Trinny London is by no means a new brand – I think it has been quite popular in the UK for some time but is now starting to become more so here in the US. In order to see if the products (and brand as whole) were worth the hype, I made a considerable purchase to test out a variety of formulas. This is going to be a lengthy and picture-heavy post, so let’s get into it!
OVERVIEW
The whole foundation of the brand is streamlined, cream-based products made to suit the coloring of your features. The basis of this is a system called Match2Me, where you select your eye color, hair color family & tone, and skin color family & tone. You then receive a profile with curated shades from each of the formulas offered. From that, you can select curated shades individually or choose from premade “stacks” (we’ll get to that momentarily), or you can choose your own colors and formulas altogether – you’re not forced into the curated shades by any means, but it does serve as a decent guide to what might be most flattering on you. To that point, there is a toggle button on the individual product pages where you can choose to see only your Match2Me shades or show all of the shades within that formula.
Speaking of individual product pages, you’ll find on each one under the Application Tips section that there is an estimation of how long the product will last with daily use. This is a level of transparency that I rarely see but gives customers a good idea of how much bang they will get for their buck. I can’t speak to how accurate it is since I don’t use these products daily, but it seems to be on par with similar products and their respective amounts elsewhere in my collection.
Additionally, Trinny London seems to harness a very committed fanbase via social media. The brand encourages you to join the general Trinny London Facebook group, as well as your region-specific group – i.e. the “Trinny Tribe” – so that you are connected to others who enjoy the brand. I don’t think the groups are limited to discussing makeup (though I would imagine there would be a lot of posts related to that), but it’s definitely an interesting – and probably very effective – marketing tactic.
PACKAGING
The products were shipped in a standard cardboard box that contained a secondary branded box. The secondary box is sturdy and could actually be reused for other purposes if desired; it’s structured, nicely finished, and has a magnetic closure. It also opens up to a bright yellow. Because of my order size, I received a free makeup bag (called The Chepstow, which can be purchased on the site for $29). It’s a decently sized, relatively sturdy bag that fit perfectly within the secondary box, and all of the products were contained in the bag vs. floating around in a mailer.
The product boxes themselves are all a reflective silver which of course list the product inside, shade, ingredients, country of manufacture, etc. The only product box that had a slightly different appearance were the Eyetallics, which was striped. Keeping with the yellow theme, each individual box also opened up to the cheery color. A nice touch is that each box listed a “T-Tip” specific to that formula, which gives guidance on how to use the product.
Stacks
Here’s where things get interesting. The brand is based on a “stack” system, where each product comes in (or can be transferred to) a “T-Pot” – a round plastic container which can be connected to other T-Pots via a snapping mechanism. Each container has a bottom “lip” with grooves for the lids of other T-Pots to snap into. The lids themselves have the Trinny London logo pressed into the cap and have a very satisfying snap to let you know that you’ve twisted the lid of the product fully closed. Given that the products can spin around while in the stack formation, I think this an important (and very appreciated) feature.
The idea is that you have everything you need for your makeup in a compact delivery so that it doesn’t take up as much space and is also travel-friendly. Cream products will automatically come in a T-Pot. Any liquid products (like the BFF Serum De-Stress) purchased from the site that come in a pump packaging come with an empty T-Pot so that you can still have the product in your stack if you’d like by simply dispensing some product into the container. Further, if you have any liquid or cream products that you would like to have in the stack but are not sold by Trinny London, you can also purchase empty T-Pots for $9.25. I really appreciate that you can add products from your own collection to this system – it’s not something often seen because companies would typically rather force you into purchasing from them instead, but this allows you to potentially keep any of your other hero products alongside the brand’s.
Lastly, each cream product comes with a sticker on the underside that has illustrations of different facial features. These are meant to depict the different areas that the brand markets the product for use – a very clever and customer-friendly feature, if you ask me!
