As a beauty journalist and make-up artist, this affordable foundation range has won me over

This was a perfect addition to my on-the-go make-up bag—it's lightweight, and the stick format means I could just swipe it on bits where my foundation had worn off, and blend it with my fingers. I liked it with a little bit of powder over shiny bits, but I do lean towards some shine so you may well be fine without any.

One thing to note: it's easy to apply quite a lot if you push down hard, and I also found it transferred onto polo necks if I wasn't careful.

I felt like this was skincare plus - yes, it offered some coverage, but I did the bulk of hiding spots and redness with concealer, while this added a soft focus veil and a LOT of hydration to my skin. 

In terms of staying power, it's precisely what you might expect from a hydrating, light-coverage foundation in that yes, it hung on for a while (I noticed it was still doing good work of making my skin look glossy during the middle of the afternoon, and I'd applied it at 8am), but there didn't seem to be much left in the evening when I cleansed my face.

If you're busy and want to fling on a foundation knowing it's not going to require much maintenance throughout the day, this is probably the one for you.

I needed concealer on spots as it's thoroughly a medium-coverage foundation, but I found that the mild redness around my nose was covered by it.

The finish is velvety, though some sheen broke through on my t-zone by the evening, as you can see in the above picture, which I took at 9pm, after having worn it for more than 12 hours.

I loved the finish of this on my oily t-zone: it took down shine, but didn't make my skin look flat or lifeless as too much powder can. It didn't move a lot or disappear. I found using it down the centre of my face where shine is most prevalent worked best, then used a more luminous formula on my cheeks where I'm ever so slightly more dry.

A note if you opt for it: applying it with a brush gave me the best finish. 

• Containing a cocktail of vitamins A, C, and E, this is part light to medium coverage foundation, part skincare. It wore really well, not settling into dry patches or making the creases around my eyes look pronounced.
• The illuminating bit, by the way is very much true - it made me look glowing and healthy, even when I was nursing a hideous cold.