A ray of light is shining down on the face, naturally dissimulating the remnants of a night spent far from one’s bed in one bright burst. Close to twenty years after its launch, Touche Éclat remains the icon of Yves Saint Laurent’s cosmetics.
A color enthusiast, Terry de Gunzburg, then creative makeup director at Yves Saint Laurent, made an out-of-the-ordinary concealer in 1992. Where others sought merely to mask imperfections, this one opted to capture light to reveal the face’s true shine. Touche Éclat was born. With a light-as-silk texture, made of water, silicon, and a moisturizing component, it would soon enjoy an undeniably resounding success. They say that one is sold in the world every ten seconds. With its brush and its fluid feel, easily shapeable on the fingers, even the most ingenuous of elegant women could add a few touches of light here and there on their faces. Numerous are those to have succumbed to it, and numerous are the brands that have attempted to copy it without ever truly equalling this icon…
Because, far from being a simple concealer, Touche Éclat distinguishes itself from its competitors with the small nacres integrated into its composition. While a classic anti-wrinkle cream only masks, Touche Éclat captures the light and sends it back through iridescent reflections. It’s not a question of hiding but rather delicately blurring, highlighting rather than loading up, all without drying out the skin. Just as light as a day cream, it holds up all day long without ever waning. And Touche Éclat goes on and on. With 200 clicks, it has enough to last for close to a year. It only takes two dabs to light up a gaze, cover wrinkles, or highlight the mouth.
Twenty years old: the prime of life. In 2012, to celebrate two decades of success, Touche Éclat got decked out with hammered gold in a collector’s box. Yves Saint Laurent also decided to expand the universe of its shades in order to better espouse any skin tone, from the lightest to the darkest. From pink to sand to mocha, a total of twelve colors were conceived by Lloyd Simmons, creative makeup director for the brand. Since last summer, the portable pencil has also been released as a foundation who’s unique formula, enriched with golden pigments, pursues the same delicate task as Touche Éclat: bring the face’s traits out from the shadows and into the light.
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