What's New at Bloomingdale's?

Yesterday, I went to a beauty event at Bloomingdale's at Tysons Corner. It was billed as an introduction to "what's new in the beauty department." Our Mistress of Ceremonies was Tarsha Jones, the high-energy beauty department manager, who was ably assisted by many department and industry reps. Tarsha promised to tell the audience how to look great, feel great, and smell great, and the team delivered, introducing new skin care, makeup, hair products, fragrances, and more. If you get a chance to attend one of these events, go! It was a lot of fun. And the giveaways were really nice; each of us got a pretty silver umbrella at the start of the event and plenty of samples. They had door prizes too.

So, what is new at Bloomingdale's? Here's just a smattering of what we saw, tested, and sniffed.

T3 has introduced the Bespoke Wide Wet & Dry Flat Iron ($200) that can be used on wet or dry hair, and, despite the fact that it heats to over 450 degrees, it won't burn your hair. Tarsha started out with this product, which she is clearly loving. She also raved over the incomparable T3 hair dryer, which many beauty professionals can't live without.

We did a lot of fragrance sniffing while we were there. La Prairie has three new fragrances: Life Threads in Platinum, Silver, and Gold. My favorite was Silver, which has notes of tuberose. Very nice! Mark Jacobs has introduced Lola, a warm floral in a very cool bottle with a figural rose on the top. Lola has top notes of red ruby grapefruit, a heart of fuschia and peony, and a tonka bean base. Narcisco Rodriguez's new fragrance, Essence, is a sensual fragrance of modern musk enhanced by radiant notes of rose petals, powder notes of iris, and hints of amber. The bottle, shown here, was designed to be curvy like a woman. Our hosts promised that you'll receive compliments from men and women while wearing Essence.

What's new from Clinique? Even Better Skin Tone Correcting Moisturizer with SPF 20 promises to lighten hyperpigmented skin, including spots and scars, brighten, and clarify. Superbalanced Powder Makeup SPF 15 is a solid powder foundation in a no-waste container that dispenses skin-defending vitamins with each twist and comes with an antibacterial brush. This foundation is said to last for up to eight hours.

YSL has a new mascara called Singulier Exaggerated Mascara. The multi-dimensional bristles are designed to ensure application precision and dress the lashes evenly from root to tip. It's available in four colors: Deep Black, Deep Brown, Deep Green, and Deep Violet. Tarsha was wearing Deep Violet, and it looked great on her!

Our Bliss gal bravely demonstrated the Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Eye Mask. Like an energy drink for your eyes, this instant brightening treatment includes three forms of glow-inducing oxygen, antioxidant vitamin C, and puff-reducing cucumber extract. It will leave your under-eye area looking lively in 15 minutes flat. I came away with a sample I'll be testing soon.

We also got a nice introduction to Borghese's top sellers, including Fango Delicato Active Mud Mask for Delicate Dry Skin. This skin-soothing Italian mud is gentle enough to make even the driest skin feel comfortable and pampered with its moisturizing, calming, and protective ingredients.

In the short hour, we also covered Lancome, Lancaster, Laura Mercier, Carolina Herrera, Freeze, Chanel, Shiseido, MAC, and Clarisonic! It was a beauty whirlwind. They gave us samples galore, so over the next few weeks, I'll be reporting on some "new-to-me" products.

Thanks, Team Bloomies! It was a fun hour.

Photos courtesy of Bloomingdale's