Not long after I started working at the Cut, our copy team told me that my persistent usage of the word “luminizer” caused them to finally add it to the style guide. So it’s not technically a word — but I’ve had to get creative with synonyms for “glowy makeup product” since dewy skin has been having a very good four years. Lawns used to be the only things that were dewy; now all of our skin must be, too.
Of course, Amal Clooney’s makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury wants to help with that. Her Hollywood Flawless Filter “complexion booster” promises “celebrity skin in a bottle,” she told me at a press event. “Okay, but whose skin?” I asked. “J.Lo,” she said. I immediately took it home, although it sat unused for four months because I had no idea what a “complexion booster” was. Her website says it can be used as a primer but it’s categorized under “liquid highlighter.” YouTube videos say it’s a great “under-eye concealer.” So what is it?
Tilbury technically wasn’t wrong. This is one of those rare products that can do lots of things very well, like the Rock. It can sing (your pores will sing a sweet song of moisture). It can dance (your cheekbones will look like they’re tap dancing in the light when you use it). It can help you act (like you don’t have any dark-eye circle shadows at all). It is a crazy combination under-eye-luminizer-highlighter-primer-in-one.
Flawless Filter’s main point of differentiation is that it offers a flesh-toned glow. Unlike regular old highlighters which come in shades of Champagne or gold, Tilbury offers seven different skin shades of Flawless Filter. It actually looks like real, glowy skin.
I like taking the giant doe-foot applicator out of the rather massive bottle and dotting it above my cheekbones post-foundation to make them look extra luminous. If it’s so great, why not put it all over your face instead of foundation? Well, there’s a fine line between looking like an oily greaseball and radiant.
Also, despite the Flawless Filter’s many positives, it doesn’t offer much in terms of coverage. This is more for texture, rather than to conceal. Still, you’ll be glad to incorporate this into your life, even if you don’t believe that “complexion booster” is a real phrase.
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