Product Review: YSL Touche Eclat Rose Gold

French women are renowned for their taste, their style, and their flawless complexions. And while achieving French chic may be an impossible dream, for the latter there's always YSL Touche Eclat Rose Gold, the new pink-based, gold-flecked twist on YSL's cult fave concealer. It's the same luxe click-dispenser pen, the same brush tip, the same creamy texture—but tinged with pink this time, from the illuminating formula to the rose-gold exterior.

So, why pink? It's a breath of fresh air this time of year when dark, vampy shades usually reign, a frothy foil to all the grey and black. As YSL beauty creative director Lloyd Simmonds puts it, "Pink is the great new trend in beauty. The colour of femininity, the colour of both a shy blush and passionate exuberance—pink is fresh, youthful, and joyous. It brings cheer and radiance to every complexion."

Cheer, radiance, and youth are what YSL Touche Eclat Rose Gold promise and exactly what they deliver. It's been so long since I used up my first and only Touche Eclat that testing this version was like getting reacquainted with an old friend and rediscovering their personality quirks. For example, the click dispensing mechanism can be finicky: Sometimes five or six clicks do nothing and then on the seventh a huge glob of product will ooze out.

As a light concealer, YSL Touche Eclat Rose Gold isn't as effective as its predecessor, which has yellow undertones to counteract purple shadows and darkness. But as a highlighter, it's pretty wonderful. I've been dotting and patting it in wherever I need a hit of radiance and warmth: under my eyes after I've applied BB cream and concealer; around the edges of my nose; right above my cupid's bow. Its warm golden pink is the perfect antidote to overly matte foundations and concealers, which can cast a ghostly pallor during the cold season.

The original Touche Eclat will always hold a special place in my beauty-loving heart, and admittedly there are plenty of comparable pink-based highlighters out there that are more affordable. Nonetheless, that rose-gold pen still gets me every time I see it sitting in my makeup case. What can I say? I'm a sucker for luxurious packaging.