I wore Charlotte Tilbury’s new perfume in secret for a month and kept hearing the same thing

Charlotte Tilbury has launched her seventh perfume today, and it may be her best yet…

When Charlotte Tilbury creates a perfume, she doesn’t just blend it to make you smell nice, she does it to boost your whole mood. So when she gave a few of us beauty insiders an early heads up on her newest scent, Star Confidence Eau de Parfum, I instantly wanted to douse myself in it to see if it lives up to claims.

Launching today, and complete with emotion-boosting molecules to enhance feelings of confidence, the scent is her seventh creation– and perhaps her most ‘daytime wearable’ of the lot. In Charlotte’s own words: “I worked with master perfumers and a scientist at IFF who used the IFF Scentcube Algorithm gathering 40 years of research to identify the perfect combination of notes, creating a fragrance that helps boost feelings of confidence.”

As a beauty editor, I read plenty of bold claims from perfume brands about what their scents can do, but with many failing to be much more than ‘nice smelling’, so I decided to put this one to the test by way of a secret month-long wear trial. No announcement, no telling friends or colleagues what I was spritzing. I simply wore it every day and waited to see if anyone noticed. By the end of week one, they had. By week four, I’d even had a few compliments from strangers who all said I “smell great”. One girl in my pilates class even asked for the name of it on the way into a workout (I had to gatekeep it at the time as it hadn’t launched).

From the very first wear, I noticed its staying power. A morning spritz carried me easily into the evening, softening over time into a skin-close warmth rather than disappearing altogether. It’s a gorgeous ‘day to evening’ scent with complexity, with crisp and fruity notes as well as deeper velvety ones.

What Star Confidence

• Top notes: Juicy blackcurrant absolute
• Heart notes: Jasmine sambac absolute and dewy jasmine accord
• Base notes: Oakmoss absolute and patchouli

Then there’s the big claim: 82% agree Star Confidence enhances feelings of confidence. So does it? I think any scent so good that people come up to pay you a compliment has an effect on your confidence, absolutely.

Of course, the price tag plants it firmly in the premium category at £130 for 100ml. However, for the first time, Charlotte has bottled one of her perfumes in a 50ml for £80, meaning you don’t have to invest in such a big bottle.

So, in conclusion, after a month of testing on the sly, I can say this: Charlotte Tilbury wasn’t overselling it. Star Confidence really does capture that bottled-up Tilbury magic. Glamorous, wearable and, yes, confidence-boosting. If you’re looking for a signature scent that makes people lean in and ask what you’re wearing, this one certainly deserves a spot on your dressing table.

If you’re shopping around for other new scents for autumn, check out our round-up of 11 best cosy vanilla perfumes that smell like autumn. The list includes Phlur’s affordable Vanilla Smoke Hair & Body Fragrance Mist, from £25 from Space NK, and Rare Beauty Rare Eau de Parfum, £71 for 50ml from Sephora.