Review: Yves Saint Laurent Le Teint Touche Eclat Foundation

I wanted to bring you this review a couple of weeks back, but with various other things going on it was postponed until I could give it the more thorough, in-depth review it deserved.  A few weeks ago you may remember I went along to my local YSL counter to try out the new foundation, Le Teint Touche Eclat and that I came home with an empty bottle! Full post of why here.  So on the 10th of July I popped back to get my sample bottle filled, long story short I did eventually get it, but with a little bit of bother (it was her busiest time, there were two people getting makeovers and another waiting along with me and in the end the manager served me).  There was also some sort of problem with that particular shade that they still didn't have a large tester bottle, so my sample probably didn't contain as much as others, but so long as I got a few days worth I was happy.

As I mentioned in that last post BR10 was just a little too pink for me, when I already feel I have pink undertones, so B10 was a better match.  BD10 is one of the Selfridges only shades, so I can't comment on that one.  

I was surprised to find my swatch looked very yellow, because it wasn't something I'd noted upon my first test or from looking at the bottle. Remember my hand is at least a couple of shades lighter than my face and doesn't have the pinkness beneath that my face does.  After I got home from collecting my sample, I got a phone-call from the YSL assistant to have a chat about the foundation, as she hadn't been able to serve me earlier.  I thought that was so sweet! I love the service I've received-it's really been excellent.  She also told me that she'd sold 2 weeks worth of stock in 1 day (eeek) and that if I enjoyed my sample, I would get priority to purchase, as someone who had tested it out first.  She also told me she could hold the item for 7 days for me until I could pick it up and that she'd call me in a weeks time to see how I got on (which she did).  Again all excellent, although I did start to panic that it would sell-out before I could even try it, it was that sought after!  I couldn't wait to start using it, because the quicker I tried it and decided if I liked it, the quicker I could buy it!  

So how did I get on? Well this is where a more comprehensive review begins.  This foundation is pretty light and runny and with that it feels incredibly weightless on the face.  In comparison to other foundations I use; Lancome Teint Idole feels much thicker and heavier, Estee Lauder Double Wear feels thinner but dries quicker.  It doesn't feel heavy on the skin or make it tight or itchy and I suppose you do feel like you're not wearing makeup.  There's no powders in the YSL, instead they've used a soft-focus, light diffusing gel. It claims to diffuse light without masking the contours of the face and I have to agree that it doesn't look flat or mask-like.  Back to application and I find Teint Idole takes a while to dry after applying, whereas I have to work quickly with Double Wear before it sets.  This one falls somewhere in between.  My method of application usually involves applying a layer all over my face using my fingers (after I've waited for my moisturiser to 'dry'-in these photos I was wearing Soap & Glory Wish Upon A Jar under Clarins Multi-Active Day Cream).  I then start to apply more bit by bit (especially to areas where needed i.e. blemishes) and use my 'skunk' Airbrush by Pout in circular motions to buff and blend.  You can apply this foundation with a more traditional flat-foundation brush, the skunk brush or your fingers, it works with any, so it's whatever is your preference.  It's also extremely buildable, you can layer and layer as much as you like without it looking cakey or patchy.

Now I find the coverage is much more sheer than I'm used to, it's sheer to medium and I usually opt for full coverage.  For some reason though, I really love it.  I kinda like that you can still see my freckles and it's nowhere near as mask-like as usual.  It looks fresh, more natural and I think more youthful on me than normal.  It doesn't completely cover blemishes, but it does tone down the redness somewhat (helped by the yellow tone of this shade).  Now for the part that some people may struggle with, the finish is dewy as you'd expect from a 'Touche Eclat product' which is built on radiance and light.  I'm usually a matte girl, but again I'm rather taken with this.  I'm still using powder on my t-zone which is slightly oily, but leave my cheeks free with this, as they tend to be 'normal' and I don't want to completely 'mattify'.  I think you can see in these images that I do have a little 'glow' that I don't usually have.  The YSL girl told me she had oily skin and also powdered her t-zone when using Le Teint Touche Eclat, but that the luminous particles can still 'shine through' despite being powdered.  Here's 'Day 1' of use and above you can see close-ups with powder and blush on top (although technically my cheeks aren't powdered, so maybe that 2nd image is useless!).

