Inflight Beauty Insider: Charlotte Tilbury

Compare Retreats Inflight Beauty Insider Series brings to you the best tips and tricks of the beauty industry’s best, from makeup experts to skin care specialists so you’ll always look fresh as you jet off into the sunset. We chatted with legendary British makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury, whose eponymous brand has just launched a new range of perfect travel-sized makeup products, about her in-flight skincare routine and her essential travel beauty kit.

What is your failsafe beauty and skincare routine for all of the flights you frequently take around the world?

“My absolute aeroplane essential beauty routine is all about ‘multimasking’. To keep my skin looking fresh and dewy on a plane, the first thing I do is cleanse with my incredible Multi-Miracle Glow to get an instant glow. Enriched with vitamins and floral extracts, this purifying cleanser gives the complexion a youth-boost. For the best in-flight and post-flight complexion, I apply my Goddess Skin Clay Mask and leave the magic to work for 10 minutes. I follow this with my Instant Magic Facial Dry Sheet Mask. The genius ingredients – including vitamin B3, crocus bulb extract, peptides, oils and butters – penetrate deep into the skin using a unique biomimetic vector delivery system, feeding the complexion where it needs it most for a more youthful, brighter, hydrated looking finish. Plus, the glow-giving, lifting effects of my Instant Magic Facial Dry Sheet Mask last for up to eight hours so I always have a gorgeous glowing complexion when I arrive at your destination too. I always carry multiple Instant Magic Facial Dry Sheet Masks with me and often hand them out to all the air stewardesses on the plane too!”

What are a few tricks and products that keep skin looking and feeling hydrated yet flawless throughout a flight?

“Charlotte’s Magic Cream is your skin saviour bottled! Sitting on an aeroplane is essentially like a hangover for your skin – it can leave your complexion looking dull and dehydrated. This is the secret to fresh, youthful looking skin in an instant: as there is a lack of oxygen on aeroplanes, I apply it using my Tilbury Tap massage method, as massage is known for encouraging micro-circulation and promoting lymphatic drainage. Work the fingers out over the cheeks like angel wings, and then tap in a pitter-patter motion over the forehead, nose and chin. I always have my Magic Eye Rescue with me for an eye-lift effect on the go. It re-energises the delicate eye area, hydrating and smoothing the feel of the skin.”

What are your five favourite in-flight travel-sized products under 100ml from your collection?

1. To help prevent my skin from drying out on flights, I performed my plane beauty multi-masking routine and finish with my Magic Night Cream (50ml). The texture acts like a film creating a barrier for the skin, which is key for keeping skin hydrated.
2. My new Collagen Lip Bath is the perfect 18 to 80 year-olds lip bath to put the moisture back in the lips, reduces the appearance of fine lines and gives you a healthy-looking and most sumptuous pout. It nourishes, refreshes and bathes your lips in lustrous marine collagen while you wear – like the ultimate facial for your lips.
3. I have just launched my new Bigger Brighter Eyes palette in Transform-Eyes which is perfect for small, tired, travelling eyes – I call them my ‘pea eyes’. This palette literally transforms your eyes into their biggest, brightest, most sparkling looking eyes and finished with a slick of my new Legendary Lashes Volume 2 will never give the game away you’ve been travelling!
4. I always travel with my signature fragrance, Scent of a Dream. It has top notes of lemon, peach and black pepper to lift and boost the senses, floral heart notes of Tuberose, Jasmine, Frankincense, Violet and Patchouli to attract love and light, and seductive base notes of Fire Tree, Iso E Super, Hedione and Ambroxan to amplify your own signature scent. I always say ‘spray the magic way.’ I start by spraying it on my pulse points – behind the ears, wrists and ankles. I then spray a scent halo around my neck, head and hair. I call it ‘Scent Contouring’. It comes in 30ml, 50ml and 100ml bottles.
5. I’ve also just launched a new collection of my plane-perfect, travel-sized magic minis – ideal for your hand-luggage. My best-selling products now all under 100ml so you can always take your beauty essentials everywhere, including Goddess Skin Clay Mask, my 3-in-1 cleanser, mask and balm Multi-Miracle Glow, Take It All Off makeup remover, Wonderglow face primer and my iconic Charlotte’s Magic Cream.

Dervla Louli

Founder

Dervla Louli is the Founder of wellness travel portal CompareRetreats.com and a Digital Editorial Consultant based in Hong Kong. She was formerly the Digital Editor of Hong Kong Tatler, the Director of Integrated Content at Edipresse Media Asia and the Managing Editor of Sassy Media Group. She has moderated events at The British Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong University and Swire Hotels, and was the youngest panel member invited to speak at the Goldman Sachs' International Luxury Conference in 2013. She is a member of the Global Shaper Community, part of the World Economic Forum and a certified yoga teacher.