Image Source: Charlotte Tilbury (exclusive image for POPSUGAR UK) Source
If I said “Charlotte Tilbury”, I bet the first thing you would say is “Pillow Talk”. Over the last 10 years or so, the two have become synonymous with one another. Part of the original Charlotte Tilbury line-up in 2013, Pillow Talk was an universally flattering Lip Cheat liner shade, which went on to change the beauty game. Not only did this one little pencil revolutionise how we used lip liners, it sparked and created new lip trends for the next decade. The shade itself, with its soft pink pigments, was so successful, it went on to inspire a whole range of products containing the same iconic hue. And now, the brand is adding more new products to the line.
As the brand has evolved, so has Pillow Talk. It’s now firmly turned itself into a category of its own, extending into lipsticks, eyeshadows, highlighters, blush sticks, and even mascara. Pillow Talk is all about bringing out the most beautiful version of you and is so popular an item is sold every two seconds around the world.
But the question is, “What makes it so special?” There’s only one person who could answer that question, the founder of the brand and makeup mogul herself Charlotte Tilbury. I was lucky enough to sit down and had a good old natter to find out what she believes is the secret to her success.
Image Source: Charlotte Tilbury (exclusive image for POPSUGAR UK) Source
The last time I interviewed Tilbury was in her West London studio, before she had launched the now-iconic, global brand. I remember at the time just how passionate she was about each and every product, and it seems over a decade on that passion has not only continued, it has increased. Keep reading to not only hear what I think of all the new products, but why Tilbury believes Pillow Talk is for everyone, and what has been the recipe for the brands success.
“When I first told people I was going to launch a brand, everyone was negative,” Tilbury tells POPSUGAR UK. “They told me the market was overcrowded, yet all I could see was massive gaps in the industry, products that failed women and men, products that sat in people’s lines and pores, that weren’t the right colour palette.” She explains that her father was an artist, so understanding how colours work with different lights and different skin tones was in her blood. “Makeup is all about light and colour,” she explains, “Yet, I was so frustrated with the products out there which didn’t work for people.”
One thing which struck me in 2013, and continues today, is her desire that everyone should be able to feel beautiful. “I was really sad that people would come up to me and say ‘I could never look like that’,” she says before explaining that it was this idea that motivated and drove her to create a range to serve everyone. “We are doing this for women and men, because when you change one person you change community and the world. It’s a ripple of happiness. We are selling people happiness and confidence in tubes and pots and for me that is the most wonderful, gratifying high of my life. Everyone deserves to shine like a star, we are all stunning and beautiful, and I wanted to give that power to everyone, everywhere.”
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Although the Pillow Talk range is aimed at everyone, Tilbury was aware that it didn’t stretch for all skin tones. “As we get to the deep, deep skin tones, it just wasn’t there, so I was like lets extend it!” she exclaims. “Lets find the natural pigments in those skin tones to create a shade that works for them too.”
Tilbury describes Pillow Talk as the happy shade, the dopamine of beauty, think the natural flush of a long crisp walk in the forest or the happiness of a newborn baby. This natural flush is the inspiration of the entire range. “What was great was as we started to look at the pigments, its stretched to the other end of the spectrum to fair skin tones too,” she adds.
Image Source: POPSUGAR UK PHOTOGRAPHY/Lauren Ezekiel Source
The New Products Launching in the Pillow Talk Range
Launching today, is a completely new innovation – a plumping lip oil, called Big Lip Plumpgasm (£27), available in Fair/Medium and Medium/Deep, which blew my mind. It uses hot and cold technology to plump up your lips, with a slight tingle that lasts forever, honestly I tried it and I couldn’t get over how long I could feel the product visibly plumping my lips. It was like nothing I have ever tried before and it found a firm place in my makeup bag when I need to pump up the heat.
There is also two further shades of the Multi-Glow Highlighter (£35), a new Pillow Talk Fair Lipstick (£28) and Lip Cheat liner in Pillow Talk Fair, and three new Collagen Lip Baths (£27) in shades Fair, Medium, and Deep. This gloss gives a gorgeous shine without any stickiness and leaves lips feeling hydrated for hours. I adore the medium and instead of sticking to a clear or subtle lip balm I’m going to start wearing this every day because, in Tilbury’s own words: “Everyone deserves to feel beautiful.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Lauren Ezekiel is an associate editor at POPSUGAR UK, where she writes about all things beauty and wellness. With a degree in journalism and 12 years’ experience as a beauty editor at a leading Sunday supplement, she is obsessed with skincare, hair and makeup, and is often found offering advice to innocent bystanders. Her work has been published in Grazia, OK, Health and Beauty, The Sun, ASDA, Dare and Metro.
