Beauty guru talks new serum, staying positive in tough times
‘Magic’ elixir aims to re-energize, protect skin
While some companies are postponing launches or pulling back on new campaigns due to COVID-19, Charlotte Tilbury is opting to move ahead.
On a recent video conference call with North American journalists to celebrate the launch of her new Magic Serum Crystal Elixir, the British beauty guru and founder of her eponymous cosmetics and skin care line, talked about the continuing disruption to the industry — and the world at large — and explained how she’s dealing with it.
“I’m a very positive person,” she says.
“So, for me, I just believe that as fast as this thing has come, is hopefully, as fast as it will go.”
The decision to continue to launch a new product like the company’s first serum is as much about offering her customers something new to try while they’re spending more time at home, as it is about supporting the people who depend on her the most.
“I’ve got an amazing company with amazing people. And I’m just trying to care about them, and care about launching my products, and keep my people in jobs,” Tilbury says.
Focusing on the development and launch of new products is also helping keep her mind off what’s going on elsewhere, she admits.
“I love my work and I feel very lucky to be very busy, I think, during this time,” she says. “And that is keeping me, mentally, grounded . ... I don’t really have too much time to think.”
Taking a closer look at the product ingredients and their purported benefits — it features skin-boosting elements such as Vitamin C, polyglutamic acid and niacinamide, as well as a “crystal complex” made up of ruby, rose quartz, moonstone, crystal quartz and amethyst — the timing of the release of the Magic Serum Crystal Elixir makes sense.
The serum, which is a sort of sister product to the popular Magic Cream that reportedly sees one sold every two minutes, is billed as being able to protect skin from environmental aggressors, including the damaging blue light emitted from the tech devices we’re all spending so much time staring at these days.
“I’m now stuck to Zoom. I’m going square-eyed,” Tilbury says with a laugh, on the topic of working from home. “More than ever, I’m needing this Crystal Elixir protection from the blue light screen and what it does to your eyes and skin every single day.”
As the call for physical distancing and lockdown continues, the allure of a new product to add to one’s self-care routine may also have been a timely motivator for Tilbury.
With elevating the at-home experience in mind, facialist Georgia Louise Vassanelli, who counts Jennifer Aniston, Emma Stone and Gwyneth Paltrow among her celebrity clients, provided a few tips and tricks for applying the Magic Serum for a spa-like experience.
“With any serum, it really doesn’t just require slapping the product on. It’s all about application,” Vassanelli says during the video call.
She recommends warming the serum in your hands to heat up the product and “re-energize the crystals” that are contained within the elixir. Then, using a natural stone gua sha or roller tool, smoothing the product into the skin, “pushing it in.”
“At the same time, you’re energizing the skin,” Vassanelli says. During times like these, who couldn’t use a little extra energy?
“I know it’s intense. We will get through this mad, mad time,” Tilbury says.
“I think we just have to be as positive as we possibly can. And care about each other and love each other and love ourselves. We need to remain in that headspace, because we will come through this. And we will come through this together.”