One peek at my passport, and you'll see I'm an expert traveler. I've got it down which airports are strict on liquids (LHR, CDG—lookin' at you), which lounges I can do my skincare pre-flight (anywhere that has a private bathroom is fair game), and when exactly to put on my sleep mask and drift to sleep to operate the next day when I land. But I was off my game when I flew to Morocco last month. I had just spent an entire weekend on my feet dancing at the Governor's Ball music festival in New York. You'd think I'd be ready to doze off the second the plane was in the air when I took off Monday afternoon. I ended up tossing and turning the entire flight, and maybe caught about two hours of shut eye before giving up.
Here was the problem, though: I landed at 11 a.m. in Marrakech with a full schedule of work meetings and events until evening. Looking like a person when I arrived was necessary. This is where my expert-level packing comes in. See, I always bring a small makeup bag filled with everything I could need post-flight to freshen up. Body wipes, face mist, dry shampoo, and under-eye concealer are my go-tos after a long-haul flight. This time, my concealer—usually the YSL Beauty Touche Éclat Awakening Concealer Click Pen—really had to work overtime to make me look awake.
With two hours of sleep and a music festival behind me, my under-eye bags were protruding so much, I practically had a new limb attached to either side of my face. My dark circles, which aren't normally that much of a concern for me, became wholly apparent next to my otherwise sallow, sleep-deprived face. I clicked my concealer pen, swiped it under my eyes, and blended with a small sponge. The effect was nothing short of magical—it both disappeared into my skin and took away all the darkness with it.
I've loved this concealer for a decade—I saved up my babysitting money in high school to buy it when I heard it was beloved by makeup artists and celebs. So, I wasn't exactly surprised at how well it worked. But I'd never put the product through such grueling conditions. Even in the harsh airplane lighting, I looked refreshed and like I'd actually eaten a vegetable the last few days, rather than existing purely on festival seltzers and airplane food.
A hybrid concealer/brightener, this formula is ultra-lightweight and blendable. It's concocted with a mix of anti-inflammatory calendula extract to help bring swelling down a lil bit (which can potentially help decrease the look of my under-eye bags slightly), as well as soothing marigold extract to refresh tired skin. It doesn't feel like I'm plastering on a heavy concealer to cover everything up; instead, the formula's dewy finish actually reflects some light to make my under-eyes look a heck of a lot brighter and tighter. Like a makeup optical illusion.
The brightening pen is compact, making it an easy addition to my makeup bag or purse. And unlike a lot of other pen dispensers, it's easy to control how much product comes out (you still have to click a handful of times, but it doesn't gush out a glob of concealer at once when you do), and for that, it's a lot less messy.
Once I made it to my destination, I changed clothes and put on a little more makeup, but my Touche Éclat Concealer remained the star of the show. My under-eyes looked bright all day. Everyone kept saying I must have slept so well on the plane (so much so, I even had someone question what type of ZZZQuil I took to knock out so easily). It was all a lie. Mwahaha.
Beth Gillette is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers skincare, makeup, hair, nails, and more across digital and print. She can generally be found in bright eyeshadow furiously typing her latest feature or hemming and hawing about a new product you "have to try." Prior to Cosmopolitan, she wrote and edited beauty content as an Editor at The Everygirl for four years. Follow her on Instagram for makeup selfies and a new hair 'do every few months.
