By Terry Light-Expert Click Brush Foundation isn’t new, but a recent re-design & formulation tweak gave a smoother consistency & easier application. How does it compare to YSL Touche Eclat now? Does Light-Expert belong in your beauty arsenal?  

ABOUT THE BY TERRY BRAND

Some time ago, devoted YSL Touche Eclat fans heard that Terry de Gunzburg, the creative director behind the iconic Touche Eclat, took her creative genius self and developed an improved version of the popular product, under her own haute couture quality line, aptly named By Terry. So of course, we bought it immediately. We liked, but we didn’t love. We did, however, very much like the foundation click pen named Light-Expert. Then Light-Expert got an overhaul that we DO love.

ABOUT BY TERRY LIGHT-EXPERT FOUNDATION

By Terry Light-Expert Click Brush Foundation is intended as an overall foundation but is pigmented enough to work as a concealer for a dark undereye. I selected the shade Apricot Light to warm up my pale skin. It gives a hint of color without making me unnaturally orange or fake looking. Because it blends so well, the extra color looks natural. There are rosy shades, golden shades, and neutral shades.

COMPARING PRODUCTS

Of the By Terry line, we evaluated the three products we considered the closest match to the iconic Touche Eclat. We liked the Light-Expert more than the products that are considered counterparts or replacements for the Touche Eclat for two reasons:

1. Light-Expert is versatile with fuller coverage when applied directly, but it can be buffed and blended to a very sheer, almost undetectable finish.
2. Light-Expert is a better color match/dupe (see photo above) for the youthifying brightening we get from the iconic YSL Touche Eclat than the smaller click-pen Touch Expert Advanced Multi Corrective Concealer Brush ($47 at Barneys) or the By Terry Touche Veloutee Highlighting Concealer (about $58).

IMPROVEMENT ONE: SUPERIOR INGREDIENTS

If you are a regular StyleChicks reader, you know of our love of Hyaluronic Acid. It pulls moisture from the air into the skin resulting in plumping out wrinkles and fine lines, enlarged pores practically disappear, and skin becomes a smooth surface to apply makeup.

IMPORTANT TIPS FOR WHEN USING FOUNDATIONS CONTAINING HYALURONIC ACID

1. Make sure to use a good moisturizer underneath the foundation to hydrate/feed the Hyaluronic Acid.
2. If you’re in a dry-air environment such as an office, library, museum, or other places with dry, forced air, consider misting your face with a water spray, or an infused hydrating product such as MAC Prep & Prime Spray, or just dab your face with a damp Beauty Blender during the day to keep the makeup supple and dewy. Otherwise, it might be subject to a bit of cracking as the Hyaluronic works to pull more moisture into the skin.

IMPROVEMENT TWO: ABILITY TO SEE HOW MUCH PRODUCT IS LEFT

By Terry Light-Expert is constructed similarly to a refillable ink pen, as seen in the photo below.  With the new By Terry Light-Expert, one can screw off the top above the brush head and pull out the see-through cartridge see how much product is left so you know if it is time buy a new one. Many of my click pen style cosmetics are a mystery in that regard, and I’ve had times that I do the concealer on one eye and then when I click again, it suddenly ran out of product mid-face. I hate that. It is one of my biggest pet peeves that I have no way of knowing how much product is left in a liquid eyeliner or click pen, but that is not a problem with the By Terry Light-Expert.  Nice touch, By Terry, classy and sturdy construction to boot.

IMPROVEMENT THREE: BETTER BRUSH

The original brush was shaped like a traditional foundation brush, but it was more of a sloppy paint brush head that clumped together; you couldn’t see the product click out until it was over-pumped and overflowing. The new brush is a round flat top cut at an angle, and the product is atop the surface when clicked, so you can see how much product has been dispersed. With the new design, I rarely “overpump” and waste product. The brush also does not clump together like the old version.

I also like that the brush itself is angled nicely for direct application especially on facial contours, and it is a solid brush with dense bristles comparable or better to many foundation brushes.  Or you can use your Beauty Blender or other brush.

POSSIBLE DRAWBACK

Some Light-Expert shades were discontinued in this overhaul. If you prefer the original formulation of the By Terry Light-Expert, some one-off vendors (read *not* Barneys, NM, or SpaceNK) have limited quantities of these discontinued colors.

DARK CIRCLE COVERAGE CONCERNS

If you’re searching for the peachy undertone that conceals dark circles so well, YSL has come out with the YSL Touche Eclat Neutralizer in Bisque, and By Terry has the Light-Expert Perfecting Foundation Brush in Apricot Light (peach) and Rosy Light (pink).

WHERE TO FIND IT

By Terry Light-Expert Click Brush Foundation is found at Barneys, DermStore, Nordstrom and SpaceNK for $65 for .65 fluid ounces, well in excess of other foundation and concealer click brush pens