Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter

We’re not sure how to categorise this. Even our friend Charlotte’s possibly not sure what it is, describing it as ‘the ultimate high-gloss, high-glow celebrity skin-filter-in-a-bottle’.

So: since we couldn’t quite get our heads round that, we took ourselves off to John Lewis to have it demo-ed on skin – always a great way to check out any new make-up product.

And what we can report is that this is an amazingly flattering, versatile innovation which makes skin look very soft-focus and gently glow-y. (The ‘high-gloss’ tag is a bit off-putting – used judiciously, it’s way subtler than that.)

You can deploy it in several different ways. First, as a primer – a few dabs with the over-sized doe-foot wand of the light-diffusing mixture, blended into the complexion under foundation (forehead, cheeks, chin).

Secondly – and this is what we’ve been doing – you can actually mix it with your foundation. This is fantastic at this time of year, with your regular ‘winter’ base; the light has really shifted out there – and suddenly, velvety, matte foundations look all wrong. A few dabs of Hollywood Flawless Filter, blended into foundation (in the palm of the hand works best) does the trick brilliantly at making your base look just right for now.

Thirdly, you can use it as a highlighter in its own right – on the tops of the cheekbones (provided you’re not lined there), above the cupid’s bow, down the nose…

There’s a terrific tutorial on her website (find it here). But to be honest, for fun (and for best results), we suggest you follow in our footsteps and get it applied in store. (Find her locations here.) That way, you can discover which shade is perfect for you – admirably there are seven in all (3 Light/Medium seems to be our best match).

Charlotte’s make-up pros are all incredibly highly-trained, positively evangelical about what they do – and frankly, no excuse is too slim for us to hoist ourselves up onto a stool and let them work their magic.

£30 - buy here

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