Touche Me Once, Touche Me Twice

It’s been 100 years since I wrote anything about actual makeup! Maybe 100 days, but still, it’s been awhile! I guess during summer I wasn’t doing anything all that interesting, except for some lip glosses, or stains, or glossy stains. I was basically all BB Cream, O-Glow, and Buxom mascara all the time, with a little dust of whatever on occasion. The weather was just so sticky! It’s not the heat, you know, it’s the humidity. And also, it’s the heat.

Now that it’s getting cooler (A little. Some days.) I’m starting to think about makeup more. One thing I needed for fall (As opposed what I wanted for fall, which is the Naked2 Palette, by Urban Decay.)was a new foundation. I was kind of holding out until I felt like I could brave Times Square, or until they finally brought the Sephora + Pantone Color IQ System to a slightly less annoying location. But then, I somehow lucked into a great new foundation without even trying. (I know!)

I was in Sephora to exchange a YSL Glossy Stain color that wasn’t working for me, except I couldn’t find the YSL section because they are constantly rearranging and renovating all the Sephoras in Manhattan. So I asked an SA to direct me, and she didn’t know either, but directed me to the YSL associate who happened to be doing a demo in the store that day.

And of course, the YSL associate escorted me right over! She helped me choose a more flattering color Glossy Stain, even though I really wasn’t looking for help finding a color, just finding the section. It was fine, though, the shade we picked is nice. Then she asked if I wanted to try the new YSL Illuminating Foundation. The what?! Yves Saint Laurent went and made freaking Touche Éclat Foundation!

It makes perfect sense, considering how many people are head over heels for the magical golden Touche Éclat wand. What took them so long? Oh, probably they were taking their time making this stuff extremely awesome.

They have a pretty good range of colors, 16 in all, though like many brands, they tend toward the lighter shades. It has SPF 19, which I just found out when I looked it up online. I would have bought it anyway, so that’s a nice bonus! No parabens, sulfates, petrochemicals, pthalates, GMOs, Triclosan. Also nice, but none of those things are why it’s extremely awesome.

The YSL makeup artist chose the right shade for me, then applied a single pump of liquid with a fluffy foundation brush. It felt really light, and looked really fantastic. Leave it to YSL to figure out how to make something truly illuminating without being sparkly or shiny. They don’t use any opaque powders; to quote the box “the complexion is dressed with a natural, unique, luminescence.” It really just looked and felt like a much better version of my skin, or possibly, whole face. When she held up the mirror, I was sold instantly, even though I didn’t know how much it cost.

It turns out, it’s not as expensive as it could be, considering Touche Éclat is $40. The foundation is $55. Not cheap, but not much more expensive than the Makeup Forever HD Foundation I’d been using. (PS. I used to really like the HD Foundation, it’s good, but now I’m spoiled and want everything to feel as light as BB Cream. Plus the new stuff has “the magic light of Touche Éclat infused in a foundation.” Who could resist that?)

After dazzling me with the foundation, the YSL rep touched up my Touche Éclat, then used their concealer on my zit, and finished me off with a tiny bit of bronzer and creamy soufflé blush. The concealer, blush, and bronzer were great too, but I couldn’t drop $200 on makeup that day. (Any day.) Plus, I have decent versions of all those things at home, so I’m not really in the market until they run out or expire. I wrote everything down in my phone though, just in case.

It’s funny, when I look at YSL ads, or especially their packaging, it doesn’t seem like I’m their target audience. It's so fancy! But here I am going ga-ga for their foundation, I’ve been a huge fan of Touché Eclat for years, and you KNOW I love the Glossy Stains. Maybe they're seeping into my pores and making me fancier, over time. More likely, it's that they're all high-quality products that work beautifully. I have no patience for poor performance, no matter what I spend, and I'm not afraid to get fancy if I have to.