Charlotte Tilbury’s Beach Sticks finally launched in the US ($45 each for 6.5 g / 0.23 oz, made in Italy). I ordered mine sight unseen online and have been experimenting with these. The Charlotte Tilbury Beach Sticks are twist up cream blushes and highlighters. They come in summery colors with different degrees of shimmer. The texture of these sticks is quite creamy making them easy to blend and layer. Straight from the tube they swipe and swatch with medium pigment. Once you blend with a finger the color sheers out quite a bit. You don’t have to pack layers on to get the color to show up, but in my experience I did need 2-3 swipe + blend layers to get them to show up on my medium olive skin. The brighter colors like Las Salinas and Ibiza are more visible on the skin while Formentera and Moon Beach are lighter and less visible. These sticks have a soft dewy finish that give the skin a youthful glow. They don’t get greasy or oily as quickly as NARS Multiples do on me, but by late afternoon, alone they do fade. There is a slight vanilla scent with the beach sticks but it is very faint.
The colors I picked out:
- Formentera is a nude pink with a slight sheen, this adds a lovely nude blush look to the face, pigment is sheer to medium
- Ibiza is a tan bronze with golden shimmer, this is nice as a bronzer, pigment is medium
- Moon Beach is a sheer shimmery golden peach, this makes a nice highlighter and adds a sheen to the skin, pigment is sheer to medium
- Las Salinas is a bright sheer hot pink with golden shimmer, pigment on this is sheer to medium
Detail photos and swatches:
Swatched straight from the tube:
1 swipe sheered out – don’t let these swatches deter you, they adhere to the face much better than they do on the arms, if you have 2-3 swipes on the face, they show up a lot better:
A few comparison swatches for color reference:
NARS Matte Multiple in Laos
NARS Multiple in Puerto Vallarta
Tom Ford Skin Illuminator in Fire Lust
NARS Matte Multiple in Vientiane
NARS Multiple in G-Spot
NARS Multiple in Malibu
After putting these Beach Sticks to the test I find myself having mixed feelings. The colors are stunning and the texture adds a really lovely glow to the skin without making it look or feel greasy. Moon Beach works extremely well layered over powder blush on the high point of the cheek bone to give a dewy glow. Ibiza has enough warmth and color to be a good natural contour for me (traditional contouring creams are too sharp and grey-looking). Las Salinas would be better if the color were more visible, I think sheer bright pinks can be done beautifully to add a healthy glow. On my medium skin it sheers out after blending so I need to add 2 more swipes for the color I want. Don’t get me wrong it is workable, on me it just takes a bit more work and I personally prefer a stronger blush when it comes to color. Formentera is nude on me and although it does show up it is very very natural.
They also work amazingly well as a base for powder blush to help bring out pigment without darkening the powder or altering the color. In addition they layer well over powder and foundation without looking cake or heavy. If you’ve watched some videos online seeing how these are applied, the best way to use these is to swipe them directly on your face and then blend.
If you like a natural blush or want a dewy glow that isn’t greasy these are amazing. If you want more color, you may find these a bit too sheer. They do show up if you swipe a few times and the upside is that these are good for touchups and since they are natural they are impossible to overdo. I’m happy I did purchase these although they are fairly expensive at $45 each. The only shade I think I would have skipped if I had seen these in person is Formentera. Have you tried these yet? What did you think?
