Index / Charlotte Tilbury / Magic Cream
Charlotte Tilbury

Magic Cream.

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream
Moisturizers

About this product

A rich, fragrant moisturizer cream designed to hydrate and prime skin, particularly for use under makeup and foundations.

Full ingredients

Guru Score

57%

Mixed

11 experts · Strong agreement
11Gurus
6Yay
0Mixed
5Nay

What they liked

  • Works smoothly under makeup without pilling
  • Gives skin a glowing, radiant finish
  • Pump packaging is convenient and hygienic

What they flagged

  • Significantly overpriced for what it delivers
  • Contains fragrance that some find too strong

What the gurus are saying

The cream draws consistent praise for hydration, a silky texture that layers well under makeup without pilling, and a luminous finish that suits dry and normal skin types especially. Those with combination or oily-leaning skin may find it too occlusive. The main tension: many gurus love how it performs, but a few call it overpriced for what is essentially a basic, fragrant moisturizer with antioxidants and peptides. Anyone sensitive to fragrance will want to skip it, as scent is a core part of the formula.
Synthesized from 11 expert reviews · most recent take July 2026

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored
~Nay
"The next ingredient on the ingredients list is glycerol steroid se. This is highly comedic. So that means avoid if you have acne prone skin or if you have oily skin. All the good actives cheekily they added at less than 1%. Which means they're not even in the therapeutic index which means this is a marketing ploy. So for example they got tetropeptides, ascorbic acid, tocopherol and allantoin. Allantoin is your anti-inflammatory but these are all less than 1% so unlikely to get any benefit from these to be honest. Plus they went and added fragrances to the Magic Cream. I just feel like if you're doing this step by step and you do this for years, it may lead to issues of the skin."
~Yay
"The Magic Cream from Charlotte Tilbury. I used to love this. I still do. I just haven't used it in a long time. I quite like the Charlotte Tilbury range because it's made especially to go under foundations and things like that. So, I find it works better."
All 3 takes from Mixed Makeup
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"I love the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream. Is it overpriced? Absolutely. It is bougie. It just smells really nice, it feels really nice. Is it pretty basic? Absolutely. Is it nice and thick? Yes. Does it work well under makeup if you've got dry skin? Absolutely. I like it. It's just expensive, unnecessarily expensive. So that's always just something to keep in mind."
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"I actually really like this product. It has antioxidants in it, it actually has that gold conjugated vitamin C that I love so much in it as well, so you're actually getting a really good vitamin C treatment from this. But it also makes your skin look really pretty. It has like a luminescence to it as well, so it's just immediately giving you that temporary brightening effect. But it's also a brightening antioxidant vitamin C serum. Going to bed I'm using something that has hydration and moisturization and it's occlusive, which means it's not letting any transepidermal water loss happen. I love it."
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"The Magic Cream from Charlotte Tilbury. I used to love this. I still do. I just haven't used it in a long time. I quite like the Charlotte Tilbury range because it's made especially to go under foundations and things like that. So, I find it works better."
~Yay
"Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream. This is the stuff everybody loves."
~Yay
"Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream - I've talked about that a bunch of times here on the channel and you can see it in action in this video right here and you can hear more about why I love it."
All 2 takes from The Style and Beauty Doctor
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"Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream - I've talked about that a bunch of times here on the channel and you can see it in action in this video right here and you can hear more about why I love it."
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"I'll alternate between this and the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream, whatever just happens to, I just reach into the medicine cabinet and pull out."
~Yay
"This is a good cream and its dupe is coming, I'm going to give you two dupes depending on where you are"
Translated from the guru's original language.
All 2 takes from Nipun Kapur
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"Anything Charlotte Tilbury skincare is overpriced, beautifully packaged but will not transform your skin."
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"This is a good cream and its dupe is coming, I'm going to give you two dupes depending on where you are"
Translated from the guru's original language.
~Yay
"I have an empty Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream, this is one of my favorite creams and I feel like I always need to have this in my collection. This can be used everyday twice a day but I really love this for my morning routine because I love the complexion that it gives. It gives this beautiful glowing finish to the skin and your skin just looks so radiant and healthy whether you wear makeup or not. This actually shines beautifully through your sunscreen as well as your makeup giving your skin this youthful dewy complexion. It's also very satisfying to use when your skin is on the drier side as well, so perfect for all skin types. If you are looking for something that has that richer formulation that is moisturizing that gives the skin that glow then you will really love this. There's a lot of ingredients in here to target signs of aging and to plump the skin and this really is plumping. This also contains fragrance, so if you don't like fragrance in your skincare then you will definitely want to pass on this. I love the scent of it. I don't have a problem with fragrance but it really is a wonderful cream especially in your morning routine. I have used this many times at night time as well and this really is wonderful for twice a day."
