Last week, I mentioned that I’d bought a lipstick from Charlotte Tilbury’s newly launched Canadian site. The color I chose was Stoned Rose, which I hoped would be a great MLBB (“my lips but better”), dummyproof sort of color that would transition well into the fall.

From the Charlotte Tilbury website:

This is my fail-safe recipe for perfect lips… Enriched with a breakthrough, secret ingredient, the Lipstick Tree, an anti-oxidant that naturally protects lips from UV damage and external pollution leaving them cashmere soft and irresistible. Blended with special waxes and clever light-diffusing pigments for pert, full-bodied, ultra-brilliant lips that ensure you leave a lasting impression!

K.I.S.S.I.N.G is my signature range of 10 lipsticks curated with modern and classic icons in mind. It is a capsule colour wardrobe of backstage nudes to red carpet reds made to suit any skin tone. Perfect, full, kissable lips really do grow on trees…

The Lip Stick Tree loves your lips, protecting them from UV damage and fighting oxidative stress so that lips are left soft, soothed and hydrated. A tropical plant originating from America, the plump yet prickly red fruits appear like pouting lips that blow kisses at you as you walk by. The color from its seeds was originally used by Indigenous American people to paint and protect their lips.

Firstly, a mention of Charlotte Tilbury’s packaging. I ordered a single lipstick, and it came in this box:

Pretty and somewhat luxe, but unnecessarily large and not very eco-friendly.

However, I cannot complain at all about the lipstick tube itself. I don’t think there’s a lipstick I’ve seen that comes in a more elegant and beautiful package!

The case is rose gold metal—it photographed a bit more yellow gold, but it’s definitely rose gold in person—and has a luxe, vintage appeal with its ridging and embossed logo on the cap. Seriously, my heart fluttered a bit when I slid it out of the box for the first time!

K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick in Stoned Rose (which I imagine must be a reference to seminal Britpop band The Stone Roses—and I love my 90s Britpop!) is a midtoned warm rose that is incredibly easy to wear. It has browned-brick undertones that are really flattering for my yellow-toned skin. The color is a bit deeper than a true MLBB, for me, but it’s still very much an everyday kind of lipstick color, and I feel it also qualifies as dummyproof!

I Am the Resurrection by The Stone Roses

The lipstick applies a little sheerly, but it can be built up to look more or less opaque. The best thing about this lipstick formula, however, is its finish. Charlotte Tilbury claims:

Also contains light-diffusing pigments that give lips a brilliant, luminous, multi-dimensional finish – they capture the light across the lips and reflect it back out for a full-bodied effect.

And it completely lives up to that. The finish is incredible and gives you magazine lips. They literally look Photoshopped. I haven’t tried another lipstick that gives this effect, so I was initially really delighted.

The drawback, of course, is that this lipstick is a moisturizing formula, and the glamorous finish does not last. I found that the lipstick dulled after about an hour or so, and I had to touch up to get that gorgeous 3D pearliness back.

Is the lipstick worth its high price tag? If you love the finish, as I do, then yes, I think it is. You may be able to find a similar color in a less pricy line, but probably not that finish. I’m willing to live with the reapplication, as well, since the lipsick is also fairly moisturizing and remarkably long-wearing, apart from losing its finish more quickly. The packaging is also quite stunning, so it makes the price a lot easier to swallow.

The lipstick does have a slightly sweet vanilla scent, like MAC’s but a bit softer and more pastry-like). There is no discernable taste.

I’m looking forward to trying Charlotte Tilbury’s newly launched line of Matte Revolution Lipsticks, as well, though more for the colors than for the finish (how much nicer can a matte finish be, I wonder?).

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Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick is 0.12 oz / 3.5 g and retails for GBP£23 / US$32 / CA$38. The company is cruelty-free.

Charlotte Tilbury Co. Ltd. was founded in 2013 by British makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury. It is based in London, England.