First Look| Charlotte Tilbury The Luxury Palette in Dolce Vita

The launch of Charlotte Tilbury in the U.S. happened this last week on September 2nd. I had been curious, but not overly so, when U.K. bloggers raved about her Rock N Kohl liners, the Pillow Talk lip liner, and the Filmstar Bronze and Glow palette. Nice, sure. But they were at high end pricing and if the number is high in British pounds, it's astronomical in dollars.

In any case, I heard some for The Luxury Palette in Dolce Vita ($52) which happens to contain many warm toned neutrals that are right up my alley. My second choice was Vintage Vamp and then Rock Chic. The general reaction to CT in the beauty community is very lukewarm and rightly so, yet I still wanted to try this quad out in the name of science.

The first downfall is the light weight and generally cheaper feel of the packaging. It has the same heft as a Shiseido trio and is made from plastic. I paid nearly $60 for something that doesn't make me feel richbitch when I click open the clasp. 

The inside casing, though it looks luxuriously chrome, is also plastic. There is no included brush or sponge tip applicator, which could be a pro or con depending on you.

Take a closer look. The label isn't even centered *facepalm*

Below are the ingredients if you're interested. 

But it gets better, sort of. The shadows in this quad are indeed very pigmented, soft without being powdery or prone to fall out, and lasts well over a typical primer.

I swatched each shade with two layers and no primer underneath.

Here are the colors in natural and outdoor lighting. The gold shade is VERY fallout prone if applied with a brush but isn't when pressed on with your fingers. The other shades don't kick up in the pan or fall under your eyes when being blended. 

The smoke shade is the most complex in my opinion, but it shows up a little sheerer than swatched on the eyes. It looks almost olive-brown in pan with specks of gold but swatches as a deep bronze.

To sum it up, I'm on the fence about this quad! This is the first time that I don't truly love or hate a palette, but it's just...there. I can see myself using every day, but it's not something that gets my blood flowing. Here's why:

• Three of the four shadows are smooth, pigmented, not prone to fallout, blends easily...but just a tad better than MAC eyeshadows in terms of quality.
• The ultra warm-toned neutrals are perfectly coordinated for every day use...but easily dupe-able. 
• The packaging only *looks* luxe...but it's very lightweight and easily prone to fingerprints and can break if dropped.
• Same goes for the price. At $52 a quad it's barely cheaper than your typical Dior, Chanel, and Tom Ford. What I will say, however, is that Dior quints are of similar quality in my opinion but with much better packaging. 

 Now for some pictures for how it looks on the eyes. I slapped this on after work to capture the true pigment, so excuse the foundation-less face and lack of mascara. Scary.

This is a shot with my full face done. As you can see, it's not overwhelming, garish, or too understated. It's actually quite a polished and subtle eye look with liner and mascara!

I'm most likely going to keep this at work and slap it on if I'm fresh out of time in the morning, but it's not a must have by any means. If you're in the US and thinking of purchasing a quad, be sure to check out true color swatches online. Think very hard on this purchase. 

xo Be