It's Not Easy Being Green: Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Neutralizer

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I'm going to be bringing you a few of these green-themed posts today. First up, the most expensive per swipe green color corrector that I tried during my crazy testing: the Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Neutralizer ($38, 0.08oz).

Price Index: $475/oz

First, it's not fair to compare this to most of the other items. Anyone familiar with YSL's famous Touche Eclat will understand what I'm saying. This has the same type of brush applicator as the non-color correcting items. With that comes a very thin formula.

Color-wise, this is a light mint with a distinct white base. It swatches more opaque than it wears:

It's one of the lightest in tone, which makes it perfect for my NW15 skin. However, it's a very light, emolient formula- like most products dispensed in a click pen.

The Wear Test: I knew as soon as I started playing with it that I wouldn't be maximizing this product's potential because of my needs for a heavy-duty redness reducer. I felt incredibly wasteful trying to cover as much of my skin as I needed to with such an expensive item. I was also indecisive- does one brush and blend with the applicator? Or brush, then blend with fingers? Or another brush?  I tried different techniques without a lot of great success.

I couldn't photograph it well because it was THAT thin.

One of the best parts of this one is that it didn't give my skin an overall green tint when blended, but I also questioned if I was blending it away. I was really disappointed with it for my purposes- it was way too sheer. However, I knew this going in with my Touche Eclat experiences in the past. Because I felt like it blended out so much to be effective for my needs, I hesitate to be too critical.

Bottom Line: This is by far and away the most expensive product per ounce. It's no wonder that it's meant for spot correcting rather than heavy-duty or large-area correction (my needs). I'll be looking at the other Neutralizers for spot correcting since the formula feels awesome- but I won't be repurchasing this one.

YSL Spring 2016: Boho Stone Collection

I know that this collection has already been covered by many others, but I wanted to share my thoughts nonetheless. I've had it since Boxing Day, so I'm a bit late. I've only recently gotten around to testing it though. Consider this day 1 of several posts that you've seen other places first but I'd love to give my spin on.

I purchased 4 items from the Spring 2016 Boho Stone Collection: the Couture Palette Collector Indie Jaspe, the Face Palette Collector Gypsy Opale, and the two polishes- Love Pink and Peace Green.

Various pieces of this collection have been going in and out of stock at the usual haunts since their release. I hate showing items that may or may not be available but I'm making an exception here.


After seeing initial swatches of the Couture Palette Collector Indie Jaspe ($60), I was sure that this was the palette of the season for me. After playing with it, I'm not so sure.

First, let's look at how stunning the packaging is. It's truly a collector's item.

This eyeshadow quint contains a pink, a peach, a light green, a dark green, and a silver.

They swatch like a dream on my hand. Although I have no idea why silver is showing purple in my swatches. Hmmm...

Those are the colors that drew me in. I can't replicate that performance on my eyes though. The lighter shades start running together and fade quickly, even with primer. If anyone has any primer suggestions please let me know because I want to love this. I've tried NARS Pro Prime, Smashbox Eyeshadow Primer, and using MAC Painterly to anchor it. Same results across the board, which makes me sad. I have faith that I can find the right combination though!

Overall, this is worth checking out. It's beautiful, and would be tops on my list if I could get the pigmentation to translate to my eyes.

I'll admit it- I bought the Face Palette Collector Gypsy Opale ($48) because I got sucked in by the
compact.

This is a lovely face powder (I use it as a final powder). The individual stripes are large enough to be picked up by a very, very small brush- but why bother? I simply swirl a brush around. I'm so glad that I nabbed the above photo before I started testing because the YSL embossing was gone by the third or fourth usage. The above photo reflects a totally virgin pan of powder in the sun.

I've been testing this as a finishing powder for about a week. It's pretty, but it's not a must-have. If you don't have lots of other powders, this one is fairly reasonably priced and comes in a stunning compact. I didn't bother taking any swatches since it produces a translucent powder. Even though there's a lot of pink in it, it doesn't make my face any pinker. I'll probably keep this around and in frequent usage for when I'm playing with pinks. The compact's that cute to look at.

I wish I'd had more glowing reviews for you than I had. I do like the products and find them to be a reasonable price. They're nice, but they didn't wow me (the packaging, on the other hand....).

However.

There are also two nail polishes with this collection ($27 each) - one of which caused quite the buzz. Love Pink and Peace Green are stunning polishes with a hint of duochrome. While the compacts got the incredible packaging, these are showstoppers.

Let's start with Peace Green.

Peace Green is a gorgeous mint with pink shimmer. A shimmer which shows up in the bottle, only slightly on the nail, and darned near impossible to photograph. However, I GOT IT!!! in this somewhat blurry shot:

Isn't that amazing? Now you understand why people have gone crazy for this shade.

