Trinny just launched a 'skin tint' base for 40+ skin - and I've been secretly wearing it (and getting compliments) for weeks

To state the obvious, Trinny Woodall knows a thing or two about beauty. Specifically, the founder and industry expert understands what 40+ women want from their routines and has built her Trinny London brand around streamlined, effective skincare and flattering makeup without the faff.

So, when an offer came in to meet Trinny and try a top-secret new launch at her Kings Road HQ, I was off like a shot. Now, after learning all about this radiant, weightless base - and wearing it for weeks without being able to reveal what it was - I can finally spill the tea.

Meet Trinny London Fearless Skin Tint Drops: buildable, skincare-packed coverage painstakingly formulated for, and rigorously tested on, mature skin. For my money, this is one of the best lightweight foundation launches of the year - although, as Trinny herself asserts, "it's not foundation, it's a skin tint."

On the inspiration behind Fearless, Trinny explains, "We evolve so much, but sometimes our coverage doesn't evolve with us. So we might use things that worked on a younger skin, when we had more oil, and we wonder why a foundation makes our skin look a bit dry, or sits in fine lines."

"When you get to peri-menopausal, we can have a bit more rosacea; we can have pigmentation coming up," she continues. "So you have women who either wear the same coverage for a long time... or you stop wearing foundation, but you have that feeling, 'I'd like to wear something, but I don't want to look caked.'"

Can you relate? I'd urge you to try Fearless. As well as that buildable coverage, it cleverly combines biomimetic lipids (ingredients that replicate the natural fats in your skin that are lost over time) with Evodia Rutaecarpa plant, which boosts your skin's own natural radiance - rather than simply creating the illusion of glow with light-reflecting particles, as many foundations do.

After taking my top-secret bottle of Fearless Skin Tint home, I fell in love with its juicy feel and flattering finish, and it became my constant companion. I've been wearing this base for weeks - at work in a London heatwave, on holiday in the South of France and all day and night at a Scottish wedding.

It covers the rosacea on my chin and around my nose, reliably stays put and doesn't sink into the lines around my eyes. It's also comfortable, hydrating, and (this is rarer than it should be) looks like skin, not makeup.

I've had a good few compliments while wearing Fearless, and have even been asked outright what foundation I was wearing. It has pained me to respond with an irritatingly coy "watch this space" while I waited for launch day. Sorry for that, friends and family; the secret's out now.

Wondering how to apply Fearless? It's easy - one pipette is the exact amount needed for medium coverage on a full face. Push down the lid to drop the formula out, either onto your hand to pick up bit-by-bit and blend, or straight onto your tool of choice.

"We give you three options: your fingers, your sponge, which we developed, or your brush," advises Trinny. "If you have things to cover, I think a sponge is better because you feel you're not moving it too much, whereas if you want it to become part of your skin and you've got nothing to cover, then use a brush and buff it in."

As for where to apply, that's important too. "I've realised I don't really need that much here," Trinny explains, pointing to her jawline, "but I might need it here around my nose, so I start where I need it the most, and then I blend out."

"If you apply it heavily where you hardly need it, you have to put it even heavier where you do want it. So starting the other way is a much better way to do it."

While it was no great shock that my encounter with Trinny furnished me with makeup formulation education and clever application tips, it was a pleasant surprise to leave with a new can't-live-without-it product.

What's more, there were actually two top-secret launches up for discussion that day, and I'm even more excited to tell you about drop #2 in a month. Watch this space (sorry!)