I Really Want You To Know About Charlotte Tilbury’s Flawless Filter

The Tilbury is churning out launches at the moment – and all of them really quite clever. I’ll run through each and every one of them in due course, but want to start with the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter because it’s really the star offering and has accordingly enjoyed a lot of press so I’ve had a fair few questions directed my way about how it works and what not.

To start, while HFF may have a name that makes you feel like you should probably be one of those transformational make-up people on Instagram and do contouring/strobing/baking and all manner of make-uppy magic, I promise it is actually far more entry level than all that. It basically adds glow, a bit of a blur and warmth to skin. It’s not glittery, greasy, or comedogenic. It truly looks great on everyone – depending on how it’s used.

Now how you use it really depends on what you want from it. Charlotte (pictured above holding HHF) rather idiosyncratically describes the ways in which you can use it as: ‘beneath it, blend it, boost it, bling it.’ Read: it’s bloody versatile. Below are some ideas – and cautions.

How to do Hollywood Flawless Filter as an all-over glow / There are a few ways this works. If you don’t wear foundation or any base at all but want the benefits of this, I’d suggest mixing it with your SPF or serum as I personally found it was otherwise a bit visible on skin. But each to their own. If you are a base-wearer, mix it in. How much you add is entirely up to you.

How to do Hollywood Flawless Filter as a highlighter / Put this on to high points of the face before powder, if you like to wear it. If not, just tap and blend wherever you want it to look like the light has hit (traditionally: tops of cheekbones, Cupid’s bow, tiny bit on the bridge of the nose, perhaps a smidgen on top of brows and inner corners of eyes – be sparing if you’re after a realistic look of health).

My favourite things about Hollywood Flawless Filter / The finish is fantastic – it’s just the right level of sheen on a cheek, just the right texture. It looks good both in real life and in photos (sorry to those of you who balk at my saying that, but it is a reality of the times). It wears well, too – in the above shot, I’ve not touched my make-up for ten hours and it hasn’t slipped or become overly shiny. It comes in 7 shades, so there’s truly one for everyone. I use shade 2 if mixing with foundation and occasionally a dash of 1 if I’d like really sheeny cheeks.

The shortcomings of Hollywood Flawless Filter / As with all highlighters, if your skin is very bumpy or you have crusty patches, it will sit around them and reflect light. Also, the doe foot applicator is a good way to dispense a little, but please swipe it onto the back of your hand and pick up product from there as it might otherwise end up transferring a lot of bacteria into the bottle.