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YSL Touche Eclat Vs W7 Concealer

I’ve seen this comparison being made a few times online, so I had to investigate it myself! Today I am comparing (and contrasting) the cult beauty product that is the YSL Touche Eclat to the purse friendly W7 Light Diffusing Concealer.

I will say, when it comes to the word ‘dupe’, I am very reluctant to ever use it, and in this comparison it will not be muttered again, because in my humble opinion, these products are not the same!

Just in case, you haven’t encountered either of these products throughout your makeup journey yet, I’ll give you a quick synopsis of both.

We’ll start by talking about the YSL Touche Eclat. It comes in encased it the well known sleek metal plated gold packaging.

Mine says ‘no need to sleep’ on it. They brought out some slogan collectors edition ones not too long ago. They’ve also since released colour correction variations of the YSL Touche Eclat. What I have here is just the original highlighter in number 1.

You click the top to release the product into the brush.

The YSL Touche Eclat is a skin highlighter. It’s not a concealer, although I know alot of people use it for this purpose, as it does have some coverage to it. It does have a salmon hue to it aswell so can work to help brighten under the eyes. It has a creamy really blend-able texture. For me and my skin tone, it doesn’t do much highlighting unfortunately, I can get away with it a little under my eyes. Overall, it’s a really unnecessary purchase (that I’ve made about 5 times in my lifetime) because everyone loves it so much, I want to aswell 🙂

On to the W7 Light Diffusing Concealer.

This product does claim to be a concealer.It comes is a similar looking to the YSL Touche Eclat (from afar) plastic pen.

You twist the top of the pen to get the product out onto the brush, again similar to the YSL.

For me, this is where the comparison ends. The product itself,to me, is just crap. It doesn’t have any major coverage, doesn’t really conceal and can come out of the pen in little hardened balls which makes it hard to blend into the skin.

Here’s both pens swatched side by side. The YSL Touche Eclat is on the left and the W7 Light Diffusing Concealer is on the right. The YSL is more peachy toned and the W7 pen is definitely a more suited colour for highlighting for lighter skinned people like myself.

Here’s both products in action.

My eyes with nothing underneath

I buffed both of them in with the same Real Techniques Brush

The W7 concealer is here on my right eye

Close up, I can’t seen any major difference between either eye, except there is a build up of product on the side of nose where I applied the concealer.

Onto the YSL Touche Eclat.

I applied it in the same way

The W7 Concealer is on my right and the YSL Touche Eclat on my left.

I personally think the YSL Touche Eclat does a better job at concealing even though it’s not actually formulated as a concealer. The W7 Light Diffusing Concealer just doesn’t nothing really.

There is a pretty huge price difference between both of these products. The YSL Touche Eclat will set you back €35, you can get it from Debenhams online here And the the W7 Light Diffusing Concealer will set you back around 5/6 euro depending on where you pick it up. I can’t find a direct Irish stockist link to it, but here it is on the W7 website.

What do you think, would you pick up either? Are you a YSL Touche Eclat advocate?

xxx

July 6, 2016/1 Comment/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup, Product Comparison

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette V Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette

Makeup Revolution is pretty new to Irish shores. We could buy it online but never in store. Now we have a couple of stands, just in the Superdrug’s we have here in Dublin. So still not the easiest to get if you don’t live in the county 🙁

I picked up a few bits which I documented here in a blogpost a while ago.

One of them was their Radiance Palette.

This is a trio of their highlighters. If you are a makeup fiend you may be thinking these look familiar? Well you would be right there.

This palette has a remarkable resemblance to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette which I also have in my possession.

These are being compared alot online. The Makeup Revolution Palette is being deemed a dupe for the Hourglass. They look really similar in the pan but of course the Makeup Revolution one is a hell of alot cheaper than the Hourglass palette. So do they compare?

Close up shots of both palettes

Here is the Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette swatched on my arm from left to right.

Then, here is the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette swatched in the same way. Radiance Light first, Incandescent Light in the middle and then Dim Light.

I think the Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette fares ok. The palette itself is grand. It had a good sized mirror within a plastic casing and the powders are housed pretty firmly inside. The product is a little powdery and takes alot of building up in my humble opinion. It disappears as you blend it into the skin, but you can eventually get there and build up a glow with them. They have quite a sparkly finish.

As I reiterate in most of my posts I have oily skin, and I find the Radiance Palette doesn’t last very long on me. After a couple of hours of applying any of them, I can’t really see the product anymore, it’s like it just sinks in, not great 🙁 It may work better on drier skin? I don’t know.

So what about the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette?

I have this palette a long time now and really love it. I love the sleek packaging (even though it’s plastic) and then the powders inside are just so soft and buttery to the touch. They blend into the skin without much effort at all. They glide onto the skin much easier and they last much longer on me personally then the Makeup Revolution ones. They look more soft focus than the Radiance Palette, which I prefer too.

There is a pretty substantial price difference between these two. The Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette will set you back €10.35 and the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette is a whopping €68!

On comparing the palettes, it really comes down to brass tax, you get what you pay for. There is often amazing similar products (I find the word ‘dupe’ hard so I’ll go with similar ha) to be found in the ‘drugstore’, of course, and I love to hunt them out and shout them from the rooftop, but I personally don’t think I have found one this time. They definitely look similar, but they do not perform the same at all.

