Here’s something that sounds too good to be true: a product that “acts like a digitally-enhanced filter for your skin; it soft-focusses, perfects & illuminates for a dewy, flawless superstar youth glow.” These words appear plain as day on the box for my Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter, but can the bottle inside actually deliver these results?
Price: $44
Find it HERE
Tested October 2020
I’ve never really been into a matte complexion; it’s just not my vibe. I’ll take dewy and luminous any day of the week, and I never shy away from products with a serious glow factor. Available in 7 shades, Charlotte Tilbury’s Hollywood Flawless Filter, “a liquid tinted complexion booster,” claims to create the ultimate “superstar” glow and I’m here for it.
Although the gorgeous packaging (a weighted glass bottle with a rose gold screw-top cap and a doe foot applicator) gives off a foundation feel, this should not be confused with a foundation or tinted moisturizer.
I would call the Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter a highlighter that can be used as glow-where-you-want-it. The official instructions for how to use this product note it can be applied all over the face as a primer, or added to foundation for a dewy boost. I like using this under foundation (take a look at the photo below to see where I put it) and blending it out onto the skin with a damp makeup sponge.
I have the lightest available shade, Fair, but this is not “tinted” in the way you would expect.
I don’t notice any coverage, color correction or blurring after applying this product. What I do notice is a beautiful sheen that makes it look like my skin is luminous all on its own, particularly on the high points of the face that catch the light. This probably wouldn’t work if the shade wasn’t a generally good match, so I definitely recommend choosing the closest shade for your skin tone (and go lighter if you think you’re between two).
The Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter sure does glow. It doesn’t make any sense to me how this product could possibly show through foundation, but it just kind of…does. I applied a full pump of my favorite Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra 24H Long Wear Foundation (I reviewed that here) over this and my skin was somehow still luminous in all the right places. Plus, the lit-from-within radiance lasts all day on my skin.
I like to amp the glow up even further by applying the Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter as a liquid highlighter on the tops of the cheekbones and the cupid’s bow. The shade creates a perfect neutral sheen on my skin that isn’t too pink or too golden, something I have to watch out for with other highlighters because of my very fair skin tone. I love how it looks, plain and simple.
In other unexplainable news, the Flawless Filter formula meshes incredibly well with my skin. It doesn’t collect anywhere, leave any residue, or create dry patches. It’s pearly, not shimmery, and blends in seamlessly.
I wasn’t sure I would be impressed by this product. I thought it might be totally unnecessary, a gimmick in a pretty package, or that using it as a primer and putting other makeup on top would completely negate any of its benefits.
In my experience, however, the Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter has some kind of It Factor, that thing you can’t quite put your finger on, but must exist because you’re drawn to it. Whatever It is, my skin looks incredibly healthy when I wear this (other people have commented on it, too) so you can call me a newly minted Flawless Filter believer.
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