L'Oreal Touche Magique

RRP: £6.99
no. of shades available: 4

--What does the promo say?--
"Banish dark circles, fine lines and imperfections with new Touche Magique Concealer.
This anti-fatigue and illuminating concealer visibly improves the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, leaving the delicate skin around the eye area looking radiant and smooth for up to 8 hours. Touche Magique has a soft brush applicator, making precise and controlled application easy."

--Packaging--
In terms of the actual concept, the packaging is pretty similar to its upmarket counterpart, Yves St Laurent's Touche Eclat: a plasticated stick of the same dimensions as a pen, with a brush as the nib. The pen is the same shade as the concealer itself, with dainty gold writing giving the product details, and an opaque lid to cover the nib. The other end of the pen is ridged - you twist the ridge to make concealer appear at the nib. It's a nice-looking thing and doesn't take up too much space in your makeup box.

--Application--
Instead of pressing the end of the pen to release more concealer, you twist. When the product is new, you end up sitting there for a long time, twisting the end of the pen for that first burst of concealer, and seeing as there's no indication of which way you should be twisting, this can be a little confusing (with a button there is no such ambiguity). However, once you get going, it's very easy to control how much concealer comes out of the pen, and easy to apply it directly to the skin. However, I find that with YSL's Touch Eclat and this product, it's easier to blend the concealer into the skin using a separate makeup brush (I find a lip brush has the right sort of bristles for this), as using the nib of the pen itself just pushes the concealer around your face without really blending it in.

--Texture--
The texture of this concealer is very smooth and seems to have a fine enough formula so that it blends in with any foundation and powder, even if they're not L'Oreal products.

--Appearance--
It doesn't sit on the skin's surface like some concealers, blending very nicely. However, while I found a shade that perfectly matched my skin tone, the number of shades available seems very limited and I don't know that the shades available would be adequate for darker skin tones.

--Coverage--
Excellent. Truth be told, it's probably actually better for my purposes than YSL's product, as this one is specifically aimed at covering up blemishes, whereas Touche Eclat is not.

--Longevity--
I've never used it on its own, so the results I've seen may not be fully accurate, as it's bound to react differently to the skin on its own than it does when working in conjunction with powder and foundation. As it is, I thought its longevity is very commendable.

--Value for money--
This product, certainly in terms of covering blemishes, is just as good as YSL's version. It's extremely affordable; one tube lasts a very long time (6 months +), even when wearing makeup most days; and the results are easily worth the money paid and more. I think L'Oreal has just redeemed itself.