Victoria Beckham Beauty V Charlotte Tilbury: Which serum is the best?

One product costs more than twice as much as the other, but which one revived our lacklustre lockdown skin?

Both brands have recently launched their first ever face serums (The Inependent/iStock)

The beauty world is saturated with anti-ageing products that promise to transform your face, with buzz phrases like “youthful glow” and “renewal and repair” all over their packaging, but many fall flat, leaving us with emptier pockets and the fine lines and dull skin we started with.

Powerhouse ingredients like retinol and vitamin C have recently taken centre stage for their anti-ageing properties, but can you really turn back the clock with the help of a skincare product?

These two beauty brands are trying to prove that you can, having launched their first ever face serums, both offering anti-ageing, science-led formulas – at rather eye-watering prices.

Victoria Beckham’s eco-conscious beauty line made waves when it launched in 2019, not least after it collaborated with eponymous brand Augustinus Bader, a celebrity-favourite headed up by one of the world’s leading stem cell scientists. After 30 years of research, Bader created a coveted anti-ageing formula that is used in the VB Beauty’s serum, which launched in March this year.

Charlotte Tilbury also revealed its first ever serum this month, created with the help of scientists and dermatologists. Racking up a huge 8,000-person waiting list, the highly anticipated product launched on 16 April and is part of the same range as the brand’s “magic cream”, an award winning moisturiser that gained cult status for its glowing, plumping and hydrating properties.

Both serums claim to deliver youthful results but achieve them with different ingredients. One of them costs more than double the price of the other. We’ve put the high profile products head to head to see which one is worth your money, testing for both instant and long term results and whether they lived up to their credentials.

You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Victoria Beckham Beauty cell rejuvenating power serum, 30ml: £180, Victoria Beckham Beauty

Victoria Beckham’s beauty brand has joined forces with the new face of skincare science in the second collaboration between VB Beauty and Augustinus Bader. A professor in stem cell technology, Bader’s move into skincare was inspired by his extensive research into healing processes, where he worked to help burns victims heal without any scarring. VB Beauty previously partnered up with Bader’s skincare brand to create a priming moisturiser, but this is the first serum on the market that features the professor's sought after skincare formula.

It all gets a bit technical form here, so bear with us, but the serum is a powerful mixture of amino acids, vitamins and synthesised molecules found naturally in the body that work to trigger the skin’s natural renewal and repair systems. It essentially boosts your skin into healing mode, tackling signs of ageing and damage, ensuring no environmental aggressors get in the way of the process. Although this all sounds incredibly impressive, we were sceptical, especially considering the painfully high price-tag, at £180 for 30ml. There’s no doubt this is at the luxury end of the scale, which is why we’re begrudged to say that it’s life changing, but it really did deliver on its claims, leaving our skin “visibly transformed” just as the marketing suggests.

The thick, almost gloopy texture felt strange on application, and did take a while to sink in. By morning, our skin looked plump, rejuvenated and healthier, and after just a few uses, we noticed a significant reduction in pigmentation from acne scarring, less blemishes and a real improvement in skin texture. It’s fragrance-free, oil-free and silicone-free, as the brand focuses on clean beauty with no irritating ingredients, which bodes well with our sensitive, acne-prone skin. We used it for two consecutive weeks and were left with clearer, healthier looking skin; we’d certainly miss it in our routine if we had to part with it.

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Charlotte Tilbury Charlotte’s magic serum crystal elixir, 30ml: £60, Charlotte Tilbury

A firm favourite with A-listers and make-up artists alike, many of Charlotte Tilbury’s products gain cult status, from its nude pillow talk lipstick to the coveted magic cream moisturiser, the ingredients of which are featured in the brand’s new serum, alongside new additions. Speaking about the formula, make-up artist and brand owner Charlotte Tilbury said she “wanted to create a quick and easy targeted serum to improve skin’s outward appearance, making it more glowing, hydrated and youthful-looking, while also enhancing skin texture for smooth make-up application”.

If you thought VB Beauty’s formula sounded technical, you won’t find any respite here. The serum features plenty of big hitters like vitamin C and niacinamide (which work to brighten and even skin tone), alongside lesser known ingredients such as polyglutamic acid, an ingredient that the brand claims is four times more hydrating than hyaluronic acid, and replexium, a peptide blend that targets wrinkles and promotes younger-looking skin.

Peptides are short chains of amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins, like collagen and elastin. They are responsible for your skin’s texture and strength. Deemed by the brand as an “elixir”, a buzz phrase in skincare simply meaning a magical or medicinal potion, it also features actual crystals, an ingredient inspired by holistic wellbeing rather than science, which seems less impressive when compared with the rest of the formula.

Charlotte Tilbury’s serum has a higher focus on hydration than VB Beauty’s, which shines through in the results. With a thin but creamy consistency, the serum gave an instant radiance to the skin upon application. It absorbs quickly, leaving skin looking glowing, supple and hydrated. While our new-found glow was a welcome improvement to our dull and lacklustre lockdown complexion, we didn’t notice a significant improvement in texture after using this serum.

Skin certainly felt firmer and brighter after consistent use, but if you suffer with hyperpigmentation or a lot of texture, this might not be the solution. Our make-up applied nicely after using this, unlike VB Beauty’s serum which we’d say is best used at night, and sat well underneath Charlotte Tilbury’s magic cream moisturiser, we’d recommend combining the two if you’re looking for a real hydration boost.

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The verdict: Which should you buy?

Both brand’s formulas are expensive purchases, but we can’t ignore that VB Beauty’s serum is more than double the price of Charlotte Tilbury’s product. However, we also can’t argue with the results of Augustinus Bader’s skin-rejuvenating formula, as it really did transform the appearance of our skin, reducing fine lines, pigmentation and blemishes after consistent use.

As well as visible results, the serum works long term to strengthen the skin’s barrier against environmental aggressors, which makes the investment even more worthwhile. We haven’t found another serum like it, and for our tester whose focus was to tackle texture, the results were worth the money, if you can ever justify spending £180 on a serum, that is.

If you’re less concerned with blemishes and pigmentation and are looking for a hydrating, glow-boosting formula that gives you firmer skin, we’d still recommend with Charlotte Tilbury’s magic serum, although we weren’t as impressed with the change in our skin’s overall appearance when compared to VB Beauty’s offering.