundation and blend with a brush.
Charlotte Tilbury has also launched the Hollywood Lips Matte Contour Liquid Lipstick. This lipstick is velvety in texture and leaves you with a matte finish. The applicator wand hugs your lips allowing quick application and the point enables a precise line so you do not need a lip liner. There are 10 shades. Charlotte was wearing Charlotte Darling, a beige nude and Jessica was wearing Screen Siren, a gorgeous ruby red. This is also made in Canada for all your lovely Canadians out there.
I had a quick chat with Jessica Diner too, who is the Beauty & Lifestyle Director at Vogue. She was delightful. I told her how Ania, my 8 year old daughter loves Vogue and she graciously filmed a little video for Ania and gave me the latest copy of Vogue for her. We are both wearing Screen Siren Matte Contour Lipstick from the Hollywood Lips collection which is fabulous on blondes and brunettes.
The Goody Bag contained a very cute biscuit which Ania stole, a Charlotte Tilbury sticker which Ania also stole, a mini Legendary Lashes Mascara, a mini Magic Cream and a mini Super Model Body. I bought the Film Star Bronze and Glow, Pillow Talk Matte Revolution Lipstick and Too Bad I'm Bad Hollywood Lips Matte Contour Liquid Lipstick.
On a final note, I love seeing other makeup artist doing well. She is the worlds number one makeup artist. She stays true to the art with uncomplicated makeup techniques and products that make making the best of yourself a bit easier. I adore Charlotte. I loved everything she had to say about her brand and the industry. She says on her website "Give a woman the right makeup and she can conquer the world!" I could not agree more! I have a feeling Charlotte is doing that right now and I will be right there cheering her on!
One more thing, I would like to give a shout out to Charlotte's team for such a good event, they are sometimes difficult but you made it look so easy!
Chat soon,
Nina xx
