From red carpets lined with A-listers to backstage at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Cream has been a glistening staple in many a celebrity make-up artist’s kit (while also adorning the bed-side tables of beauty fans everywhere) since its launch in 2013. Famed for its rich texture, extravagant packaging and a legendary creator who needs no introduction, one of these coveted moisturisers is sold every single minute, according to the brand’s sales data, and its origin story is nothing short of star-studded.

“Magic cream was the very first product I ever created – I was creating skincare innovations long before makeup magic,” says the make-up artist and British beauty entrepreneur Charlotte Tilbury. “It’s still one of my best-selling products after more than 10 magical years.”

While the version of the cream that we see today is glittering and glamorous, the original formula was far from the perfected final product you’ll find on shelves today.

“I was working with all the supermodels and needed a moisturiser that would instantly revive the look of tired, dull and dehydrated skin, while also caring for their skin long-term,” she explains. “Around the time I created Magic Cream, moisturisers promised quick results – but I found there was nothing that could give that next-level instant luminosity that I wanted and also provide the base for make-up that I needed. Applying make-up after most moisturisers would often result in pilling.”

“I originally began mixing my own ‘magic moisturiser’ and using it backstage. Everyone began asking for my ‘instant miracle cream’ – it really was a skincare saviour for shoots, shows, red carpets and runways. I wanted to create that lit-from-within supernatural glow for the skin.”

Charlotte Tilbury backstage at the Rachel Zoe spring 2012 presentation during New York Fashion Week in 2011

Today, you can’t escape the moisturiser’s viral allure. Whether it’s taking centre stage in a buzzy TikTok trend or making an appearance backstage at London Fashion Week, the now refillable cream has a reputation that precedes it. But what is about the formula that keeps it in such high regard?

“The secret behind its success is my obsession with light,” explains Tilbury. “Throughout my 30-year career, I have studied the different types of light – when to capture it, when to diffuse and blur it – and how to bottle the power of light into my magic skincare formulas. It is so much more than just a moisturiser. It smooths, primes, plumps and firms the look of your skin in just one step.”

In terms of ingredients, you can expect a rich blend of plumping peptides, brightening vitamin C, nourishing vitamin E and hydrating hyaluronic acid. Perhaps most famously, it adds a radiant gleam to your skin that sits cohesively under foundation, without pilling or creating an overtly greasy finish – making it a regular in many a make-up artist’s professional kit. “I always say you can’t have a beautiful painting without a beautiful canvas.”

If your skin veers more oily, it’s worth noting that the original Magic Cream has now branched into a series of lighter alternates: a Water Cream for those fond of a lightweight gel texture and a Light Cream complete with SPF20 and urban pollution protection.