Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat Awakening Concealer Click Pen Radiant Touch Review

YSL Beauty claims the Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat Awakening Concealer Click Pen to be a cult favorite. Is it true? I am here to keep it real and confirm it is truly a cult favorite product. Not only with people like me that wear it almost everyday as a staple in my beauty bag, but also this is an industry insider must-have for makeup artists who are trusted to paint the faces of celebrity clients to be photo ready for red carpets and magazine photoshoots. I was originally recommended countless years ago to use this highlighter concealer pen by my best friend Erin Parsons, who is a famous makeup artist. I soon after realized while working backstage at the most prestigious fashion shows around the world, that all the makeup artists had this highlighter concealer pen set up on their workstations because it was a go-to product in their kits. But what makes it so special? I love using this highlighter pen because it looks like real healthy natural skin and doesn’t serve up shimmer of any kind. It is the perfect product to help shape the face by placing it in all the areas that can use some lift and natural highlight. It’s wonderful as a brightener and a light coverage dark under eye circles concealer. It certainly is a crowd pleaser that has won me over many moons ago.

Everyday use for all skin types. It is really great for men as well due to its finish looking incredibly natural and undetectable. If you have dry skin, using a more powerful moisturizer that has a makeup primer already formulated inside of it before applying any type of complexion product is crucial for great results. Also, this product is a must-have for photo ready makeup.

Yes! All the celebrities and supermodels trust this highlighter concealer pen to help make them photograph beautifully, and so should you! I remember sitting my Mom down at the YSL makeup counter in SoHo and saying to her, “You need to try this!” And of course, she bought it! It comes in 14 shades, just scroll to the bottom of the review to view the swatch chart to help you decide what shade is right for you.

They got this right! There is no scent nor unwanted chemical fragrance added which is the perfect way to go for a makeup product, especially makeup that is applied around the eyes.

I am giggling as I can almost hear the motto of makeup artist Nam Vo, “This product ain’t cheap and neither are you!” Though this product’s price point is not for the smaller budget, I must say that paying more for a product that delivers beautiful results, lasts long and also has gorgeous luxury YSL branded packaging is totally worth it in my eyes.

This lightweight liquid magic offers a glow that looks like natural healthy skin. A no makeup, makeup look, which happens to be the most desired look for most modern day women. In the words of YSL Beauty, “It is a light coverage concealer and brightener hybrid that awakens under-eyes and complexion for a fresh, illuminated skin.”

Who doesn’t love Yves Saint Laurent branding sprinkled into our lives? The pretty in gold packaging is super lux and chic. It is award winning in my eyes for its functionality and durability. I have been traveling around the world with this product in my personal beauty bag and in my celebrity client’s men’s grooming kit for countless years and it has never broken or caused any problems due to the packaging. Wish I could say the same about the packaging of some of my other product favs.

YSL Beauty’s directions are as follows… Wear alone for an everyday no makeup, makeup look or as a last step to instantly brighten and illuminate the skin. To conceal, apply under-eye and wherever you have redness to lightly conceal the skin. To brighten, apply under-eye and on the high points of your face to instantly illuminate the skin.

Now let’s take the application technique a couple steps further as I share with you useful tips that my famous makeup artist friends have taught me to do when applying Touche Éclat. I have been using this product on myself and on my men’s grooming celebrity clients for years and I find that their advice is very helpful.

Start off by prepping the skin properly, otherwise the product might reveal dry skin patches. It is easy to prevent that by applying the product overtop of a freshly moisturized face. Next, simply just push the pen’s button once for the product to disperse onto its built-in soft bristle brush. Brush on the product with a focus to applying it underneath the eyes to help brighten and conceal dark circles. Next, apply it onto all the classic highlight areas of the face. Paint the high points of the cheekbones, down the bridge of the nose, framing the inner and outer corners of the eyes to uplift, and balance the face off by placing a dot on the center of the forehead, in the crease of the chin, and frame the cupids bow of the lip. Us beauty gurus have found that allowing the application of the product to sit on the skin for about 30 seconds before blending it in, will allow the product to thicken up a bit which helps to provide a little bit more coverage for dark under eye circles. Next, use the warmth of your finger to tap the product and blend into the skin or use a concealer brush to buff. Decide if you want to do more than one layer. If I have a little extra time or if I know that photography will be taking place, I will always repeat the application process 2-3 times to build up more coverage, especially under the eyes or to cover blemishes. When complete, use your fingers to tap and blend in any product that may have settled into the creases and immediately after dust a lightweight setting powder overtop to help the product last longer and prevent creasing.

Usually the finish is undetectable like a second skin if you moisturize first and color match well. I recommend choosing a color slightly lighter than the color of the center of your cheek, or choose a color slightly lighter than your foundation color. See the color swatch at the end of this review to explore the range of shades.

This cosmetic product was never marketed nor considered clean beauty, so it is no shocker that some of its ingredients do not make the clean beauty mark. If clean beauty is your thing, you may want to consider this product’s ingredient list. I put on my detective hat and took the time to search each and every ingredient in EWG’s Skindeep database and here is what I discovered. Their main concerns are that talc, mineral oil, and dimethicone is used, though it is noteworthy that they believe that some of these ingredients are not as big of a concern in the medium of a liquid. That’s good, because this formulation is indeed a liquid. Many of the other ingredients are rated as not having very much published scientific literature data available to be able to rate how safe the ingredient is. I am inspired to explore clean beauty swaps to replace my everyday use of this product, but until I can find something that is up to par, I will stick to my tried and true under eye highlight BFF Yves Saint Laurent highlighter and concealing pen. And even if I find an everyday clean beauty swap, I may very well reserve the use of this product for those important in front of the camera moments.

Vegan

Antioxidant Vitamin E and Ruscus Extract to visibly reduce signs of fatigue. 
Moroccan Calendula Extract to soothe and protect the skin. 

Synthetic Fragrances

AQUA / WATER / EAU, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, TALC, GLYCERIN, PARAFFINUM LIQUIDUM / MINERAL OIL / HUILE MINERALE, DIMETHICONE, PROPANEDIOL, PENTYLENE GLYCOL, LAURYL PEG-9 POLYDIMETHYLSILOXYETHYL DIMETHICONE, SILICA, DIMETHICONE/PEG-10/15 CROSSPOLYMER, SODIUM CHLORIDE, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, LAURYL PEG/PPG-18/18 METHICONE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, TRIETHOXYCAPRYLYLSILANE, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE, TETRASODIUM EDTA, ISOSTEARYL ALCOHOL, ALUMINA, LAUROYL LYSINE, PROPYLENE CARBONATE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE, SILICA SILYLATE, DIPROPYLENE GLYCOL, PHENOXYETHANOL, BIOSACCHARIDE GUM-1, CALENDULA OFFICINALIS FLOWER EXTRACT, RUSCUS ACULEATUS ROOT EXTRACT, SODIUM CITRATE, TOCOPHEROL