Over the years we have formed the opinion that foundation is one area that you really need to splurge on. (To wit: we regularly shell out over £60 on our favourite serum foundation, and consider it worth every penny.)

But this turns that whole idea on its head.

L’Oréal Age Perfect Anti-Ageing Radiant Foundation joins the age-defying line-up within L’Oréal’s No.1 brand for mature skin. It, too, is a serum-style foundation: a wonderful, skin-friendly texture that blends beautifully and really seems to ‘melt’ into skin. It feels incredibly lightweight, but it’s comfortable – and the effect is quite outstanding.

Infused with light-reflecting pigments, it truly works to blur lines and imperfections – over and above the usual job of brilliantly evening out skintone. To wit: you can apply it to lined areas, and instead of emphasising them (as many foundations do), it softens. A little goes a long way, and it’s not over-rich, drying swiftly to a radiant but not shiny finish that doesn’t (in our experience) need powdering.

It’s part of an entire line-up of make-up joining the Age Perfect range (we’ll report back when we’ve tried some of the other innovations).

And the 10 shades – spanning Golden Ivory to Espresso – cover a laudably wide spectrum of skintones.

A fantastic foundation ‘find’ for anyone on a budget. 10/10, L’Oréal.

£12.99 – buy here

Prize Draws