The legendary fashion house of Yves Saint-Laurent got it’s start in the early 1960s, when Saint-Laurent left his role at the House of Dior following his nervous breakdown. Yves Saint-Laurent founded the company with the financial backing of Pierre Bergé, and began designing clothes with the now iconic initials YSL.
Throughout the 1960s and 70s, Yves Saint-Laurent crafted collections that shaped the styles of an era, from stereotypical beatnik chic to go-go girls in thigh-high boots. The YSL brand became synonymous with timely trends and high society the world over. In 1993, the house of YSL was sold to pharmaceutical giant Sanofi. The fashion house was sold to Gucci in 1999. Gucci have kept the brand name alive though the haute couture house was closed shortly after Saint-Laurent announced his retirement in 2002.
Yves Saint-Laurent entered into the world of beauty products for the first time with the 1977 launch of Opium, the first YSL perfume. The range of beauty products produced under the Yves Saint-Laurent brand today include a full line of makeup and skincare formulas along side a wide range of famous fragrances.
Makeup by Yves Saint-Laurent includes lipsticks which deliver impressive lasting power and protection, such as the moisture-rich Rouge Personnel which can be applied directly to bare lips and has the unique characteristic of having an ‘adjustable intensity’, becoming more glossy and vibrant with each application. Also in the YSL makeup bag is a broad spectrum of colours for the eye area, including the Ombres Vibration Duo – a soft powder developed to soothe the eyelids and last throughout the day. The Yves Saint-Laurent makeup collection also includes a great range of concealers, foundations and blushers to enhance and balance your complexion, such as the Touche Eclat instant highlighter, a simple pen-shaped brush that’s convenient enough to keep with you should you need to touch up your look at any time.
The line of skin care products by Yves Saint-Laurent offers a good selection of products for most skin types. There are a variety of cleansers, toners and multi-purpose products such as Instant Pur Toning and Cleansing Water, which is formulated with Himalayan Blue Poppies to leave the skin purified and replenished. YSL’s range of skin care goods includes the Hydra Tech line of potions to hydrate and protect, like their Masque Hydration Optimale - which includes the Vital-H Fraction, found in all Hydra Tech products - a refreshing masque that can transform even incredibly dehydrated skin to a velvety texture within mintues.
Yves Saint-Laurent offer an excellent range of solutions for combating the signs of ageing – each tailored to address specific symptoms, from wrinkles to loss of elasticity. There is a good range of body smoothers, firmers, hydrators and exfoliators, as well as what YSL call ‘the ultimate in luxury and anti-ageing performance’, the Temps Majeur line. All Temps Majeur products have been developed to provide quick results, leaving the skin visibly younger, stronger and firmer.
Additional goodies in the YSL beauty line up include a good range of sun care products, which are far more than ordinary fake tans – they’re innovative powders and shadows designed to enhance your natural summer glow. There is also a good selection of gloss finish, long-lasting nail varnish. And of course, the Yves Saint-Laurent range of exceptional fragrances for men and women are widely popular around the world.
Yves Saint-Laurent products are available in fine department stores, and chemists around the world, as well as from a number of specialty online retailers.
© UK Beauty.com 2006.