Video: How to Fake a Flawless Complexion

We've road tested Laura Mercier's skin-perfecting make-up tricks...

Of all the compliments pertaining to appearance, my favourite without question is 'your skin is amazing.' Unfortunately, British embarrassment usually renders me unable to respond with a smile in thanks - instead, I stammer something about my skin actually being quite rubbish and that it only appears to be behaving well thanks to stellar foundation.

This is a half truth: my skin generally nowadays does sit on the better side of the fence – it is smooth, becomes spotty and red only when provoked by alcohol, late nights or excessive sugar consumption (the 4pm munchies are my skin’s downfall), and a thin layer of foundation and strategic concealer are usually enough to garner the above compliment on occasion. It wasn't always like this, though: my skin has routinely decided to go a little mental since my mid-teens and it's taken me years (and oodles of swatting up on books on skin function and petitioning those in the know for tips) to get to where I am now, which is categorically not perfect, but infinitely calmer of skin.

While I always push the holistic line that was instrumental to me in controlling my breakouts (get enough sleep, drink enough water, have enough lols in your life), the whole thing about stellar make-up is that when you fail your skin, the good stuff won’t fail you - which is where this video comes in.

The steps executed by Laura Mercier’s wonderful International Make-Up Artist Sasha Ghodstinat are designed to make looking luminous while covering redness and blemishes ludicrously easy and, having followed them for years (including on my wedding day – brides, this is how to glow AND make your base last all day), can promise you that a combination of the right products with the right application technique really makes an enormous difference to the end result.

A final note: as any of you who suffer from bad skin will know, going barefaced can require a little leap of confidence. As I was on the mend from a breakout of epic proportions, the fact that I am so very nude of skin on the internet is testament to how strongly I feel about highlighting the power of good make-up. Give it a whirl and watch the compliments flood in. Oh, and try not to respond with anything but a thank you.