In conclusion, I think the Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette is OK as a shimmery highlighter palette, I don’t think I would repurchase it, whereas I think the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette is a gorgeous face powder/ soft focus highlighting palette and I would splurge on it all over again. That is my over analytic summation anyways 🙂

Do you have either? Or both? Let me know what you think.

xxx

July 6, 2015/by Gem

Makeup, Product Comparison

Bourjois Bronzing Primer V Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel

The bit of sunshine in Ireland is making me slightly obsessed with bronzer and bronzing at the minute, I haven’t really shut up about them in the last while so apologies if you’re not a fan 🙂

I’ve owned both the Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel and the Bourjois Bronzing Primer for a long time now and they always tend to get pulled out more around this time of year. What are they you might ask? They are bronzing bases, that you can use to warm up your face under foundation, or just on their own if you are lucky and have lovely skin.

I personally use them as you would a cream bronzer. I to use them after I have applied my foundation and hit the parts of my face I would normally contour. I use them on their own if I am just going for a more subtle look or I apply powder on top for more definition, really depends on the day or the situation.

They are both two very different price points. Do they do the same thing?

The Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel.

The Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel is a cream product with a dense formula, that in my opinion is best applied with a dense synthetic brush.

As you would expect from Chanel, it is really pigmented and easy to blend into the skin.You can build it up quite quickly. It does have a slightly orange undertone so a light hand and alot of buffing is needed if you are lighter skinned like myself. It has a lovely light florally scent that is familiar to Chanel.

Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel Swatched

The Bourjois Bronzing Primer.

The Bourjois Bronzing Primer has a whipped, creamy formula. It is mousse like to the touch.

It applies much more liberally that the Soleil Tan De Chanel as it is more of a wet consistency. I prefer to apply this with a small synthetic duo fibre brush as you can control your application that way. This is a pigmented product, so apply a little at a time, but it does blend out quite sheer. You need to build it up if you want a more intense bronzing effect. It smells like coconut and chocolate, nice if you like a sweet holiday scent.

Bourjois Bronzing Primer Swatched

These products compare pretty closely. In the pan they look different, obviously the packaging is a bit more swish and fancy on the Chanel offering. They both have the same amount of product in the tub. They both bronze your face and do it nicely. They are both a matte finish. The Soleil Tan De Chanel does pack more of a punch in the pigment stakes and you don’t need as much of it as you do the Bourjois one, and it sets quicker on the skin, it’s also €38.50 though! The bronzing primer from Bourjois is not as elegant but it is a hell of alot cheaper at €12.99!!

I love having the Chanel one, it was a treat from the bf and owning anything Chanel makes me feel ladylike. I think when I run out of both and decide I still want a cream bronzer I would be more inclined to pick up the Bourjois Bronzing Primer, it just makes better mathematical sense (you won’t hear me say that very often).

Do you have either of them? What’s you take on it? I would love to know?

xxx

May 1, 2015/by Gem

Makeup

Hourglass Mood Exposure ‘V’ Max Factor Nude Mauve

The blogsphere has been alight ever since Max Factor brought out their Creme Puff Blushes. Instantly they were being compared to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes…they look really really similar in the pan so there is no surprise there! As the proud owner of 4 Hourglass blushes I thought it was my duty as a blogger and makeup obsessed person to buy a couple of the Max Factor Creme Puff Blushes and compare. All in the name of research I swear 🙂

So today I am comparing Hourglass’s ‘Mood Exposure’ (which I have in palette form)

to Max Factor’s ’10 Nude Mauve’.

They look pretty similar in the pan don’t they? The marbling effect in ‘Mood Exposure’ is more prominent than in Nude Mauve, and ‘Nude Mauve’ looks a tad more shimmery when you look at them both up close.

When they are swatched on the skin, they look like this.

Mood Exposure Nude Mauve

Hourglass’s ‘Mood Exposure’ is a slightly more muted peach shade when swatched whereas Max Factor’s ‘Nude Mauve’ is true to it’s name and a little darker and more nude in colour.

Both blushes blend really well on the skin and can be worn as a light flush of colour or can be built up for a more noticeable application. They both have a very subtle sheen to them, with just a smattering of shimmer nothing too drastic or over powering at all. They both also have a light fragrance to them, different but it really won’t affect you when you are wearing either of them.

Rather than talking about them separately it just felt natural for me to talk about them together because they really are such similar products. Except of course when it comes to the price tag. The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes will set you back close to 40 quid where as the Max Factor Creme Puff Blushes are a much more budget friendly 11.50, there’s a big difference there.

Both of these blushes are the perfect neutral blush colour, for less makeup days or when you are having a day of focus on your eyes or your lips, both of them would tie your look together without trying to steal the show. It’s just down to which one you want to buy. As a makeup ‘collector’ yep that’s what I’m calling myself! I like having both of them at my disposal but in reality the Max Factor offering is cheaper, more readily available and does the exact same thing!

The decision is yours 🙂

xxx

March 20, 2015/2 Comments/by Gem

Posts

I’ve seen this comparison being made a few times online, so I had to investigate it myself! Today I am comparing (and contrasting) the cult beauty product that is the YSL Touche Eclat to the purse friendly W7 Light Diffusing Concealer.

I will say, when it comes to the word ‘dupe’, I am very reluctant to ever use it, and in this comparison it will not be muttered again, because in my humble opinion, these products are not the same!

Makeup Revolution is pretty new to Irish shores. We could buy it online but never in store. Now we have a couple of stands, just in the Superdrug’s we have here in Dublin. So still not the easiest to get if you don’t live in the county 🙁

I picked up a few bits which I documented here in a blogpost a while ago.

The bit of sunshine in Ireland is making me slightly obsessed with bronzer and bronzing at the minute, I haven’t really shut up about them in the last while so apologies if you’re not a fan 🙂