20 filters for a real-life glow

The Amaro filter is great for selfies. Because many of us use the front camera of our phones — which doesn’t have a flash function — when taking self-portraits, the resulting photo is often poorly lit, an otherwise even-toned face gets dark spots from graininess, and eye bags are highlighted. A single click of the Amaro filter fixes this –– increased exposure adds extra light, the center is weakened, making flaws less apparent, and a slight vignette frames the face softly. Eye bags and cheekbones are illuminated so that the face is instantly brighter, and the slightly pale, vintage tint of the filter, ironically, makes faces appear more youthful.

Laura Mercier international makeup artist Jeffrey Tasker introduced me to the real-life, carry-anywhere equivalent of the Amaro filter –– the Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Foundation Powder in 08. The new foundation range from Laura Mercier, the makeup brand best known for creating a flawless face, really covered all bases this time with 20 different shades –– very specific tones that aren’t even on the market right now. “Everything has a yellow undertone and then the shades are based on overtones: red, peach and olive,” says Tasker. What does this all mean?

Undertones are the underlying shades in our skin and the color comes from melanin, which is yellow by nature, whether your skin is fair or morena. Overtones are the resulting shades of the skin after sun exposure, damage from irritation, acne, cosmetic procedures and other skin conditions that give skin a pinkish tint. A full range of 20 shades all with yellow undertones makes matching foundation to your skin tone easier; all you need to do is match it to the color on the surface –– your overtone –– and everything else that you need to cover like acne scars and redness.

Instead of matching the shade to my jaw line — a makeup counter urban legend, Jeffrey dabbed foundation on the side of my cheeks, top of my cheeks and tip of my nose. These are areas where I need most coverage. The shade, 08, matches the color of my skin exactly (no exaggeration) and never looks or feels like foundation, or in the words of Jeffrey Tasker, “looks like skin.”

“This foundation is incapable of changing color. It stays the same from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. It’s also incapable of looking like powder. It has a semi-matte finish that looks like real skin,” he says. “Plus, it’s super waterproof. You have to use makeup remover to take everything out. And it doesn’t absorb oil — it gives the skin enough hydration so it doesn’t need to produce its own oil.”

Personal experience: The foundation blurs imperfections whether you use it dry or apply it with a wet sponge. It also doesn’t settle into creases in the skin and because Jeffrey matched me perfectly, my face always matches my neck. No Joker effect! The biggest test, however, is if it indeed stays the same color all day (with other brands, I am always advised to use one that’s a shade lighter because foundation tends to turn grayish on my acidic skin). It does stay the same shade all day and when I touch up, the fresh powder, which is never dusty, always matches the shade on my face. The formula’s treated pigments help prevent the oxidizing of color and keeps shades from looking ashy.

Jeffrey recommends applying Laura Mercier Foundation Primer – Protect with Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Sunscreen/PA+++ before foundation. Primer nourishes dry skin, and mattifies oily skin — it balances tone and texture. The lightweight, water-based primer’s gel-crème texture creates the perfect canvas for makeup. It holds foundation and keeps it looking fresh with Colour True Complex. Plus it provides sun protection. Laura Mercier is an advocate of not putting SPF in primer, but she’s discovered crystal-clear sunscreen technology, which helps foundation maintain its color integrity all day.

So when I use the hashtag #nofilter on Instagram, I only mean, virtually. In real life, this foundation is my take everywhere “no filter” filter — that’s “no makeup” makeup 2.0 for you.

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Laura Mercier is available at Rustan’s.