T H E G L O W G I V E R
The weather has been glorious here in the UK recently, it's been so lovely to spend time in the garden (in the shade!) and enjoy the outdoors a little. And I've really been shunning makeup completely, other than perhaps a tinted moisturiser of sorts. Which is why today's review is so apt! I haven't posted a standalone product review here on BTB for what feels like ages, but there is so much hype surrounding the new Charlotte Tilbury Unisex Healthy Glow, that I feel I've got to allocate it it's own space. So, the big question - is it worth the hype? Let's find out.
The Unisex Healthy Glow (purchased as soon as it launched, because I'm not on their PR list, boohoo!) is a colour-adapting tinted moisturiser that supposedly morphs to your own skintone to provide a hint of imperceptible natural tan, and for both sexes, although F wouldn't let me near him with this ;)
Straight out of the bottle, it's a grey-ish white cream with little bitty flecks in it, which turns a terracotta shade (it looked pretty pink-toned on my olive/yellow undertone skin) once rubbed in, thanks to the 'bronze', (these look more ochre-yellow to me), tan and black pigments in the formula. This instantly reminds me of the L'Oreal Nude Magique CC cream from years ago, that had the same colour-morphing technology.
As far as ingredients go, there is the inclusion of humectants and antioxidants like glycerin and vitamin E but I can't say I'm not disappointed to see fragrance and parabens fairly high up the list. It doesn't contain any sunscreen either, which annoys me for a product I'd want to wear on it's own.
So far, I have to say, this is all sounding a little underwhelming...
...but we're yet to talk about the finished result.
The truth is, I can't get away from how much I like this product! Once I'd got it onto my bare face, and spent a few moments blending, because that's crucial, it gave my skin the most lovely hint of summer glow, like a soft veil of natural tan colour. I'm not sure how this would look on a very pale skintone, but on my Chanel 30 skin, the red/tan pigments in the formula matched the natural tan on my arms perfectly. What's more, I really noticed a smoothing effect, like a good primer, and felt my pores looked smaller, which is all good news for someone with combo skin and tricky skin texture. I wouldn't say there's any real coverage, but it perfects your skin enough to be worn alone - Mr Goss describes this as an Instagram filter, and I can't say I disagree.
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Before |
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After |
With a healthy, radiant finish, it's very similar in my mind, to the Estee Lauder EE cream (an absolute favourite), which is one of my go-to bases for summer off-days. The tanning effects are subtle, as you'll see in my before and after, so this won't be replacing your facial self-tanner if you use one, but for the face-filtering, glow effects - I'm in love!
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