The phrase "a thin facade of" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe something that appears to be one way on the surface but lacks depth or authenticity.
Example: "The company presented a thin facade of transparency, but their practices were anything but open."
Alternatives: "a superficial layer of" or "a flimsy cover of".
Just as the government is using a thin facade of democratisation, with the election of a single police commissioner, to boost rightwing law-and-order politics, so it is using the language of devolution to further neuter local authorities.
Behind the thin facade of a modern state lies a long, seething history of rivalries among 140 tribes and clans, about whom we know little.
It will sit well with The Slap and Christopher Wakling's What I Did (2011) on the shelves of those who enjoy seeing what happens when the cosy certainties of middle-class families are shattered, when the thin facades of decency and manners are wrenched aside, showing the brutal, violent creatures that lurk beneath the surface.
Tell me, mister, please, Saddam gone?" Secrets and Lies A rigorous system for controlling and monitoring Western journalists has been in place in Iraq for decades, based on a wafer-thin facade of civility.
The implementation of this poisonous contract would be the latest blow to the ever-thinner facade of parity between NHS mental and physical health services, with mental healthcare pushed to breaking point by a lack of beds in some areas on some days.
All you see of the main glass facade is a thin sliver of steel running along its front edge.
A thin layer of sod functions as a horizontal facade stretched over the land for the benefit of airplanes or visiting aliens.
One of the systems is installed on an educational building: it consists of a thin film PV facade appropriate for commercial or office suites.
A thin layer of silver comes next.
