By Terry - Touche Veloutee concealer

I must have tried just about every highlighting pen going - I'm a fan of Guerlain Issima Precious Light Smoothing Illuminator, which manages to highlight as well as provide a bit of coverage, and I also thought Dior's Skinflash was pretty impressive. YSL's Touche Eclat I just don't get along with at all - I really don't understand the hype.

But my latest discovery, Touche Veloutee by By Terry (by By??) blows all of the above out of the water - ironic, as By Terry is founded by Terry de Gunzburg, creator of... YSL's Touche Eclat!

I tried this on last time I was in Space NK in Newcastle, turned to look into the mirror and WOW! One half of my face was literally transformed - no undereye circles, just a lovely, bright-looking under eye area which seemed to make my whole face look fresher and younger.

I purchased it on the spot and I like it even more now I've had time to experiment with it for a bit. It's brilliant at concealing the broken capillaries and faded acne scars on my cheeks.

As the consistency is a bit thicker than say Touche Eclat, coverage is better, and I find I can actually dot this on my cheeks and any areas that need a bit of perfecting, blend it out a bit and I don't even need to use foundation. But it provides the same highlighting properties as Touche Eclat, eg I use it to paint a crescent from my eyebrow to cheek, and also dot it on the cheekbones, where it just enhances the facial contours and bone structure. It's a real multi-use product and I think this is going to be a staple in my make up bag for some time to come.

I hope the photos illustrate its effectiveness. Although the effect is noticeably brightening, you don't get that awful white halo effect you often see on those who've OD'd on Touche Eclat, which is particularly noticeable on photos with flash (okay the second one is veering towards that, but I had to apply a lot to get it to show on the photos as the light is fading!)

I'm hoping you can tell which side I've used it on!?!

The only thing I would say is avoid a heavy hand with this product - too much, and it does become noticeable, and if using it under the eyes I'd use an eye cream first. This is a perfect highlighter / concealer for those who have less than perfect skin - it will cover up all your imperfections but also just make your skin look, well, better.

This retails at £25.45 at Space NK - which at first glance seems a bit pricey, however the large silver pen contains a whopping 6.5ml of product - compare this to Touche Eclat which contains only 2.5ml and retails at full price at £24 (though can often be picked up cheaper at Superdrug etc) and Skinflash and Precious Light which contain a measly 1.5ml and also cost around the £25 mark.... suddenly Touche Veloutee seems the bargain of the century!!!

According to some blurb off the web, Touche Veloutee contains "a cocktail of antioxidants, anti-inflammatory agents and Hyaluronic-acid spheres, along with soft-focus microprisms that conceal and reflect light without being heavy." So this is marketed as a kind of skincare treatment / concealer (incidentally so is Guerlain's Precious Light). I'm less concerned about the skincare credentials as I prefer to use a targeted eye cream, but I'm certainly not complaining. Ultimately though, this is a product that really works for me.

Give it a try if you haven't yet found your HG highlighter / concealer. There are three shades - porcelain, cream (my colour) and beige.

Disclaimer - Please excuse my overall sickly pallor in these photos, just at the end of three days of illness due to unidentified bug which may or may not have been swine flu!