Charlotte Tilbury recently released her Hot Lips 2 lipstick collection, which is a permanent edition to her line. This collection was created in collaboration with 11 icons, featuring 11 new shades in her Matte Revolution and K.I.S.S.I.N.G formulas alongside a beautiful refillable packaging in five different designs (more on that later). They are available at all Charlotte Tilbury Stockists, online and in store.
One incredible thing to know about this release is that Charlotte has pledged £1 million from her sales of this collection to be donated to the Women for Women International charity, which helps women survivors of war to rebuild their lives. All the more reason to go Lipstick shopping!
I picked up three shades:
- Dancefloor Princess, a pop pink in the K.I.S.S.I.N.G formula
- Viva La Vergara, a soft wine in the Matte Revolution formula
- Amazing Amal, a soft berry-pink in the Matte Revolution formula
There are a few different purchasing options on the official website:
- a Lipstick in your chosen shade, includes the removable refill shade inside its associated refillable case design (£28 each)
- A refill shade, which is covered by a clear airtight lid (£19 each)
- “Luscious Lip Slick” duo with a full lipstick and a coordinating lipliner at a 5% discount (£42)
I picked up Amazing Amal in the duo with the Crazy in Love Lip Cheat lipliner, Dancefloor Princess in the full size, and a refill of the Viva La Vergara with the intention of avoiding buying two of the same refillable designs.
A few points worth mentioning:
- You cannot choose the packaging design with your shade! They are pre-determined, which is annoying if you like two colours that come in the same packaging and would rather have two different cases for collection purposes.
- When buying the lipstick bullet, the shade name is on a sticker at the bottom of the refillable case and not on the refill at all. This is irritating when trying to switch up the refills and packaging combos.
- The separate refills have the shade name printed on the refill itself – great! But why couldn’t they do this with the full-size versions and ditch the sticker on the bottom of the bullet??
Pictures below for reference.
I know I’m just whinging about something unimportant, but it really bugs me that a luxury beauty brand has not thought this through. I really do expect to see attention to detail when paying ££ for a lipstick. Otherwise, I think the packaging is really fun and luxurious with a good weighted feel.
No that I got that off my chest, let’s go forth and swatch some lipsticks!
Dancefloor Princess
- K.I.S.S.I.N.G formula
- Pop Pink colour
- Red Leopard Print Case
- Icon: Kylie Minogue
- Lip Cheat pairing: Pillow Talk
Viva La Vergara
- Matte Revolution formula
- Soft Wine colour
- Black & Gold Stripe Print Case
- Icon: Sofia Vergara
- Lip Cheat pairing: Crazy In Love
Amazing Amal
- Matte Revolution formula
- Soft Berry-Pink colour
- Black & Gold Stripe Print Case
- Icon: Amal Clooney
- Lip Cheat pairing: Crazy In Love
Comparison Swatches
Here are some arm swatches of the Hot Lips 2 shades against similar colours from my Charlotte Tilbury lipstick collection.
My Thoughts
I have a slightly complicated relationship with Charlotte Tilbury lipsticks. I love the brand as a whole and her lipsticks are regarded as one of her best products. Agreeably, the Matte Revolution is one of the best matte lipstick formulas on the market, with their creamy texture that feels comfortable to wear and doesn’t dry your lips out. I have a number of these in my collection and I do really like the formulas and colours (for the most part), but truth be told I’m not a fan of matte lipsticks so I don’t reach for them that often. But if I want a matte lipstick, this formula is definitely my top pick. Her luminous and moisturising K.I.S.S.I.N.G formula also receives a lot of rave reviews. I like this formula but I don’t think it is anything really special, and definitely not my favourite lipstick formula.
The real issue I have comes from her light pink and pinky-nude lipsticks. It’s the kind of lipstick I wear regularly so I’m always tempted to make these purchases. In reality though I find Charlotte Tilbury’s shades almost always have this strange orange undertone that translates weird on me and does not sit well with my skin tone. I’ve seen other reviews on her website describing the same experience and part of the problem arises from her online swatches and descriptions not depicting this. Examples of this are Pillow Talk (nude pink Matte Revolution) which I find has an orange-brown undertone, and Kidman’s Kiss (rose petal-pink matte) that is very warm and orange unlike the cooler colour shown online. So when I saw the colours in her new Hot Lips 2 release I was a little apprehensive.
I took a risk when I ordered Dancefloor Princess, but I ended up being reasonably pleased. A lot of other reviews seem to describe this as a cooler-toned pink. While it might be cooler in comparison to the other nudes and pinks from the Hot Lips 2 collection, it is still very much a warm pink to my eye. Fortunately though it does translate well on me, none of that orangey undertone, and is a good option for when I want a light, warm nude-pink lipstick.
I was unsure about Viva La Vergara as I don’t really have any other shades like this. Luckily I ended up loving it and found that it pairs well with Eyes to Mesmerise in Bette. I knew I was going to like Amazing Amal as I’m a sucker for berry-toned lips, and I was not disappointed! I wish there was a similar shade in the K.I.S.S.I.N.G formula so that I would be inclined to wear it more often.
I hope this review and these swatches are helpful, particularly if you have similar issues with Charlotte Tilbury lipsticks to me. Let me know your favourites in the comments down below!
This is not a sponsored post. All products mentioned in this post have been purchased by me.
