You Beauty! Annabel Rivkin's cabinet of wonders

Bobbi Brown Extra SPF25 Tinted Moisturizing Balm ticks so many boxes. It's been my secret weapon for years and, frankly, I'm reluctant to tell you about it. I mean, what have you done for me lately? Oh, all right then, but never let it be said that I don't share.

It is a foundation alternative for good skin that isn't perfect skin. I have always found daytime base rather elusive. It tends to look chalky - as though it is just perching on top of the skin - or 'dewy', which I just don't trust. To me, dewy means shiny, sweaty and inelegant.

A daytime foundation needs to offer invisible coverage. It should make you look less tired, less lined and as though you were genetically engineered to have flawless, radiant skin despite last night's cocktails and the early start.

Bobbi's Balm, which comes in eight shades, possesses a singular, slightly waxy texture that warms up on contact with the skin. I always apply it with clean hands so I can massage and blend and press and smooth and rub it over and into my face. The effect is remarkably natural: a better version of one's own skin. The proportion of pigment to lotion is such that the coverage is even and flattering, while shea butter and glycerine moisturise and Vitamin A beavers away at fine lines and imperfections. For a more stylised, night-time look you can beef it up by blending it with foundation, but for summer that probably isn't necessary. Just wait, people will tell you how well you look. And, for once, 'well' won't mean 'fat'.
Bobbi Brown Extra SPF25 Tinted Moisturizing Balm, £33 (bobbibrown.co.uk)