Here's Peace Green on my nails:

Bottom line, this is a stunning polish. Good luck tracking down a bottle!

Next up, Love Pink. I was ready to pass this but I'm SO glad that I didn't!

This is an amazing pink with flashes of green. It's the opaque, green version of Deborah Lippmann Dream a Little Dream. It's everything I had been looking for in a pink polish. I'm in love.

Here's Love Pink on my nails:

There's a bit of the duochrome flashes peeking through here.

I pulled some comparisons in my stash for both of these- take a look. I find them both totally unique.

That's it for my selections from YSL Spring 2016. I've seen these items go in and out of stock at Nordstrom and on YSL's site. Don't forget to call your local Bloomingdales either! Stay tuned tomorrow for my purchases from Chanel's LA Sunrise Collection.

Yves Saint Laurent Palette Fetiche

My mama should've warned me: there's just something about leather.

I wasn't going to do a long review on this palette since it appeared to have long-since sold out, but I just noticed that YSL's US site seems to indicate that another round of palettes is coming soon. As a good blogger, I should've featured it on this site long before now, but I wanted to actually try this out for more than just a few swatches before reviewing it. At this price point, it demands some careful consideration.

The Palette Fetiche ($60) is the star of the Fall 2014 Leather Fetiche collection. It's also my first purchase from the reformulated YSL palettes. I'm a huge fan. These weigh in at a total 0.18oz for the 5 shadows.

This palette is different than the other YSL palettes with its cover. The lovely leather cover sets the tone for this perfectly fall palette.

The 5 shades in this palette are perfect for fall. I've been sitting on it until recently. These palettes are a complete look in one lovely package:

There are 5 incredible shades:

#1 is a shimmering camel meant to be used as a base shade. I love it all over the lid.
#2 is a breathtaking champagne meant to be used as a highlighter. I love it in that role, or as an all-over shade when I want an angelic eye
#3 is the center glittering dark brown with copper sparkle shade. It's perfect in the crease, or blended on the lid as part of a smoky eye
#4 is a denim blue with underlying sparkle.
#5 is a dark brown that makes a perfect liner.

I find these to be lovely, and quite blendable. There is little fallout, and the shades last all day with primer. They're pigmented, but are appropriate for many occasions.

To truly appreciate these shades, you have to see them swatched.

Swatched, in the direct sun:

Swatched, on a sunny day, without the direct sun:

Swatched, outside (no direct light- cooler light):

Swatched, with flash:

Overall, I find this to be a perfect palette for fall. It may appear to be yet another neutral palette at first glance, but it's special. I highly recommend it if you can find it. I've made so many varying looks, from light-handed to work-appropriate to smoky. It's rare to find one palette that can do it all- but this one can.

Yves Saint Laurent La Laque Couture Jade Imperial

Today I'm sharing an older polish with you that seems more appropriate for fall than the spring release. Yves Saint Laurent Jade Imperial was my first purchase from the brand, and one that I revisit often.

It was introduced in Spring 2013 (although it seems like longer than that). It was intended to be a spring-friendly version of the Pantone Color of the Year. I call it a milky, dirty jade creme with a flawless formula that looks just like that with two coats plus a topcoat.

It never seemed to be the typical spring color, so it's just right this time of year- when it's still warm but fall is just around the corner.

NOTD: Yves Saint Laurent Corail Divin

Today's NOTD is one of my awesome outlet scores: Yves Saint Laurent Corail Divin.

For those that don't know, there are two major cosmetics outlets that you'll find at the local outlet mall: CCO (Cosmetics Company Outlet- Estee Lauder and brands) and Lancome. If you look carefully, you can often find a major bargain on YSL products at the Lancome outlet, including current ones. Enter Corail Divin.

In person, it's a lot lighter than it photographed, but I didn't want to mess with the photo too much. Corail Divin is a saturated light hot coral with a distinctive neon orange undertone. I have three coats plus topcoat on my nails here.

I wish I could rave about the formula, but I can't. With so many other easy formulas with similar hues, I can't seriously recommend the polish. However, it's always worth a good trip to the outlets!

NOTD: Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Expresionniste

First, I'd like to wish a happy Memorial Day to all of my US readers and say thank you to all that have served our country, are serving our country, and their families.

Today's NOTD is by far what I consider to be the best of the birthday freebies offered by beauty companies.  Yves Saint Laurent sent me a promo code for a free bottle of La Laque Couture #32, Rouge Expressionniste during my birthday month with $75 purchase.  Yes, it's full-sized.  Now that is a birthday gift!