PRODUCTS
All of the products that I received are manufactured in Italy. The expiration dates varied between formula as listed below, in order of increasing longevity:
- 6M: Eyetallic
- 12M: Just a Touch, Cheekbones, Golden Glow, The Right Light, Flush Blush, Lip2Cheek, Eye2Eye
- 18M: Miracle Blur
- 24M: Sheer Shimmer
Miracle Blur
Miracle Blur retails for $34.50 and contains 4g/0.14 oz of product. As you might expect from the name, this is a skin-blurring primer. It’s your pretty standard silicone formula, but it has just a bit more slip to it. This allowed it to spread really easily and evenly and was less prone to pilling because it sits more thinly on the skin. I saw the biggest difference in my lines (specifically my “11’s”), but it did a decent job at softening my pores as well. It’s an effective product and one that I would be likely to use over other versions of potted blurring primers because of its ease of use.
The one con – and I would say it’s a major one – is that you don’t get much product at all. It says on the website that you’ll get 6 weeks out of it if using daily, and depending on how much you find necessary to apply, I believe it. Even the mini version of the Tarte Timeless Smoothing Primer has almost twice as much product, so keep that in mind if you’re considering this one.
BFF De-Stress Tinted Serum
BFF De-Stress Tinted Serum retails for $50 and contains 30mL/1.01 fl oz. It’s a tinted base product that comes in an airless pump and claims to fight the effects of cortisol; stimulate collagen production; and hydrate and smooth your skin, with the end goal of slowing down aging. Lots of claims here that I can’t provide insight on long-term, but I also wouldn’t recommend relying on your makeup for any skin protection/treatment.
While the brand recommends applying this with your fingers – and I know many people enjoy that application method – I personally found a beauty sponge to work best, as it distributed the product better and blended more seamlessly into my skin without leaving streaks. The coverage was lightly buildable from sheer to light coverage. I ordered the shade Flora, and I guess you could say that I had the opportunity to test the “stretchable shades” considering the color swatches on the site did not match the product in person. Flora should have been the perfect shade for me but was definitely darker and peachier than expected – thankfully you couldn’t really tell once blended in due to the coverage level, but it’s certainly worth noting.
This product wasn’t a win for me… It clung to any dry patches I had, even ones that weren’t visible without makeup, and while it had a nice natural sheen, it felt slightly heavy in a way where I was very aware I had product on my face. It also didn’t wear well, and even with my dry skin, I felt the need to powder (what?!) halfway through the day. Lastly, it didn’t look the most skin-like on me. When reaching for tinted serums/moisturizers, I want them to feel weightless and make my skin look more even but naturally so. Otherwise, I’ll just grab a foundation that’s slightly more perfecting. Unfortunately, even with well-prepped, moisturized skin, this product delivered a poor combination: low coverage, poor wear-time, and the heaviness of a true foundation.
Just a Touch Foundation-Concealer
Just a Touch retails for $37 and contains 4 g/0.14 oz. This product is intended to give much higher, more concentrated coverage while still maintaining a lightweight radiance. I would agree with all of these claims! For me, this effectively toned down my blemishes and under-eye darkness without being full coverage. It gave a nice satiny, skin-like finish. The closest comparison I can give is if Glossier Stretch Concealer and NARS Soft Matte Concealer had a baby.
This looked really nice freshly applied with my finger, which I think is the best way to use this, While it started to disappear on me after a few hours, the ease of application/blending with fingers made it super easy to touch up during the day. I don’t recommend grabbing a beauty sponge for this, as the product gets a bit too sheer and really requires building. You can use a beauty sponge to even out the application after initially blending with fingers, but it’s honestly not necessary. Similar to the BFF De-Stress Tinted Serum, I didn’t find the color swatch to be exactly as depicted on the site but was much closer. I ordered the shade Lulu, and it works for my skin-tone just fine.
Cheekbones
Cheekbones retails for $33 and contains 4g/0.14 oz. It’s a true contouring product meant to sculpt and define your features. When I saw that the shade Kate appeared to be this amazing concrete-taupe shade which would be perfection for my fair skin tone, I cannot fully express how excited I was. I’ve been searching for a shade like this for years! So imagine my disappointment when it’s not a beautiful cool-toned concrete-taupe… it’s just concrete. Y’all, this color is GRAY – and not in a cute way. More like a very noticeable, are-you-decaying kind of way.
