The Experts: The best finishing powders

I am not what anyone would call a 'morning person'; thus my daytime make-up application is minimal and efficient. One extra step I've managed to make time for, though (I'm talking seconds by the way – each one is precious at this hour), is a final flourish of finishing powder, which has the dual benefit of brightening things up and stopping my hastily-applied paint-job sliding off my face before I even make it to the office.

I used to be fearful of powders – of being left with the sort of talc-y finish beloved by Goths; clogged pores were a worry, too. But today's incarnations are not only super-fine, many are also imbued with delicate shimmer particles to create a gentle radiance that has nothing to do with running for the bus.

While the new Light Reflecting Setting Powder from Nars (£25, narscosmetics.co.uk) and Smashbox's Photoset Finishing Powder (£18, boots.com) may both seem ghoulishly pale in their packaging, they are actually translucent and will blend into most skin tones creating a soft-focus finish. And Bobbi Brown has launched Porcelain Pearl (£40, bobbibrown.co.uk), a palette of pastels which, when swirled together, creates a colour-correcting blend.