Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat Versus Clinique Airbrush Concealer

                

 

Greeting Reader!
Little Background:
I researched these two products for over a year before I actually tried them at Sephora. I didn't know if I really needed a highlighter. I already had plenty of concealers, so the idea of a highlighter was a very foreign concept for me. For those that don't know what a highlighter is used for, it is essentially a product designed to brighten your skin in certain areas. IE. If you have dark circles under your eyes or redness around your nose - you would use this product in lieu of a traditional concealer (this is a type of concealer). Also, if you have acne (scars or active), this is a great product to just brighten your skin and to take the focus away from those blemishes.

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat:
This is the one I ended up buying. Why? It came down to the rosewater that is added to the YSL product that is not in the Clinique product. 

I primarily was interested in brightening the circles under my eyes. I don't have really dark circles (which is why I'm not using a stronger concealer), but I do get moderate circles under my eyes from time-to-time. When I applied this product to my eyes, I didn't notice any creasing from it. Which is a big deal for me. Because while I don't have wrinkles yet, when I applied (and I'll go into greater detail below) the Clinique product I noticed creasing around the upper parts of my eyes which looked like I had wrinkles. I think the difference between the two products and why the YSL product provides a smoother finish is because of the rosewater. If anyone knows if that's the truth, please leave me a comment below. 

Clinique Airbrush Concealer:
This was also a great product, but not for what I needed. I applied this product to my right eye, and the YSL product to my left. I found, while chatting and laughing with the Sephora associate, when I smiled after applying the product, the Clinique bunched into my smile-lines around my eyes leaving the appearance of wrinkles.

At first I thought I had applied too much (and I had used my finger to blot the two products into place), but after removing the Clinique product and reapplying it with the Sephora Collection Pro Flawless Air Brush #56 - I had the same problem. At that point I started looking at the ingredients to figure out why this was happening (because after a year of researching these products, I didn't recall anyone mentioning this) and it seemed that the rosewater was the likely reason for this. 

Again, the rosewater is just a guess. If you know why the YSL Touche Eclat has a better finish than the Clinique Airbrush Concealer - I would love to hear about it!

Bottom Line:
The YSL Touche Eclat is pretty expensive - $40 for one pen. The Clinique Airbrush Concealer is far more affordable at $19.50 for one pen. 

So, my advice to whoever read this is if you are looking for a highlighter for non-creasing type areas (the area around your nose, acne coverage, etc) then the Clinique Airbrush Concealer is a great product. You won't regret buying it. 

But if you are interested (like I was) in primarily highlighting the area under your eyes, then the YSL Touche Eclat is the product you should try. It may be more expensive, but you will look flawless. I purchased this product a shade lighter than I would a traditional concealer. The color's shade is "luminous radiance."

I hope this helps. :)