In addition to that, I found this product to be super finicky. It has a much drier consistency than I was expecting compared to other formulas within the brand. The drier formula made it so that the product would stick down where you initially placed it, but because there’s not much emollience, you couldn’t really blend it without using a good bit of pressure. I really don’t see how you would use this product while also avoiding removing your foundation. Couple that with the color issue, and this isn’t something I could get to work for me in the intended way. What I might try is using this under my foundation (directly on top of moisturizer/SPF) to see if that helps with both the blending issue and with toning down the grayness so that it melds more with my skin… but to be honest, I found it to be patchy even when trying to blend it on bare skin (peep the swatches below). Overall, I’ll keep trying to make this one work, but it doesn’t seem promising.
Golden Glow
Golden Glow retails for $33 and contains 4g/0.14 oz. This product promises to give a natural, warm glow without any orange tones. I picked up the shade Gaia because while not the fairest in the range, it looked to be slightly more neutral than Jensta (the lightest option). Wow, am I glad I picked Gaia because even this one scared me upon first opening the pot – it looks decently deep and definitely warm, so I can’t imagine how much warmer Jensta must be. However, this is a very sheer product, so while the shade might throw you off both in the pot and swatched, it looks much different on the skin. The tone is really quite nice and natural, giving that lovely healthy-looking, sun-kissed glow, even on my fair complexion. For this reason, it’s much more foolproof than a lot of other bronzers on the market. However, while it could effectively be used on a range of skintones, it’s worth noting that if you have a deeper skintone, you may want to either grab a darker shade or be willing to add more product.
Additionally, this bronzer has a very emollient texture, which allowed it to glide beautifully over my base products. I liked applying this best with a brush, followed by a sponge, and finally my fingers. Fingers worked fine, they just didn’t provide enough surface area to best blend the product before it started setting down a bit – they would certainly work in a pinch though.
The Right Light
The Right Light retails for $33 and contains 4g/0.14 oz. It’s a very subtle highlighter with a super thin texture. This had the most emollient texture out of everything I tried, and because the areas I highlight are much smaller than those than I bronze, fingers worked perfectly well with this product. No lifting of my base products occurred upon application, and I didn’t find it to enhance any skin texture either. The outcome, while subtle, was both effective and flattering and could be slightly built up if you desired. The shade Starlight was, again, a bit deeper than I anticipated, but ended up still being a nice color on my cheeks.
Flush Blush
Flush Blush retails for $26.50 and contains 4g/0.14 oz. This product has a fairly standard cream blush formula but has more of a matte finish. It’s the kind of matte finish that dries down but almost takes on a slightly more subdued finish of your base products – for instance, if you’re wearing a dewy foundation, this blush will look more satin vs. straight matte. The product warmed up very easily and was pleasant to apply with fingers. It didn’t lift up my base and spread quite nicely with no harsh lines or “memory stains” – the awful spot you get with some cream products right where you initially apply it and then subsequently can’t get it to fully blend out! It diffused really nicely such that you couldn’t tell exactly where my blush started vs. where my foundation began.
I got the shade Electra, which is a really beautiful nude pink without leaning too cool-toned. It looks really natural and slightly enlivening on my complexion.
Lip2Cheek
Lip2Cheek retails for $33 and contains 4g/0.14 oz of product. All of what I said about the Flush Blush applies here, except that this one is obviously marketed to be for both lips and cheeks. To be honest, I’m not really sure what the difference in formulas is… Even the ingredient lists are nearly identical, with the only identifiable difference being that the order of 2-3 ingredients being swapped in Flush Blush.
As a lip color, Lip2Cheek takes on a soft matte texture on the lips but is not drying. It’s very easy to get that “blurred lip” look when applying directly with fingers around your lip lines and is really quite effortless. I imagine if you put a shinier lip balm underneath, it might look more satin-slightly glossy.
Given the extreme similarity in formulas – and keeping in mind the difference in marketed application areas – I’d say that these two products are interchangeable. So if you see a shade you like in either, I really think you could use them in the same way. I got the shades Cha Cha (vibrant hot coral) and Sherin (peachy terracotta) and love both.
Quick note about Sherin: Remember when I said Trinny London seemed to be very community-based? Apparently this shade was named after a member of the Trinny Tribe community diagnosed with breast cancer. You can read more about her journey here.
