I have been using Vita Liberata’s Illuminating Skin Finish for a good few months now – it was a permanent fixture on my bathroom shelf over the summer and I used it on my legs before loads of important events and parties. It is what it says it is – a skin illuminator – but it’s not quite the same thing as the highlighter that you’d use on your face. It’s a more mellow version and it gives an overall gleam without any brash glimmer; it simply makes the skin look as though it’s being lit by some brilliant, clever studio lights.

It also differs from a “highlighter” in that it helps to perfect the skin too – it won’t conceal, per se, but it will have this blurring effect that makes skin imperfections less noticeable overall. Bruises and veins and so on will need concealer, if you’re after hiding them, but the Illuminating Skin Finish really does help to detract attention if you’ve more minor complaints.

I use the perfector in “gold” but I’m keen to give the other shades a try as my natural skin colour fades with the onset of winter. Often for smart evening affairs I like to have my legs bare, and it gets increasingly difficult to make them look acceptable once the “winter tights” routine has been established! Just rub in some skin illuminator and off I go – I actually like to use a tanning mitt to apply as it does make the palms of your hands really shiny. I’d say that the finished effect is very “silk stockings” – not in colour, as there’s no real foundationey pigment going on – but in finish. It’s brilliant. (There are opaque varieties too, but I haven’t tried them yet – I’ve linked to that below.)

I went backstage at Temperley at the weekend to see what was going on in the hair and makeup department, and Vita Liberata were doing the models’ tans and skin finishing. I had unwisely worn shorts (rain, cold) and the lovely girls offered to sheen up my legs for me! You can watch that happening in the “vlog” video below – if you’re on email you’ll have to click here to watch it. (Also on video; umbrellas, lots of moaning, some Cara Delavigne.)

You can find Vita Liberata at Cult Beauty