Review Clarins' highlighting pen

Highlighter, a make up item that a lot of newbies tend to skip.

I was never a fan of highlighter. I always thought of it as something that would make me oilier than I already am. No need for more oils.

Until I did some more research on it. See it as a tool that could pop out the features you love as opposed to bronzer to contour which you can use to suck in the features you want to hide.

I don't do a lot of highlighting, but if I do I like to use it on my under eye region.  I like to draw a triangle and that can brighten the face instantly.
Other places you can use the highlighting pen for are:

• center of the forehead (because light naturally hits you there)
• above the eyebrow (gives the illusion of lifting up the eyebrow)
• brow bone (same reason as above)
• inner tear dot (to make you look more awake)
• under eye bags (the highlighting can cover up the darkness under the eye)
• cheekbones (this makes your cheekbones stand out)
• nose bridge (to make your nose bridge stand out higher which gives the effect of having a slimmer nose)
• cupid's bow (especially when you're wearing a bold lip, this can make all eyes go to the lips)

Maybe some of you know by now that I'm a true newbie when it comes to highlighting. I didn't use any of those highlighter for my inner eye corner, my under eye area or and other areas on the face that can use some of that magical light.

When I knew NOTHING about make up I went along with this friend of mine who bought the YSL Touche éclat. Little did I know it was a highlighter. Yes, I was such a woos I bought the things she bought, because I thought 'well, if she likes it, I'm sure I'll like it too!'. And oh, did I mention that I bought her shade instead of a shade that would suit me? Dumb dumb dumb :)

After doing some research on make up and its techniques, I asked the sales woman to find me a shade that would match me. I have to admit, I still didn't use it immediately, I was scared by putting extra product I wouldn't really need.

Basically the touche éclat is a highlighting pen on which there has been a lot of buzz around. When I bought this, I had no idea it was a HG for many beauties out there. But now I'm into beauty stuff, I realize this pen has got a lot of hype around.

I had the YSL touche éclat in shade no 1 and was too pink for my yellow undertone.
Since Belgian shopping policy sucks (you can't return anything which is already opened), I kept it in my beauty collection for years, just because it's pretty to look at :p But just a few months before I started my blog, I threw it away, so unfortunately I can't show you mine. But I'm sure a lot of you know how the YSL Touche éclat looks like. They're known for their sleek gold packaging and their logo in black with a subtle hint of red.

To set another highlighting pen across the famous YSL, I bought one which is less known and has the same purpose. 


Clarins Instant Light Brush On Perfector

This highlighter is also a twist up pen and look gorgeous as well in your beauty collection.
I have this in the shade 02. I'm not sure whether this suits me the best, but 02 works fine for me. 

As the shade from the YSL is too pink for me, I prefer the Clarins one. The formula are both good. In spite of the wrong shade I still prefer Clarins. It's more affordable, it gives the same results and looks just as pretty as the high end one.

A lot of people use this as a concealer, but honestly... this obviously won't work as good as a real concealer. The touche éclat is a highlighting pen, not a concealer, let's just make that clear.



Clarins is a little  bit cheaper than the YSL one, so I'll stick to Clarins should I want to use a highlighting pen in the future. What would you choose?