Sheer Shimmer
Sheer Shimmer retails for $30 and contains 4g/0.14 oz. This product is also marketed for both lips and cheeks but has a much more emollient texture than the Flush Blush & Lip2Cheek. It has a very sheer base with a good amount of shimmer in it and has a bit of a sticky texture. On the lips, it wasn’t super glossy – more of a satin/slightly creamy finish, but on the cheeks, it was a little more dewy. It’s definitely the kind of formula where your hair might get stuck in it a bit, so it’s decently comfortable on the lips but not so much for me on the cheeks.
I purchased the shade Katie, which is a beautiful browny pink. Oddly enough, the description states that the product has a subtle vanilla scent, which I did not get at all. Mine had a very “makeup-y”/crayon scent and taste. I don’t think it’s gone off since it’s both a brand new pot and color offered from Trinny London. It just seemed odd considering that other products and shades within a product line contain flavoring ingredients, and this one states it does as well.
Either way, it’s a beautiful color and I liked the effect on the lips – I just don’t know that the formula is anything special, nor is it a product I would put on my cheeks due to the tacky finish.
Eye2Eye
Eye2Eye retails for $24 and contains 4g/0.14 oz. This product has a pretty traditional cream shadow texture, but they’re the most sheer cream shadows I’ve ever used. That’s not to say it’s necessary a bad thing, as this makes them very buildable and user friendly – just don’t expect immediate payoff according to the color in the pot. You can easily use your fingers with these, but I preferred a brush in order to have more control given that I have hooded eyes. I also preferred the seamless blend quickly achieved with a brush.
I purchased the shades Faith (dark brown) and Mystery (shimmery taupe), and both were very flattering.
Eyetallics
Eyetallics retails for $29 and contains 4g/0.14 oz. It’s a very glittery, sparkly formula that has high impact. They come with a sponge inside of the pot, which the brand says to always replace – just be warned that this can cause the sponge to get messy over time due to handling! This product has a slightly spongey texture with a bit of fallout. I’d probably recommend doing your eyes first or just being very careful. You could probably use a brush, but I find that these types of shadows are best applied with your finger to get the most payoff and the least fallout. I used a “press and swipe” method which worked well.
I have to admit that this product gave a really beautiful effect on the eyes. It was probably the product I was most excited about because I’m a sucker for sparkle, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a slightly more sophisticated version of glitter that I found flattering and didn’t emphasize eyelid texture. It really gives that special pop if you’re looking for a bit of glamor! The closest comparison I have is the Victoria Beckham Lid Lustre (which I find to be more smooth) or a more pigmented version of the Hourglass Scattered Light.
T-Top Stackable Mirror
Last but not least, the T-Top Stackable Mirror retails for $13. The mirror has a fully reflective, silver finish with two levels of magnification (1x & 3x) and can click into the top of your stack. I don’t detect any distortion in them when viewing my reflection. The silver mirror itself came packaged in a yellow velveteen sleeve, so I think you could pop this in your bag if you wanted just a small mirror by itself without it getting scratched.
I will say that while this product is small – it’s literally the size of one of the T-Pot lids, as it’s intended to be part of the stack – I don’t think it’s fair to fault it for that since you kind of know what you’re getting here. You’ll mainly be able to view targeted areas of your face, but I could see this as really helpful if you’re using your stack for travel purposes. Say you needed to touch up your lip color, or your blush had faded a bit – this would be perfect for viewing those areas and adding a bit more product.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, I’m really pleased with my first experience with the brand. I would be most apt to using these products when I want something to quickly pop on for errands or a video call but not necessarily expect to last a terribly long time. The Match2Me system really worked (at least in my experience)! Everything I selected from their recommendations suited me very well, but I also liked the items I chose outside of their recommendations – so I’d suggest using it more as a guide than a prescription. My favorite items out of everything I tried are the Just a Touch Foundation-Concealer, blushes (Flush Blush & Lip2Cheek), and eye colors (Eye2Eye & Eyetallics). Given that one of the brand’s biggest strengths is the extensive shade option offering in both blush & eye color products, I could see myself purchasing more if a color really called to me since they also do offer some more unique (but still flattering!) shades.
I know this was a long post, but I truly hope it was a helpful one! If you’ve tried Trinny London, I’d love to hear your experiences with the brand and/or products.