How does Charlotte Tilbury’s £36 Hollywood flawless filter compare to Collection’s £6.99 dupe?

By maplecarbone On Aug 20, 2022

When it comes to the beauty world, Charlotte Tilbury is a firm favourite. Ever since its launch in 2016, it really has become the cult brand to know about, with its products being used by everyone from celebrities to TikTokers.

But, as you’re probably aware, it’s certainly more on the luxe end of the spectrm. Owing to this, there’s a rather high price tag attached to some of its most popular products.

As such, fellow beauty brands are on a mission to create more affordable alternatives to Charlotte Tilbury’s products. And one dupe that’s been making the rounds is Collection’s version of the Hollywood flawless filter (£36, Charlottetilbury.com).

TikTok is obsessed with it. Users have long since been sharing videos of themselves with Charlotte Tilbury’s flawless filter one side of their face, and Collection’s dupe on the other, and you honestly can’t tell the difference.

At £36, Charlotte Tilbury’s flawless filter is five times the price of Collection’s dupe. Naturally, we were intrigued to see how well the budget buy could perform. So we put it to the test.

How we tested

Testing it on our combination skin, we assessed the claims that the £6.99 Collection gorgeous glow filter finish could provide an affordable alternative to Charlotte Tilbury’s £36 flawless filter. We paid close attention to the shade ranges on offer, formula, colour payoff, and of course, staying power. And last but not least, we put two images side by side to see the real difference – take a look yourself.

Best: Flawless glow
Rating: 10/10
Shades: 12
Shade tested: 3
Size: 30ml

Buy now £36, Charlottetilbury.com

Charlotte Tilbury’s Hollywood flawless filter needs little introduction. There are 12 different shades to choose from and it has been a mainstay in our beauty bounty for as long as we can remember.

Formula

Renowned for imparting a serious glow, Charlotte Tilbury’s Hollywood flawless filter is a multi-purpose “complexion booster” – it can be used under make-up, over your finished look, or even on its own for the perfect “no-make-up” look. It is infused with a powerhouse of ingredients that help to brighten the skin, namely porcelain flower extract. And it’s been formulated to give you a pearlescent glow (that’s thanks to the bismuth oxychloride).

As it has been designed to use under and on top of make-up, it offers a sheer finish, and it promises to blend into the skin seamlessly, blurring imperfections and areas of hyperpigmentation. And take it from us, it certainly delivers.

Application and results

For application, we use the doe-foot applicator to swatch it across our face before using a damp sponge to blend in – if you don’t have one, we’ve found that using our fingers also works just as well. The lightweight formula works to smooth and illuminate the skin almost instantly, and creates a dewy look.

If like us, you enjoy keeping your make-up looks fairly paired back, it works very well on its own. It blurs any imperfections perfectly and leaves your skin looking as though it’s fresh from a facial. Or, if you prefer more high coverage, it looks just as flawless under a full face of make-up, working to add a little extra glow to a finished look.

Not that you’ll need to, because the staying power is very good, but you can also easily top up while on the go by applying as if it’s a highlighter. There’s no denying that it delivers on its promise of catching the light and delivering a serious luminosity.

Having had this in our beauty bounty for as long as we can remember, we’d go as far as to say it’s a cult product that you’ll reach for daily.

Best: Budget-friendly buy
Rating: 8/10
Shades: 4
Shade tested: 2
Size: 30ml

Buy now £6.99, Collectioncosmetics.com

The similarities between Collection’s gorgeous glow filter finish and Charlotte Tilbury’s flawless filter are somewhat uncanny. The names are almost the same and Collection’s product features a doe foot applicator that’s almost identical, so naturally, we wanted to see how well it performs.

Formula

When it comes to Collection’s gorgeous glow filter finish, there are only four shades to choose from – fair, fair-medium, medium and tan. This is obviously problematic, as lots of people will be unable to find a colour to match their skin tone. We were of the lucky few though and we found our match with the fair-medium.

In terms of formula, much like Charlotte Tilbury’s flawless filter, it’s infused with a number of skin-benefitting ingredients – notably, trehalose for hydration, sodium hyaluronate, which is a derivative of hyaluronic acid and works to relieve dryness, and vitamin E for even more moisture.

Application and results

In order to give the product a fair test, we applied it the same way as we did Charlotte Tilbury’s flawless filter – swatching the product across the skin with the doe-foot applicator and blending it in with a damp sponge. Much like the high-end alternative, we found that the dupe quickly and easily worked into the skin, which surprised us because the formula looks and feels a little thicker than the Charlotte Tilbury product.

What’s for sure though, TikTok didn’t lie. The results of Collection’s £6.99 dupe seriously impressed us. Without make-up on over the top, our skin looked almost as glowy as it does with the Charlotte Tilbury product all over. As you’d expect, it works just as well under make-up, imparting a subtle glow.

After assessing its longevity, we did notice that it didn’t have quite the same staying power as the Charlotte Tilbury flawless filter, which we’ve found to last for an entire day, but it was still impressive – and we found that it kept us looking glowy for around six hours.

The verdict: Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood flawless filter vs Collection gorgeous glow filter

OK, we’ll be honest, we didn’t want to like Collection’s £6.99 dupe as much as we did. But when we put the images side-by-side there really isn’t much in it.

We are huge fans of Charlotte Tilbury’s make-up products and rely on the Hollywood flawless filter almost daily. While £36 seems a bit steep, a little goes a long way – so much so, that we’ve been known to keep a bottle going for almost a year, so we think it’s most definitely worth the money. It produces a seriously flawless glow, and it manages to blur even the most stubborn imperfections.

That being said, you can’t argue with the results. Collection’s formula is spot on, and it provides an almost identical glowy finish and does blur imperfections nearly as well. That being said, we did notice that the staying power wasn’t quite as strong as the high-end alternative. Similarly, the fact that there are only four shades to choose from is an issue we’d like to see rectified.

Above all though, the £6.99 alternative is a great option if you’re looking to achieve a glow on a budget – it certainly impressed us.

Looking for more beauty recommendations? Read our review of the best BB creams