Now you see it, now you don't - that's beauty of illusion

The advent of high-definition cameras is changing the face of skincare. So guests at the Indeed Labs product launch were told on Tuesday. And from the way the spokesman, dermatologist Dr Nowell Solish, tells it, one can imagine the collective moan of dismay in Hollywood the day that technology became a reality.

'My high-profile clients ... came to me worried about all the fine lines and discolouration that would now show up on screen,' he said. 'These are the imperfections that Botox and peels can't treat, but used to be easier to cover up.'

Enter Nanoblur, a scentless gel sold at Mannings that promises to take 10 years off your skin in 40 seconds, like an air-brush job you can wear all day. Guests were treated to a live demonstration on models and on their own hands, then asked to assess the effect. 'I can't see the lines I know are usually there,' one local beauty editor said, after applying the gel to the back of her hand. 'It's eerie.'

'It is an optical illusion,' Solish said. 'The secret is how the gel changes the reflection of light on skin; the challenge in developing it was finding the right shape and sized reflective particles - so that it gave the desired 'blurring' effect while not clogging any pores.'

While it does not actually improve skin quality, the gel might just give users, celeb or otherwise, more reason to smile for the camera. Bye-bye Photoshop.