You know that perfectly awake and highlighted look our favorite celebs seem to always have on the red carpet? It’s like a creamy glow around the eye area that just looks as if the celeb had a little work done. Most likely the celeb’s makeup artist used Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat. The creamy concealer in a pen can be used to highlight under the eyes, on the brow bone, on the cheekbones, on the bow of the lip–just about anywhere you need a quick pick me up. It’s important to understand it’s a highlighting concealer and not your typical coverage concealer. You still may need your regular concealer for your less than stellar areas, but Touche Eclat will help lift and highlight after your concealer if needed. I’m in love with the stuff and since first trying it about two years ago, I’m on my 5th or 6th pen. They’re $40 a pop (I’ve never been one adverse to paying a premium price for a product I enjoy) and my NW47 skin has used shade #4 Luminous Toffee.

I’ve had scores of readers email me asking how to get the brightened under eye look and my answer has always been Touche Eclat. I knew of nothing else like it and many have written back to say how much they loved it, too. But I wanted to find a product for readers who wanted something similar at a lower price point. I picked up Milani’s version but wasn’t happy with the limited shade range. Then I saw Sleek had a new product called Luminaire Highlighting Concealer with a range of 5 colors. They gave me all five shades for review consideration at the blogger’s dinner I went to a few weeks ago. Each one retails for $10.

Here’s how Sleek describes their product: “A highlighting concealer with moisturising properties, Luminaire brightens dark circles, conceals blemishes, and fades imperfections leaving you instantly glowing and flawless. With five flattering shades to choose from, Luminaire is perfect for all skin tones providing a natural, dewy finish”

Luminaire comes in the same type of pen applicator as Touche Eclat. When you get a brand new one, you’ll have to click like crazy to get the product to dispense. The product itself is creamy, doesn’t feel dry, but doesn’t glide as well on the skin as Touche Eclat. This wasn’t a deal breaker for me though. I like the range of colors it comes in though it could have one more on the darker end as L05 would be a bit light for anyone darker than NW47/48.

L01 is a light pinky salmon color. I’d say this is closest to Touche Eclat in #1.
L02 is a light peachy color. I’d say this is closest to Touche Eclat in #2.
L03 is a light honey color. I’d say this is closest to Touche Eclat in #3.
L04 is a golden honey color. I don’t see there’s a close match in Touche Eclat.
L05 is a dark caramel/toffee color.. I’d say this is closest to Touche Eclat in #4.

(click to enlarge)

My guestimates on the shade ranges are just a quick guide. For reference L05 is the shade I would use. YSL has a good guide on their site to help you figure out your Touche Eclat shade so you can work from there. As always, you can email me with your pics if you’re stuck and I’ll help you figure out which Luminaire shade to go for (when sending pics please send in as natural lighting as possible and try to send a variety of pics with and without makeup).

Overall I would say these are a great value. I loved the way shade L05 brightened up my eye area even a bit more than my usual Touche Eclat #4 but I like that Touche Eclat is creamier. I’m not giving up my Touche Eclat entirely but feel confident that I can recommend Luminaire to anyone looking for a highlighting concealer pen at a lower price point.

Where to buy: Sleek Makeup
How much: $10