YSL Beauty in Morocco

Written by Lamyaa Aissi, professional makeup artist, Casablanca. Independent assessment — no affiliate links.

The house

A beauty line carrying the couture heritage of Yves Saint Laurent, and one that leads with colour rather than with complexion.

YSL is the clearest illustration of couture translating into colour cosmetics: the codes are bold, saturated and graphic, closer to the runway than to the counter.

What is worth it

Touche Éclat

Highlighting pen.

Widely misunderstood: it is a light-reflecting highlighter, not a concealer. Used as a concealer over darkness it makes the area grey; used to catch light on the high points, it does exactly what it was built for.

Rouge Pur Couture

Lipstick line.

Strong colour payoff and comfortable wear — the house is at its best in the lip category.

All Hours Foundation

Long-wear foundation.

A serious long-wear option for events, with the usual matte trade on dry skin.

On Moroccan skin

The lip range is the strongest part for a Moroccan clientele — saturated colour reads well across the depth spectrum, where sheer formulas vanish.

The rule that applies to every house on this page: check undertone, not just depth. Most Moroccan skin is olive or golden, and a neutral or pink-based complexion product greys within the hour however precisely the depth matches. Test along the jaw in daylight, never the wrist.

In a Moroccan climate

All Hours suits humidity. Touche Éclat is a finishing touch and adds nothing to longevity.

The general principle for any long event: set in thin successive passes rather than one heavy layer. Accumulated product slides in coastal humidity; product laid down thinly stays.