My Mom and I Tried This Skin Filter: Can One $14 Product Work on Women 30 Years Apart?

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:People / Cai Cramer / Amy Cramer

People / Cai Cramer / Amy Cramer

My mom and I love to share makeup. Our taste for natural, glowy glam surpasses the 30-year age gap between us — soft blushes,creamy lipsticks, andhydrating CC creamsfloat between both of our makeup bags interchangeably. But just because we often like the same makeup doesn’t mean we always agree on which products are the best.

Where my skin is ultra dry, sensitive, and prone to peeling, hers tends to be more balanced and prone to redness, with some fine lines that naturally come with age. While she often opts formakeup for older women, I always search for the glowiest products possible — so while both of us aim for natural-looking results, our skin types have different needs that we need to consider to achieve a dewy complexion.

People / Amy Cramer / Cai Cramer

Regardless of our differing needs, one thing my mom and I always agree on is that we love a good bargain. So, when I came across multiple reviews for the e.l.f. Halo Glow Liquid Filtercalling it a “dupe”for the more expensive Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter, I immediately added one for each of us to my Amazon cart.

People / Cai Cramer

The Halo Glow Liquid Filter claims to be a lightweight, glow-boosting tint that can be worn under makeup as a glowy primer, over makeup as a highlighter, or on its own for a natural, dewy complexion.It contains hyaluronic acid and squalene to hydrate the skin, and comes in 12 different shades on Amazon. But, does the Halo Glow really live up to it’s claims?

e.l.f. Cosmetics Halo Glow Liquid FilterPHOTO: Target$14$13 at Amazon$14 at TargetView on Elfcosmetics.com

e.l.f. Cosmetics Halo Glow Liquid Filter

PHOTO: Target

$14$13 at Amazon$14 at TargetView on Elfcosmetics.com

To start, we dotted the Halo Glow all over our faces. We blended the product out with a dampbeauty sponge(I picked upa beauty sponge from e.l.f. for $6).

The silky formula was super easy to blend into the skin with minimal effort, and it left a luminous glow on both of us. It didn’t provide much coverage, but it mildly evened out the skin tone while looking nearly undetectable. After sponging on one coat of product and photographing our results, we also each used afoundation brushto apply a more full-coverage foundation on top to see how well the Halo Glow performedundermakeup.

People / Jhett Thompson

The Results

The Halo Glow Liquid Filter won itself a permanent spot in both of our makeup bags.On my ultra-dry skin, it didn’t cling to any dry patches or emphasize my texture. It evened out my mom’s skin tone without settling into fine lines and plumped both of our skin with a dose of healthy-looking hydration thanks to the inclusion of hyaluronic acid and squalene. Neither of us noticed any glitter, which I was happy about since glittery complexion products can sometimes make skin look like Edward Cullen in the sunlight (you know the scene). Both of us plan to keep wearing the Halo Glow on its own and under more full-coverage makeup.

People / Amy Cramer

Is the e.l.f. Halo Glow Liquid Filter Worth it?

The glow-boosting product won a resounding yes from me and from my nearly 60-year-old mom. It feels super hydrating and lightweight and layered well under other complexion products. We both fawned over the finish, which was glowy but not (and this is key) sparkly. The quality of the product feels much, much higher than its $14 price tag. The product’s bottle says that it can be applied over or under makeup, but my mom and I both prefer to use it as a glowy primer, either alone as a light skin tint or under a fuller-coverage foundation.

Other e.l.f Cosmetics Products We Tested

e.l.f. Cosmetics Camo CC CreamPHOTO: Amazon$15 at Amazon$13 at Target$15 at Walmart

e.l.f. Cosmetics Camo CC Cream

PHOTO: Amazon

$15 at Amazon$13 at Target$15 at Walmart

On top of the Halo Glow, my mom and I both applied a layer of the e.l.f. Camo CC Cream. We used a damp beauty sponge and a foundation brush to blend out one pump of the CC cream on each of our faces and then inspected our skin up close and in direct sunlight.

If you have balanced to oilier skin, the Camo CC cream is for you. One light layer easily covered my mom’s redness, brightened her under-eye area, and diminished the look of dark spots. It didn’t emphasize fine lines, and even up close, I could barely tell that she had anything on her skin, thanks to the natural, semi-matte finish. She even wore the Halo Glow and CC cream through a pilates class, and after an hour of sweating, she looked just as even-toned and smooth as she did upon first application. The finish reminds me of theIT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream— though that product is $32 more than the e.l.f.version.

For folks with extra dry skin like me, I’d say that the Camo CC Cream could be a really great spot-coverage product for the parts of your face that tend to hold more moisture, but as for full-face complexion products, I’d recommend one of these more hydrating CC creams that I’ve tried:

PÜR 4-in-1Tinted Moisturizer$36 at Amazon$36 at Walmart$28 at WalmartHonest Beauty CCC Clean Corrective Tinted Moisturizer$27$17 at Amazon$29 at Walmart$27 at UltaTower 28 SunnyDays Tinted Sunscreen$32 at Amazon$32 at SephoraView on WalmartSupergoop! CC Screen$44 at Amazon$44 at Dermstore$44 at Bluemercury.com

PÜR 4-in-1Tinted Moisturizer$36 at Amazon$36 at Walmart$28 at Walmart

PÜR 4-in-1Tinted Moisturizer

$36 at Amazon$36 at Walmart$28 at Walmart

Honest Beauty CCC Clean Corrective Tinted Moisturizer$27$17 at Amazon$29 at Walmart$27 at Ulta

Honest Beauty CCC Clean Corrective Tinted Moisturizer

$27$17 at Amazon$29 at Walmart$27 at Ulta

Tower 28 SunnyDays Tinted Sunscreen$32 at Amazon$32 at SephoraView on Walmart

Tower 28 SunnyDays Tinted Sunscreen

$32 at Amazon$32 at SephoraView on Walmart

Supergoop! CC Screen$44 at Amazon$44 at Dermstore$44 at Bluemercury.com

Supergoop! CC Screen

$44 at Amazon$44 at Dermstore$44 at Bluemercury.com

source: people.com