Bobbi Brown Retouching Face Pencil

No matter how good my foundation is, I cannot keep it on every part of my face all day long, especially on extended days. I do (for the most part) keep my hands off my face, but there's my Kleenex addiction, which is firing up with the early tree pollen as I write. I have seasonal allergies, and the Kleenex I use regularly wipes my makeup off my lower nose. My red nose comes with the allergy turf.

I always carry a touch-up product with me. I used to have wonderful little sample-sized Bobbi Brown cream foundation (with mirror and sponge) in my best shade, Warm Ivory. Alas, I have used them all up. I don't think I'll ever find those little treasures again. I asked a Bobbi representative if she had any left about two years ago. She thought she did, but I never heard back from her. In their absence, I've been using Bobbi Brown's Skin Foundation Stick, but it's heavier and larger than I prefer for my handbag.

Bobbi Brown was clearly reading my mind when she developed the new Retouching Face Pencil ($32). This miracle creamy-matte pencil fills in makeup spots I've wiped off, but also lightens shadows, covers dark spots, and neutralizes redness for a retouched-yet-natural-looking finish.

The Retouching Face Pencil features a full array of shades that are designed to make it easy to perfect all skin tones. Each shade glides on comfortably and blends seamlessly for the most skin-like finish. You can use it on bare skin as an all-in-one skin perfector, or layer it over foundation, as I do, for added coverage where you need it most for a natural-looking finish. There is also an Illuminate Pencil you can use to create a subtle strobing/highlighting effect. Just swipe on the high points of the face and blend in with your fingers. I'm a happy gal. This product is ultra-light in my makeup bag, and it's always there when I need it.

My only complaint? I wish Bobbi Brown had named and matched the shades to her foundation colors that are common across types of foundation. I had to figure out which one to order online. For me, it was a toss up between Porcelain (would it be too light?) and Extra Light (would that be too pink or too dark?). I selected Porcelain at Sephora's Web site, and my guess was perfect. I need foundations that are yellow-based in order to mask the redness of my nose. You can see the slight yellow tone in my swatch photo below.

I drew the swatch onto my arm with the pencil, and I did not blend it at all. Had I blended it, I doubt you would have been able to see the swatch on my arm. My photos were taken in full afternoon sun.

As an extra-added bonus, Bobbi Brown included a sharpener in the box. You would think that would be common sense for makeup companies, but I can't tell you how many pencils I have that did not come with sharpeners. At Armani counters, you can ask for them, but at most counters, they are not available for free. Since pencils come in all sizes, I think that's crazy.

The Retouching Face Pencil is available at Sephora, where you can see the wide range of shades. I think I'll try the Illuminate Pencil next. I highly recommend this little wonder for anyone who needs a foundation touch-up during the day.

Photos by Best Things in Beauty