DC-Area April Beauty Events

It's Cherry Blossom month, and with the flowering trees come blooming beauty events in the DC area. There are some great ones lined up this month, so please take advantage of advice and consultations from the pros. The events are listed here in date order. I'm going to show up at all of them! Don't live around here? I'll bet your own stores are celebrating spring's beauty.

This Saturday, April 10, Nordstrom Tysons Corner is having their Beauty Trends Show. The show is a great way to learn about new products, and the counters upstairs will be hopping after the show because there are so many specials that day. Almost every line will have something going on. I hope you will stop by to see Rene Marshall, Perricone MD guru, who has so many great tips on skin care - and a prestige line to sell. Cold Plasma won a WWD Beauty Biz award for good reason! Recently, I watched Rene show a 40-something guy (who walked into Sephora!) how to care for his skin. When she finished with him, he looked fabulous! She's amazing, and I hope you will look for her. She's one of my all-time skin care favorites. If you want to attend the show, call your favorite counter at Nordstrom to sign up. The phone is (703) 761-1121. There is a minimal cost, but it's fully reimbursable for products that day. The show starts before the store opens.

On Thursday, April 15, Raychel Wade, La Prairie Colour Ambassador, renowned makeup artist, and founder of Cheek to Chick, will be at Neiman Marcus Tysons Galleria to spill her secrets on color and give you her insider picks on La Prairie must-haves for your makeup bag - from foundation to finishing products. Raychel’s expertise is in sizing up women’s “makeup personalities” based on their lifestyles, then helping them edit their makeup bags to streamline keepers and fill in the holes of anything that's missing. From CEOs to recent college grads, brides to baby boomers, and A-listers to Fashion Week models, Raychel has worked her makeup magic on them all. This should be a fun event. If you would like to make an appointment, call Neiman Marcus at (703) 761-1600 and ask for the La Prairie counter. If you are interested, I would make that appointment quickly. Appointments are limited.

Bloomingdale's at Tysons Corner is having one of my favorite events on Tuesday, April 20, and you can attend at either 11:00 am or 6:30 pm. It's a Beauty 101 Workshop/Master Class. I went in the fall of 2009 and had a blast. This season, the event will be set up as a classroom-style learning seminar. Each session will last about 45 minutes. Tickets are $25, which is totally redeemable in product, and each attendee will receive a composition book to take notes and a tote bag. There will also be lots of samples of various products for you and prizes to win as well. Take my word, this is always a fun event! If you want to participate, call your favorite counter at (703) 556-4600 to reserve a seat.

There is an Armani Beauty Master Class with Loyd Cassler and his Armani Beauty Team at Saks Fifth Avenue at Chevy Chase, Maryland. It will be held on April 22 at 5:30 pm. You will need a reservation, and you can e-mail me at bestthingsinbeauty@gmail.com to make one. There are a few seats left. The event is free, and it's the first day of Saks Friends & Family, so if you decide you can't live without any of the wonderful Armani Beauty products, you will receive the Friends & Family discount.

Shiseido is having a fabulous event at Macy's at Pentagon City on April 24 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. With an appointment, you will be able to have a consultation and makeover with Renato Almeido, Shisedo National Makeup Artist, to celebrate the Spring 2010 makeup collection. Designed by Dick Page, the collection allows you to create an entire spectrum of flattering looks, perfect for any occasion. The latest Shiseido collection is hot. To make an appointment, call the Shiseido counter at (703) 418-4488. These appointments are going to go fast, so hurry if you want a fun Saturday makeover.

Wondering where the snazzy graphic at the top of this post came from? Shiseido sponsored a Graphic Design Challenge at the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The winner, Joe Parisi, was awarded a $5,000 tuition prize from Shiseido to attend the Westwood College School of Design.

The awards ceremony took place this past Friday at Cherry Blast, a lively party that celebrated both Japanese and contemporary DC culture. At the event, guests explored two rooms packed with interactive art – a merging of art and real life – created by local artists. Congratulations, Joe! And many thanks to Shiseido for supporting our local artists.

Design by Joe Parisi and courtesy of Shiseido

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

Bloomingdale's Beauty Benefits

Bloomingdale's has a fabulous silver slouchy bag (got mine - love it) that's free with any $125 beauty purchase. They also have gifts with purchase galore!

You can check out the beauty benefits in store or at Bloomingdales.com. What's available in store vs online is a bit different, but it's worth a look either way.

Have fun!

If you are near Tysons Corner Center in Virginia, ask for Connie Ferrara at the Estee Lauder counter. She'll take good care of you anywhere in the beauty department.

