REVIEW: YSL Touche Eclat Foundation

Yes, I've kind of been on an Yves Saint Laurent kick lately. I purchased the Touche Eclat foundation a while back, but it took me some weeks to find out exactly how to apply it best and before I was able to test its wear time. 

Here you can see a *beautiful* before and after photo, don't mind bare-faced me. 

The Touche Eclat foundation is an extent of the Touche Eclat pen, which has been one of YSL's bestsellers for years. 'Touche Eclat' literally means 'shining touch' or 'illuminating touch'. YSL claims the foundation should give you a glowing, healthy complexion.

Packaging: no complaints here. The product comes in a beautiful glass bottle with golden details. The pomp works perfectly and the see-through packaging ables you to see how much product is left in the bottle.

Shade range: I was able to choose between a wide range of 16 shades. Unfortunately the sales person first recommended me to pick up shade BR40, which is way too dark for me, even when my skin is tan. Since I couldn't return the bottle, I then had to purchase shade B10 so I could mix the shades. I really wasn't happy about this, since the foundation is already expensive enough without having to buy a second shade to match the color to your skin.

Left: shade B10 

Right: shade BR40

Application: 

1. Here I have no product on my face. Enjoy the nakedness of my skin. Oh, and I have acne-prone, combination skin with an oily T-zone, redness and dark circles. 

2. Here I applied the Touche Eclat foundation with my Real Techniques complexion sponge. The coverage is medium to high coverage, it's quite buildable. The sales assistant at Ici Paris XL told me this product wasn't very glowy or shiny, but I strongly disagree. It leaves a very glowy finish on my skin, so I definitely need to powder after the application of the foundation. It does hold up quite well during the day, which I didn't expect.

Without a primer, but with a light powder, it would probably last me around 8 hours. I'd have to powder the T-zone after about 3 to 4 hours though.

3. Then I applied some concealer.

4. Then I powdered and finished off the look with blush, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara and lipstick.

PRO's

+ Looks quite skinlike but flawless at the same time

+ Sits nicely on the skin

+ Holds up well during the day

+ Many shades in the range

CON's

- Mixing shades: I hate that I had to purchase a second shade to match because the sales assistant didn't pick the right foundation shade. But this of course doesn't affect the quality of the problem.

- Price: it's definitely pricy, you'll pay around the €42 mark at Ici Paris XL

- The finish is a bit too glowy for me

Conclusion: I'll definitely keep wearing this foundation and enjoy it, but probably won't repurchase it. I like my foundations to be a bit more matte, and with a lighter coverage. It's not a bad product at all though!

Have you tried the Touche Eclat foundation? What's your favorite makeup base at the moment?

xX Anine

REVIEW: Konjac face sponge

Am I overreacting when I say this thing might be a Holy Grail skincare product for me? Maybe even better than the Clarisonic? I have your attention now, don't I? Let's get into this review.

I don't actually know if it is better than the Clarisonic or not, but the Konjac face sponge nevertheless works amazingly for me. I ordered it months ago, loved it and then lost it - yes, LOST it - somewhere. Since I reordered it I realized this was the first time I éver had found a product irreplaceable. 

But what is this weird sponge? Konjac skin cleansing sponges are:

- Eco friendly

- Vegan

- Cruelty free

- pH balanced

- 100% biodegradable

- 100% coloring free

- 100% natural 

These wonderful sponges are immensely popular in Korea and Japan, where the Konjac plant grows. This plant is a popular ingredient in health remedies. It is supposed to balance the acidity of your skin's impurities and oils. 

Konjac also produces body sponges and even sponges for babies! For cleansing the face they have different kinds of sponges:

- The original Konjac sponge

- Konjac sponge with Bamboo Charcoal for oily and acne-prone skin

- Konjac sponge with French red clay for dry and sensitive skin

- Konjac sponge with French green clay for normal to oily skin

- Konjac sponge with French pink clay for tired and devitalized skin

As you can tell I own the one with French green clay for normal to oily skin. I might try the Bamboo Charcoal one next time!

Use: The company claims it can perfectly cleanse of your makeup without additional cleansing products, but I still use it twice a day, WITH a cleanser. I run the sponge under lukewarm water, press most of the water out and then apply my cleansing product on the flat side. Then I make circular motions all over my face and neck with it. 

Then I rinse it again and make sure all the soap in the sponge is gone. As Konjac suggests, I then squeeze all the water out and let it dry in another room than the bathroom so it can dry properly. 

Konjac advises to repurchase your sponge after three months. I kept the first sponge for six months and it still looked perfect. After purchasing a new one, I did notice that it was way thicker than my last, apparently worn sponge.

Price: £7.99 on the Konjac webshop + shipping costs, I paid £1.5 to ship it from the UK to Belgium. A steal!

Conclusion: This is really a breakthrough in my skincare routine. I have been noticing clearer skin, smaller pores and less impurities. This sponge is a keeper!


Have you ever tried the Konjac sponges?

Xoxo Anine