Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links and the products featured were provided for review.
There's no better way to welcome the month of December than taking a look at the limited edition
Holiday 2018 Gold Attraction Collection from
Yves Saint Laurent. Adorned with sparkly embossings of the iconic "YSL" logo, this collection offers a full range of festive, party-ready products for the eyes, cheeks, and lips. I've got reviews and swatches of a few key pieces to share with you. To read on, click......
Yves Saint Laurent | Holiday 2018 Gold Attraction All-In-One Palette ($100 CAD for 12 g):
Housed in a matte black notebook-shaped palette adorned with a glittery "YSL" embossing on the cover, the Gold Attraction All-In-One Palette comes with products for both the eyes and cheeks, in addition to a trio of mini brush applicators. For the eyes, you have a silvery cream eyeliner and three powder shadows in a sparkly metallic gunmetal, a sheer pink shimmer, and a sheer champagne gold. The eyeliner is generously packed with metallic particles; it applies smoothly and sets to a powder-dry finish. However, the finish isn't smudge-proof so it actually works better when blended out and used as a cream eyeshadow. The powder shadows, on the other hand, vary in formulation. The gunmetal silver is richly pigmented and buttery smooth while the other two are very, very sheer. Both contain lots of sparkles and shimmers so I would only recommend using them for the inner corners or on top of other shadows.
Next up are the three cheek colors. For the two powder blushes, you get a bright pink and a dusty rose, both of which are scattered with some subtle shimmers. The formulation is nice and silky and the blushes are very pigmented so a little goes a long way. Additionally, the pan size is quite small, so unless you apply the blushes with the included mini brush, you are going to have a hard time picking them up without mixing with the other shades in the palette.
Last but not least is the cream highlighter. Packed with pale gold and pearlescent pink shimmers and glitters, the highlighter has a drier cream texture. However, when applied with a flat-top stippling brush, the highlighter actually goes on very evenly (even on top of powder). The highlighter definitely provides more sparkle than sheen, but I think it's appropriate for the holiday time. Overall, this is a nice palette. The formulation is good but the color selection, particularly for the eyes, is a bit limited.
Yves Saint Laurent | Holiday 2018 Touche Eclat Gold Attraction Edition ($51 CAD for 2.5 ml):
YSL often releases limited edition, specially packaged versions of its iconic Touche Eclat and for this collection, we have one that features a matte black pen embossed with the brand logo in gold glitter. Two shades are available: "
01 Luminous Radiance" and "
02 Luminous Ivory". The Touche Eclat is a cream highlighting concealer that's been around for quite some years now and it remains one of my favorites (I've gone through at least three tubes). It's perfect for touching up the undereye and mouth area, lightly highlighting and camouflaging with no shimmers. If you've always wanted to try one, then the limited edition versions are what I would recommend as they cost the same as the original packaging.
Yves Saint Laurent | Holiday 2018 Gold Attraction Face Highlighter Duo Stick in "1 Light Clash" ($40 CAD for 5 g):
Packaged similarly to the
Baby Doll Kiss & Blush Duo Sticks YSL released last year, the Gold Attraction Face Highlighter Duo Stick is a twist-up/retractable cream highlighter that's split into two shades. On one side you have a pale champagne shimmer while on the other, you have a soft bronze shimmer. The two colors are very similar to each other so I think most people will just blend them together instead of using them separately. It's hard to tell from the swatches, but the highlighter is packed with micro gold shimmers. The formulation is slightly creamier as compared to the highlighter in the palette but it sets nicely to a powder-dry finish. Unfortunately, the highlighter is not smudge-proof so there will be significant fading by the end of the day. Nevertheless, if you enjoy sparkly highlighters in a cream format, then you will definitely appreciate this one with its adorable, travel-friendly packaging.
Yves Saint Laurent | Holiday 2018 Gold Attraction Rouge Pur Couture Lipsticks ($44 CAD for 3.8 g):
Moving onto my favorite part of this collection are the Gold Attraction Edition Rouge Pur Couture Lipsticks. Available in five shades, these come in a matte black and shiny gold case with the lid embossed with the "YSL" logo in gold glitter (similar to the other pieces in this collection). I have here "
1 Le Rouge", a bright true red cream, and "
9 Rose Stiletto", a dusty berry rose with just a hint of shimmers. Believe it or not, this is actually the first time I've tried the Rouge Pur Couture Lipstick formulation and I am beyond impressed. Is there such a thing as "too pigmented" because the pigmentation of these lipsticks is through the roof!
The lightweight, gel-like formulation glides smoothly over the lips and leaves behind a smoothing, creamy sheen. In terms of wear, despite the slick, transfer-prone finish, the lipsticks lasted quite well thanks to the intense pigmentation. I did find it a bit challenging to get a clean line with the red color but it's nothing a good lip liner can't fix. If you like intense, lightweight cream lipstick, these are must-haves!
Availability:
YSL is available
online and in stores at Sephora, The Bay, Nordstrom, and Holt Renfrew.
There's no better way to welcome the month of December than taking a look at the limited edition Holiday 2018 Gold Attraction Collection from Yves Saint Laurent. Adorned with sparkly embossings of the iconic "YSL" logo, this collection offers a full range of festive, party-ready products for the eyes, cheeks, and lips. I've got reviews and swatches of a few key pieces to share with you. To read on, click......
