The famed Yves Saint Laurent used to unlock his creative potential through travel and imagery from foreign lands. He believed in the great diversity of beauty. Fittingly, Saint Laurent was the first designer to use ethnic models on the runway, and revolutionized the fashion world by reinterpreting traditional masculine staples into gorgeous, feminine pieces. ‘Le Smoking’ tuxedo, anyone? Thus, when YSL launched his first makeup line in 1978, the cosmetics philosophy followed that of his fashions. They were meant for a liberated woman – daring and elegant, simultaneously an ingénue and a seductress – the modern-day, multifaceted heroine. Now, International Makeup Artist of Yves Saint Laurent Beaute, Lloyd Simmonds, is tasked with creating collections that encapsulate the YSL woman's one rule of beauty – let yourself be guided by your femininity and desire to attract.

So, when we received Yves Saint Laurent’s Effet Faux Cils Felt-Tip Eyeliner & Cream Eyeliner, we channeled Saint Laurent, allowing ourselves to be whisked back through time. Mentally, we traversed to ancient Egypt, where heavily lined eyes were both a sign of beauty and a means of warding off evil spirits, fast forwarding to the recurrence of Egyptian eyes in the 1920s, and the reemergence of the cat eye in the 1960s.

By the time we opened our eyes, we were invigorated with the adventurous spirit of YSL, hell bent on recreating the perfect wingtips of select Spring 2012 shows – Jonathan Saunders, Kanye West, and Ruffian. The pen liner’s felt-tip applicator glided on like a dream, creating a precise line that dried in, not just seconds, but milliseconds. Trust us, we even rubbed a finger over the line to double check. It didn’t budge. With bated breath, we tried the cream on the other eye, the pot of Noir Abysse liner smoothed on with a light, silky finish. Later on, when we checked back, we peered at ourselves every which way, looking for product settled into lines, movement, anything. We got nothing, nothing but beautiful, precisely lined eyes. Touché YSL, touché. 

Jonathan Saunders Spring 2012

Kanye West Spring 2012

Ruffian Spring 2012

Written by Caroline Pham