dazzle 'n' sparkle

Charlotte Tilbury 'Filmstar Bronze & Glow' Face Sculpt & Highlight

Filmstar Bronze & Glow Face Sculpt & Highlight is the perfect blend of pearl and golden pigments to define your features and impart a candlelit glow. These universal shades are created from a refined golden base that flatters all skin tones.

Paraben-free.

This product needs no introduction. If you are someone whose makeup routine consists of more than a lipstick and an eye liner, you probably would have heard of the Charlotte Tilbury 'Filmstar Bronze & Glow' Face Sculpt & Highlight. This one was most talked about, much loved product from Charlotte Tilbury. I have two of this  (have no idea why) and it was one of my top favorite products of 2016. I picked it without seeing. The hype sucked me in so bad!

Color, Texture and Consistency:

The Bronze/Sculpt side of the duo is warm bronze, not ashy or muddy and not too orange either. It is soft, not matte but has very fine shimmers, that gives satiny sheen on application. It is not very powdery, there is not much of powder kick off. It is not the most pigmented sculpting powder that I own, which is great because it gives that subtle hint of shadow.

The Glow/Highlighter side of the duo is a pale gold champagne highlighter, with very finely milled shimmers, that is not chunky or glittery. The powder is soft, but not powdery. It imparts a soft glow that is neither frosty nor metallic.

Scent: It has a faint fragrance. Nothing noticeable once it is on skin.

Application and Effect on the skin:

The Bronzer is lighter for my medium skin tone. It does show up on me and is enough to give dimension to my face. I use a fluffy bronzer brush. It is cooler in tones than the Tom Ford Bronzer in Gold Dust. I use both these powders differently. My face is small, with facial features all closer to each other, so a blush brush like MAC 129 also works just fine. Also, I love using it with a slightly pointed brush to contour. I love using the Charlotte Tilbury Powder & Sculpt Brush. My contours are not strong. I don't hammer out those cheek bones. The contours are just enough to give dimension to my face. The powder blends easily and seamlessly. It does not go on patchy. Also, the product is buildable and layers over other products easily.

1. Laura Mercier Matte Radiance 01 2. Hourglass Luminous Light 3. Essence Pure Nude 4. Charlotte Tilbury 5. the Balm Mary-Lou Manizer

The Highlighter is wonderful. It gives a beautiful sheen on application. The product melts into the skin and does not just sit on the top. The highlighter has shimmers that are finely milled, but it does not look frosty at all nor does it emphasize any texture or pores. The color is not too yellow and it imparts a glow, a healthy glow, not a metallic one. It is pretty much on the same lines as Hourglass Ambient lighting powder in Luminous light in terms of sheen, but I find this one subtle. The cliched 'lit from within' phrase literally fits here. I use Charlotte Tilbury Powder and Sculpt brush for both highlighting and contouring. The brush is wonderful. I am not crazy about the softness of the bristles. It is the shape of that works perfect! Another highlighter brush I like to use is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brush #23

Packaging: The packaging is probably the first thing that attracted the beauty world. It is rose gold, sleek case with mirror. Very vintage looking. There is no applicator. It works for me and is good in a way, because applicators would have made the packaging bulky and I hardly use those tiny brushes anyways. I love the stunning packaging. It does look fragile and not too sturdy for travelling.

Verdict: This is a pricey duo, so it makes sense that both product should work. The palette/duo is more apt for someone with  light to medium skin tones. The highlighter can be made to work for darker skin tones too but the bronzer would go waste. For highlighter alone, it would be expensive. The packaging is stunning and looks lovely on the vanity, but this criteria is not enough to justify the high price tag. Luckily for me both the products in the duo worked and the sheen is exactly the way I like. So it was a good investment for me. A huge thumbs up in my book.