I find after maybe around 4 hours my face is much shinier and I would need to powder or blot.  I would opt for the latter because I don't like my face to become too clogged up with layers of powder and blotting papers take away the shine without depositing powder (fyi I use Paul & Joe).  When I'm sitting around the house with nowhere to go (most days), I haven't bothered touching up later in the day.  Below is an example of later in the evening from day 1, without any blotting and my face is shiny (t-zone and cheeks) and my blush has faded somewhat.  It's not an absolute oil disaster, but I think it was more shiny in the flesh than this picture shows.  So long as you can touch-up every 4-5 hours, I think it would look good all day and night. I didn't find it oxidised, caked or rubbed away throughout the day.  Other than the shine, it looked as fresh as when I first applied it. I've also heard that it's the type of foundation that you could reapply literally, as in layering more on hours later without the need for removing your first application and starting afresh (from my experience with the layering during my regular application, I would agree).

Second day pictures below and I think the first two are perhaps a little deceiving as they look kinda matte, but again it looks fresh and 'young' and I don't look too 'made-up'.

I had a few blemishes on day 3 (not from using this foundation), but even without concealer (which for some freaky reason I've stopped using now-look at me getting less stressy about spots!), they weren't obvious yet my foundation wasn't 3" thick! I also think I could apply this in the dark without a mirror and have no streaks or lines around my jaw. The colour just disappears into the skin (without actually looking like the colour of my skin in the bottle), plus I don't find it looks unnaturally pale or makes me look sickly like other super-pale foundations have (my Illamasqua Rich Foundation for example). With 22 shades split into three colour families, YSL have really tried to cater for everyone light to dark and warm to cool toned and that has to be commended, because getting a good colour match is half the battle with bases.

So obviously after deciding (from day 1 really) that I liked this, I purchased the full-size! I ended up buying it from the Debenhams website because there had been a couple of other things I'd needed and I wasn't sure when I would next get to Dundee to buy it in person. Turns out I spent the entire weekend fighting a losing battle online and on Monday morning eventually managed to purchase it (Debenhams are experiencing 'technical difficulties' with Illamasqua stuff, which is what I was buying this with and in the end I couldn't buy that, but got the YSL). I was also supposed to get a free YSL notebook, but they ran out of stock (!) but I'm hoping I got the 750 bonus points offer they were running-I'd wished I'd just gone to the bother of going through to Dundee, because the girls had been so pleasant there and I'd have rather 'given them the sale'! Anyway I got it and a lipstick (which is for another post). It comes in a really sleek bottle, which reflects the luxury of the brand and has a fuss-free pump dispenser (Estee Lauder DW take note), another good point. For 30ml it's £28 which I don't consider too expensive for the amount of product you get. I've also not mentioned yet that it has an SPF19 in it.

Glamour magazine had said something along the lines of 'believe the hype, this foundation is magical' and I do agree with that statement!  I'm not saying it's the most perfect foundation ever, but it's certainly one of the best I've ever tried (and I've tried almost everything).  The colour match is fantastic and makes the product easy-peasy to apply.  I like the weightless feeling, the fact it doesn't look too heavy and I appreciate getting to choose how much or little I apply.  I love that it doesn't cake and the dewy finish is growing on the usually 'matte-me'.  It's a pleasant change from my usual foundations and one that I could see myself purchasing again, especially given that I've worn it every day since I've started using it!  I can completely understand it causing the hysteria that we first saw when this new 'gold clicky pen thing' arrived on the beauty market (!) and I'm calling it 'awesomeness in a bottle'!  My only gripe would be that it will need retouching after a few hours (which could be off-putting if you were wearing it to an all day/night event), especially on those with normal, oily or combination skin, but it's a small price to pay for awesomeness right?  I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has read my YSL Forever Youth Liberator review which has now had over 10,000 hits, thus making it one of or perhaps the most read post in PHP history, oooo-eeee! If you haven't read it yet, then check it out as it's another great product that I've since repurchased.