Background: I bought a Touche Éclat radiance pen by YSL about 4 years ago. It was around the time I noticed how bad my dark circles were (shout out to all my fellow night owls) and started hunting for the perfect under eye concealer. I had at least 4 beauty sales associates tell me that I had to try the famed Touche Éclat, that it was amazing and the best product of its kind. And yes, it’s an awesome (albeit expensive) highlighter.
But as a concealer? It sort of sucks, at least if you have circles that need some serious coverage.
My Touche Éclat sat untouched in my makeup bag for a long time – I found more appropriate concealers and learned for myself that this product is not a concealer, but a highlighter. I even played around with it as an highlighter a few times before deciding it was just a bit too subtle and that if I was going to go through all the trouble of adding a highlight to my face, I wanted a bit more. I know it seems like a huge waste to buy a $41 product only to hoard it at the bottom of your makeup kit, but I never had the heart to return this because I always knew I would someday reach for it and find a way to make it work.
Well, ladies, that day has come. I’ve found a Touche Éclat hack that’s so simple, so foolproof and so obvious that I can’t believe I didn’t think of it earlier. Granted, it’s a completely unorthodox method and it probably breaks about a million beauty rules – but I say, if you like the way it looks, who cares?
I basically just apply a tiny dot of product to the palm of my hand, then add a bit of moisturizer. I mix them together really well and apply it all to my face, just as I’d usually apply moisturizer. The effect is lovely – it just brightens my face up a bit and provides that nice glow but it’s still subtle enough that I don’t look super shiny or like I’m wearing tons of product. I’m willing to bet you could do the exact same thing with your foundation as well.
Again, this is so not the intended way to use this product….but I’m sort of obsessed. The reason Touche Éclat gets so much love from critics and users alike is because the formula is so fine and the effect it delivers looks so natural – that’s why it works so well all over the face. With that being said, you could use pretty much any illuminating pen or liquid highlighter in the same way. Something without glitter or really heavy sparkle will look much more natural, of course.
The wonderful thing about using this product in this way is that it’s foolproof. You don’t have to worry about proper placement or blending it out, you just smooth it over your face and go. This would work especially well for ladies with dry skin who want that dewy look. I really love this simple trick and wanted to share it with all of you – I hope you’ll give it a try!