All 3 takes from Sincerely Miss Ash
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"I have an empty Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream, this is one of my favorite creams and I feel like I always need to have this in my collection. This can be used everyday twice a day but I really love this for my morning routine because I love the complexion that it gives. It gives this beautiful glowing finish to the skin and your skin just looks so radiant and healthy whether you wear makeup or not. This actually shines beautifully through your sunscreen as well as your makeup giving your skin this youthful dewy complexion. It's also very satisfying to use when your skin is on the drier side as well, so perfect for all skin types. If you are looking for something that has that richer formulation that is moisturizing that gives the skin that glow then you will really love this. There's a lot of ingredients in here to target signs of aging and to plump the skin and this really is plumping. This also contains fragrance, so if you don't like fragrance in your skincare then you will definitely want to pass on this. I love the scent of it. I don't have a problem with fragrance but it really is a wonderful cream especially in your morning routine. I have used this many times at night time as well and this really is wonderful for twice a day."
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"This is outstanding and I've been talking about this for a long time here on my channel. This is great just to have as an everyday moisturizer, but this is also amazing underneath your makeup. This one is very rich and moisturizing, a little bit more heavy than the Embryolesse, but surprisingly when you have this on your skin it feels very lightweight. It doesn't feel like you have this thick layer across your skin whatsoever, but the texture is more thick than the Embryo Lesse. This one has a lot of great ingredients in it like hyaluronic acid, there's vitamin C, there's vitamin E, there's shea butter, there's peptides and honestly the list goes on. So not only is this great to moisturize and prime the skin, but you're getting a lot of benefits with these ingredients to treat signs of aging as well. I also feel like this is a very plumping formulation as well, and this will give your skin that nice glow and radiance as well when you have foundation on top. [...] You can use this at nighttime as well."
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"If my face is really dry and tight I love the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream. This one also contains anti-aging ingredients and it is even thicker and richer than the Protini, and this is very satisfying to use when your skin needs that additional moisture. This does contain fragrance so if you're someone that can't deal with fragrance you may not want to look into this, but a little bit goes a long way. It spreads nicely and your skin has this beautiful glow to it. It sits nicely underneath sunscreen and makeup, and I will sometimes use this twice a day during January, February, and March. It is exceptional."
~Nay
"It's a basic moisturizer. There's a few potentially irritating ingredients in there and ingredients that if you're not careful could break you out. I'm not a big fan of the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream. I honestly think it's overrated. I think it's overhyped and it's certainly overpriced."
All 2 takes from Mad About Skin
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"It's a basic moisturizer. There's a few potentially irritating ingredients in there and ingredients that if you're not careful could break you out. I'm not a big fan of the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream. I honestly think it's overrated. I think it's overhyped and it's certainly overpriced."
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"The Magic Cream is the one that is really, really popular and really viral, and I just think that it's too thick. It hasn't got any particularly interesting ingredients in it, nothing you couldn't just get at the drugstore, and it's like $70 a tub. It's an example of not a bad moisturizer, but not worth $70."
~Nay
"Don't even get me started on the Magic Cream. Magic Vaseline. It's not Vaseline, it's the texture."
~Yay
"This is one of my holy grail products. My skin drinks this up. I was going to say I'm so glad that you've tried this because this is one of these products that I would like love to hate on but that works so well that I have to love it. It's $100, it's from Charlotte Tilbury. She's a makeup artist, but if you want something that is hydrating, beautiful like silk ribbons, but that works under makeup, this is it. This is the only cream-based moisturizer I would use before makeup because any other cream-based one will pill or act weird with primers and foundations, but this one is, I understand why they call it Magic Cream. It's one of those that I wish I would love to hate, but the Magic Cream is so fantastic."
