Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat (Radiant Touch) > Reviews (148)

Before I get down to reviewing this product I have to state from the off that I don't wear make up every single day. In fact I can go weeks without wearing a scrap, even though I am fully aware of the fact that I certainly could make better use of it as I advance in years.

However I do love to buy make up and over the years have remained cheerfully disloyal to most brands - usually because if I find a product I really like they have a habit of discontinuing it - with one notable exception. Similarly, I tend to buy cheap or mid range cosmetics - with one notable exception.

The notable exception, which has been a constant in my make up bag since I first encountered it in the mid 1990s is the most definitely not cheap Touche Eclat by Yves St Laurent. Some people in the English speaking world call it "Radiant Touch" but for me it will always go by its French name and it's the only make up item I am pretty sure I will still have in my make up bag on the day I die. Yes - it's that good.

A Little Illumination

Touche Eclat was originally released in the early 1990s. I first recall hearing about it in, of all places, Take a Break magazine in the mid 1990s. Their beauty editor raved about it but the price, which was about £19 at the time, put me right off. What the beauty editor had to say stuck with me - so much so over 15 years later I can still recall her raving about its "light reflecting particles". Around that time I was starting to notice my under eye shadows and this sounded like a perfect antidote.

Sadly the economics were too tight, so I made do with a cheap Avon alternative the Take a Break beauty editor recommended, but ended up wondering what the fuss was about.

That all changed on a trip I made to Belgium with my husband in 1996. We took the jetfoil over and the Duty Free shop onboard sold Touche Eclat. It still wasn't dirt cheap, but my husband could see my interest so he bought it for me. And so began my love affair with Touche Eclat which shows no sign of abating all these years later.

The Product & What it Promises

Touche Eclat has an RRP of around £24 these days, but you can usually pick it up for a few pounds less online or take advantage of 10% off at Debenhams if possible. I tend to buy it when I travel in the Duty Free shop - if I am on a flight and they stock Touche Eclat onboard nine times out of ten I will buy it. The savings aren't huge but every little helps as they say.

Touche Eclat is packaged in shiny gold box and nowadays comes in several shades. When I first bought it there was only one shade however - and I still use that shade, which is shade number 1.

When you open the box you are met with a pen which is also bright gold. You can tell this is expensive because the pen is made of a gold coloured metal as opposed to plastic painted gold. When you remove the lid you are met with a white brush and I well recall opening up my very first Touche Eclat pen and wondering how on earth the product reached the brush. After a little investigation I found out.

At the bottom of the pen is a black button. You need to press this repeatedly on first use for the product to reach the brush - but you will clearly see a pinky coloured liquid between the bristles on the brush when it's ready for use.

Touche Eclat isn't a particularly thick product either - in fact I would say in terms of consistency it's similar to some foundations I have used over the years. This really surprised me when I first used it because I was used to thick, almost powdery concealers which were heavy to apply and could look heavy on the face too.

Application is easy - just use the brush to dot product on to the area you wish to cover and then blend in with your finger. You can apply it over or under foundation or just apply it on its own. It is best to be sparing with it however - a little goes a long way.

Touche Eclat contains tiny light particles and mineral extracts and these reflect the light. As a result the light is reflected away from your weak spot - which in my case is under my eyes - although it also works fairly well as a general concealer, especially when I have blemishes around my nose.

My Thoughts

I have already waxed lyrical about how much I love this product but haven't explained why.

Quite apart from it hiding minor blemishes, what Touche Eclat excels at for me is taking years off me by reflecting the light away from under my eyes and the dark circles that lurk there. I remember when I first used it I was a bit unconvinced but when I moved my head towards the light it was like a minor miracle - the dark circles under my eyes quite simply vanished from view.

I wear it around my nose too as I am prone to blemishes there and introduced it to my mother a few years ago when she had some blemishes around her nose and was complaining to me about her own dark circles. She too couldn't believe the difference Touche Eclat made to her appearance- and that's saying something as she was nearly 70 at the time!

Touche Eclat is designed for all skin types. My own skin type is dry and I have had no problems with application or staying power.

Some people claim that Touche Eclat can make your whole face look radiant by using it at different points on your face - indeed Yves St Laurent claim it can make you look as if you've had 8 hours sleep even when you haven't - but I have only used it to brighten up my under eye area - I haven't felt the need to use it around my lips but it supposedly can make your lips look fuller if it is strategically placed.

It's easy to over apply Touche Eclat because of its relatively thin consistency when you first use it but you really don't need a lot to get the desired results. I wouldn't recommend applying it over heavy spots either - it's not that kind of concealer and really is better at taking the red out of your skin and highlighting parts of your face. For that reason it's perhaps not the best product for young skin - certainly I was just over 30 when I first started to use this and I suspect that's probably the best age to start as you will definitely notice signs of ageing then and therefore be able to spot the difference Touche Eclat makes.

Touche Eclat is undoubtedly expensive but it's effective and long lasting. I tend to only need to buy one or two pens a year and haven't had any problems with the product turning bad. Occasionally you might notice a bit of a bad scent around the brush but if you do, just wash the brush and the odour will vanish.

It's not often I would advocate spending a lot of money on cosmetics - I tend to find decent mascaras cost no more than £10 or so, excellent lipsticks can be had for the same price and Aldi do a really good foundation for £3. What none of the other brands have been able to do however is perfect a product which does the job Touche Eclat does for less money. Even if they do, I don't know if I could be parted from this very expensive, but very effective product. For me, Touche Eclat is quite simply the best cosmetic ever invented.