Photo courtesy of Bloomingdale's

Beauty Shopping at Bloomies - Part 2 Guerlain

Guerlain's Imperial Holiday Collection for 2009 is in the store. The items are gorgeous - the norm for Guerlain these days.

Inspired by the opulence of the past, the packaging is elegant. Actually, everything about the collection is elegant - silver and diamonds, the romance of the past, and beautiful color for the face.

The links here go to Guerlain products, but don't show these new colors yet. I will update the links when the collection appears online.

The Kiss Kiss Glosses ($29) are regal, with a black scroll design painted on the outside of the see-through containers. They are available in three limited edition colors, #807 Perle de Lune (the lightest, barely there shade), #808 Ambre Precieuse (a rosy-brown to my eye), and #809 Rubis Rose (dark, complex brown red). My descriptions may not be perfect, but all three will work for everyone - they are very wearable, shiny gloss colors. The darker two jumped right into my hands and came home with me.

Le Rouge G Jewel Lipstick Compacts ($45) are available in two limited edition colors, #11 Grace and #12 Gems. Both are lovely, but I purchased neither. As I wrote a few months ago, I don't like the unique packaging because of its heft. I want a lipstick I can carry around with me without adding to the weight of my purse. But if you want an elegant lipstick to pull out of your bag, these are right up your alley!

The Ombre Eclat 4 Coleurs ($58) eye shadow compact is gushingly beautiful. Combining soft with intense, luminous with pearl, it takes neutral shades to new heights. Again, a limited edition, #407 Bal de Nuit has dark and light taupe, a pinky peach, and light golden beige. This came home with me.

I was a little disappointed in the Meteorites Powder on display. I swiped a bit on my arm, and I saw glitter. I love shine, but not sparkles on my face. So, despite the beautiful little multi-colored pearls beckoning from their container, it had to stay at the store. There is also a pressed powder compact that appeared to be less sparkly. I would have sampled, but I had spent enough by that point.

Rounding out the collection is gold mascara (won't that give you some nighttime drama!), and a limited edition Shalimar Birds of Paradise ($100) in a silver bottle that is beyond beautiful.

Bloomingdale's had a Guerlain gift with purchase, four deluxe samples of Success Future skin care, and I'm looking forward to the test drive.

The collection is available at Bloomingdale's, and if it's not in store at Saks, Neiman Marcus, and other department stores where you buy Guerlain, it will be soon. If you are local to DC, I know Zelda Arican at Bloomingdale's will take good care of you.

Beauty Shopping at Bloomies - Part 1 Lancome

Today, I went to the mall. I wanted to purchase "Pink Ribbon" products and see any new goodies that had hit the counters. Because I had to pick up some things I had ordered from Connie Ferrara, my Estee Lauder rep at Bloomingdale's, I went to Tysons Corner Center. They had a lot of new arrivals and gifts with purchase in the beauty department, so the trip was fun!

Bloomingdale's is supporting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation through its Give Pink Get More Program. Bloomingdale's Insider Card members who enroll by donating $15, will receive a Give Pink Get More gift card that can be used for holiday shopping in store and online. The more you spend in store in October, the more you'll get back. Just click on this link for details.

The new Lancome Deluxe Brush Set is so cool. Even though I don't need more brushes, I had to buy it! The store only received a few, and I knew I would regret going home without it. For $59, you get five precision, short-handled brushes in the beautiful clutch shown here. On top of that, they had a nice gift with purchase. Next time I go, I'd like to spend more time with Shammi Bindra to see the new skin care, Absolue Precious Cells, that Kari reviewed on Fabulous Over Forty.

The brush set includes the following brushes.

• Foundation Brush #2 -The must-have brush for flawlessly applying any foundation
• Powder Brush #1 - The pro for sheer, smooth, naturally flawless powder or blusher application
• Precision Shadow Brush #12 - A great eye shadow brush
• Dual Ended Brush #18 - Two sided: the flat, fine edge brush precisely applies shadow, wet or dry, to create a sharp eye liner, and a shadow brush on the other end
• Blending Shadow Brush #17 - For precise eye shadow application that makes smudging in the corners a breeze

I know I'll love these brushes. I like them better than the Indigo brushes that were introduced a couple of months ago. Although both colors are strange for makeup brushes, the purple (more ruby toned than shown above) reeled me in!

Guerlain's Holiday Collection for 2009 was in the store, and I had to buy a few gorgeous items. I'll tell you about them tomorrow. I also got a darling Clinique lip gloss set in a pink zip bag. I'm loving all my new treats, but where on earth will I put them? My house has turned into a makeup emporium.

Photo courtesy of Lancome