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"This is one of my holy grail products. My skin drinks this up. I was going to say I'm so glad that you've tried this because this is one of these products that I would like love to hate on but that works so well that I have to love it. It's $100, it's from Charlotte Tilbury. She's a makeup artist, but if you want something that is hydrating, beautiful like silk ribbons, but that works under makeup, this is it. This is the only cream-based moisturizer I would use before makeup because any other cream-based one will pill or act weird with primers and foundations, but this one is, I understand why they call it Magic Cream. It's one of those that I wish I would love to hate, but the Magic Cream is so fantastic."
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"I don't love all of her products but this is one that I do. It is one of the best hydrating moisturizers for under makeup that's luxury and doesn't pill. It's expensive though, it's not magic, it's freaking science, but it doesn't pill under foundation."
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"I will say there are certain luxury products that I do like and the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream is one of them"
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"It's a 100-dollar cream, you can get the minis for less, but I will say it is a good cream. It does have fragrance so if you're sensitive be aware. This is not for someone who is financially strapped, but if you actually want to buy a luxury product the bottle is very pretty, the formula is very good, it lays under makeup perfectly. It is one of the luxury products I actually like, not everything from Charlotte Tilbury is a hit, there are some major misses like the eye cream, but this Magic Cream can be used under the eyes. Now is it magic? No, it's science. It has some good ingredients, but it really works well under makeup, it doesn't pill or crease, especially if you're doing liquid foundation, concealer, even if you just do powder it works. That is what I love about it."
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"I as well have to admit I want to hate this morning product. I really want to hate it because it is so expensive, but you know what, it's expensive but it is good. Is it good for those with sensitive skin? Is it going to cure acne and rosacea? No. Is it gonna get you hammered schmammered? No. But is it really beautiful and does it feel really good when you're using it? Yes. I actually do love this. It's not greasy. I'm very weird about textures. Some lotions are like they feel too dry because like I don't have lotion on, some are too greasy where it's like I touch my face and I'm like, oh, it's like on my hands. This is like somewhere in between where it melts into the skin. It feels like I have lotion on, which I like that feeling because if my skin is too dry it drives me insane."
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"These are very similar to the do ones from Charlotte and I love those as well. Those are actually another top favorite."
~Nay
"I don't understand why people love this moisturizer. I get everybody has their preferences, but I do feel like the love for this moisturizer is primarily led by influencers. I've never scrolled through TikTok and seen a non-influencer under a certain amount of followers willingly buy this product unless it was gifted. I don't see anyone but influencers talking about this product. Is this a nice hydrating moisturizing moisturizer? Yes. It has got those fragrances in it that need to be listed separately because they're known irritants. Do I think a dermatologist should be recommending, in an article, something like this for dry, irritated skin? No. I do feel dermatologists have a responsibility to recommend products that probably don't have fragrance in for irritated skin. And that's kind of like what this product was recommended under, was for dry, irritated skin. This does include Linolol, Citronellol, fragrance."
~Nay
"This is a very pricey product and as much as I've enjoyed it, I also have to remember that I do this for a living and a lot of these products are sent to me. While I feel like this is a really nice product, I can 100 percent understand why somebody wouldn't want to spend the money on this, especially when there's other great skincare prep products out there. The fragrance in here is very distinct, so I can totally see how some people just might not vibe with that. I do like how it feels on my face, but sometimes you have those realizations too, like you know what, my moisturizer does the same thing."

What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Humectants and emollients

Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.

Source: DermNet

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an antioxidant, and it is often in a formula to keep the other ingredients stable rather than as the active itself. It pairs well with vitamin C, though on its own the evidence for visible change is limited.

Source: NIH, National Library of Medicine

Frequently asked.

What is Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream?

A rich, fragrant moisturizer cream designed to hydrate and prime skin, particularly for use under makeup and foundations.

Is Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream worth it?

The gurus are split. 6 of the 11 gurus give it their stamp of approval while 5 would skip it, which lands it in the middle at a Guru Score of 57%.

What is Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream's Guru Score?

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream holds a Guru Score of 57%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 11 expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.

Who is Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream best for?

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream is generally suited to dry skin and mature skin.

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