I've got two coats plus Butter London Hardware on my nails here.

NOTD: Yves Saint Laurent Bleu Celadon (Summer 2014)

Today's NOTD is my only selection from YSL's Summer 2014 Collection.  Bleu Celadon is a light blue creme that leans slightly teal. It has decent coverage for a light shade.  I went with my default of three thin coats, with Butter London Hardware.

I pulled a few shades from my collection to swatch, but I honestly don't have anything even remotely close to this. It's greener than Dior Saint Tropez (2012).

I've actually worn this several times- it's a bright for summer but totally doable.

NOTD: Yves Saint Laurent Beige Leger

Today's NOTD is Yves Saint Laurent Beige Leger.  This is one of those universally-loved nude shades that it's hard to understand why from photographs. Beige Leger is hiding its lovely sophistication.  There's far more that meets the eye with this beauty.

There are three thin coats plus Butter London Hardware on my nails here.

For those who were wondering, it's quite similar to Chanel Rose Cache. They both have that lovely pink shimmer hidden in the polish.

NOTD: Yves Saint Laurent Rose Baby Doll

Today's NOTD is another recent YSL purchase.  I actually had been looking for this shade for awhile because let's face it- you can never have too many dark hot pink cremes!

I've got 2 coats plus Formula X topcoat on my hands.

Yves Saint Laurent Spring 2014 Flower Crush Palette Rosy Blush

I have the ultra-rare double post for you today.  This is the last of the Spring 2014 collections, and since I'm already testing and posting about summer, I didn't want to delay for another day!

I know I'm a bit late with this Spring 2014 collection, but this particular item had been haunting me for months.  I first saw promotional photos of the Flower Crush Palette Rosy Blush Duo on a number of European beauty blogs, but it was never available at any US-based YSL counter or store website. Consider my shock when I spotted it on the US YSL Beauty site.

The Rosy Blush Duo contains 0.15oz/4.5g of product and retails for $46. As far as I can tell, it's a YSL online exclusive here in the US.

This is such a beautiful and glorious piece. It will be a shame to mess it up.  I have a silly number of photos for you to admire it.

The compact itself has a lovely "cracked" pattern:

And here's a look at the bottom:

Some more photos of this stunning blush:

Except... this product is mis-named.

You're going to have a very difficult time identifying the blush on my hand.  Remember, I'm a Bobbi Brown Alabaster/Marc Jacobs Ivory Light/NARS Mont Blanc/MAC NC10/NW15.  Blushes usually jump off my skin!

In direct sun:

Do you see it? I promise there's a strip there.

Let me annotate some other photos for you.

Outside, no flash (not in sunlight):

Inside, with flash:

Let's be honest with each other and really talk about this stunning product.  It's not a blush.  YSL did themselves a huge disservice by naming it a blush duo.  The pink and peach mixed together (or used apart) are simply a lovely highlighter duo.  There are some obvious flecks of glitter, but they appear to be surface spray.  This makes a beautiful highlighter for me- and I'll be using it as such.  Applied as a highlighter, I get a luminous effect which is very flattering on my light skintone. It's like Dior Shimmer Block Rose Diamond went to the beach and came back with a peachy tan.  I'll use this to its last bits- but had to adjust accordingly.

This prouct is lovely to stare at, but do not expect to get a blush duo. It's a lovely highlighter duo.

Yves Saint Laurent Spring 2014: La Laque Couture Rouge Pablo

I have one remaining Spring 2014 collection to share with you: my selections from the Flower Crush Collection.

Confession time: I'd decided to pass on the two nail colors until I needed an additional item for a YSL online order to boost me into the free shipping category.  So, I picked up La Laque Couture #49 Rouge Pablo.

Rouge Pablo is a bold red creme that you probably have multiple dupes of in your collection. This shade will be great year-round, and is a nice alternative to Rouge Pop Art. I don't own many YSL polishes, but this is a brand that I'm exploring as of late.  I like the wide brush and the creme formula.  These polishes are naturally glossy, but a topcoat gives them a gel-like finish. I've got two coats plus Formula X on my hand here.

I don't have any comparisons swatched on a nail wheel, but I suggest that you visit The Beauty Look Book, as she's covered these beautifully.

YSL polishes retail for $27 and Rouge Pablo can be found either on YSL's site or your local counter.

And, as an aside, this photo comes with a funny story.  I actually took that before work yesterday.  I was already so late that I thought "what's 30 more seconds for a mani photo?".  The natural light was flooding into my home, and it's lighting my hand from right to left.  I wanted to get this swatched and up ASAP since I already showed you one summer collection item!