After reviewing the Milani bronzer on Monday, I figured it would be a good moment to review its big sister. Meet Charlotte Tilbury’s Airbrush bronzer. This bronzer is the OG product that the Milani bronzer is in fact a really good shade dupe for. However, if you were to ask me, I still prefer the Kiko Flawless Fusion bronzer over the Milani as a formula dupe for this one, but to be fair, the Milani version is better in terms of an exact shade match. That said, all three bronzers fall into: will this even show up on your skin category to then proceed to look absolutely flawless on. The question of course is: is the Charlotte Tilbury bronzer worth it?
Review: Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush bronzer 01 Fair
Because Miss Charlotte know how to do a good product but also charges some pretty pennies for her line. Of course, Charlotte Tilbury is a luxury makeup brand: from the packaging to the experience of using it, this product is more than just a bronzer from that point of view. So when you pay €50 for a bronzer we of course expect nothing but the best. First of all, this comes with a whopping 16 grams of product (most bronzers teeter around the 10 gram line) and the packaging is absolutely to die for. This product comes in four shades of which I own 01 Fair which is the lightest shade available.
What does this bronzer have to offer?
Apart from marketing and design, we are of course here for the product. The Airbrush bronzer is one that had to grow on me though. This wasn’t love at first swatch. I bought it because of the hype as everyone was saying how good this was. My first hurdle was the shade: I saw this in store and it looked so light that I doubted this shade would do anything on my super fair skin. But the next shade up, medium, looked too dark so I decided to risk it. I think the line could do with a light shade between fair and medium. Another thing I always have to bear in mind whenever I try Charlotte Tilbury makeup is how warm the line leans. So if you have a cool to neutral undertone like me, then be aware that the undertone of this bronzer may not be for you.
What is the bronzer like?
So why did I have to get used to this product. When I first started using this, I wasn’t that wowed by it. Yes, the texture is one of the smoothest, silkiest feeling I have ever experience, so it certainly has that going for it. But I just didn’t get it at first. I used it a few times and every time I just wasn’t overjoyed. Then I put it in a Shop My Stash along with the Milani and the Kiko to see how the three would compare and I ended up reaching for this so much more than the Milani. I really noticed how finely milled this was compare to the Milani and how the shade just looked perfect every single day compared to the Kiko. In the end, this was all I wanted to use and I reached for it blindly every time. It ended up being fool proof and on my pale winter skin it was just the pick me up I needed.
How does the product swatch?
I think you can understand my initial apprehension when you see this swatch. This bronzer is so so light that it barely shows up. My first reaction was: wait, this is a bronzer? Looks like a face powder to me. Also the packaging claims this is a matte bronzer, and it certainly looks it in the pan, but in a full on swatch you can see there is a slight sheen to the powder. It sheers out beautifully on the skin though and I was surprised at how easy it is to use: it dispenses just the right amount of color back into the skin every single time. Like magic.
What does this bronzer look like applied?
When I had used this just once or twice I felt this didn’t do enough. Then again, I bought this and then didn’t really use it until a few weeks later when I wasn’t super pale anymore. So I hung on to it, saved it for the winter season and lo and behold: a great bronzer for super fair skin for the winter time. It is a warm toned bronzer, but I don’t feel it looks overly yellow on me. It just adds enough color to make my skin look alive yet still natural. And no matter how much I pack this on, it never turns me into an oompa loompa. That’s most certainly a first.
My final thoughts
The Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush bronzer wasn’t a straight hole-in-one for me out of the gate. This was more of a slow burner, where the more I used it, the more I wanted to use it. It is just such a natural looking bronzer and I hadn’t expected that at first swatch. What seemed to be a too light bronzer that wouldn’t do much, turned out to be a perfect bronzer for the winter time in an ultra blendable and smooth formula that is never too much.
Would I recommend the Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush bronzer?
Whenever I review high end products I am always a little bit on the fence when answering this question. I really love this product, but it has a hefty price tag that may not be within everyone’s budget. Now I am all for saving up and buying a product you love rather than a cheap dupe, but truth be told I think I like my Kiko bronzer just a touch more and the fact that is only 1/5 of the price of the Charlotte Tilbury definitely factors into that. If you want to make a choice between the three, the Charlotte, the Kiko and the Milani then please watch my 2022 bronzer collection as I do a live comparative swatch of all three products in that video.