Chantecaille Pétales Perfume

Did I tell you how much I love Chantecaille's Pétales Perfume? If you missed my first mention, when only the testers were available, here's some information to tempt you white flower fragrance lovers. I picked up my bottle when it arrived at Neiman Marcus Mazza Gallerie, where I had been on the waiting list.

Deliciously fresh, pretty, classic, and romantic, Pétales is a party at the botanical gardens on a warm summer's evening. It's an all-night dance on a yacht off the Riviera. Its essence is the white-floral elegance of a thousand gardenias.

The story behind Pétales can be told in one way by mentioning Sylvie Chantecaille's deep love of gardenias. A central ingredient in this complex white flower fragrance, the tropical, classic gardenia has been a favorite of Sylvie's since she was a little girl.

"Gardenias' unmistakable perfume always reminds me of growing up in France and long, relaxed summer evenings," Chantecaille said. In order to create a truly unique and modern interpretation of this timeless scent, Chantecaille blended gardenia with a fragrant bouquet of other signature white flowers, including jasmine and tuberose, yielding a beautifully fresh and wearable scent that evokes pure glamour. The spirit of Pétales calls to mind warm and breezy summer parties, enchanted gardens, and the pleasures of couture dressing. "It's both completely heady and yet deliciously fresh," Chantecaille says.

The top note is all gardenia. Balsam, jasmine, and tuberose form the heart and character of Pétales. Beautifully warm, soft, and sensual cedar, sandalwood, and a whisper of musk deepen this velvety soft, fresh fragrance, giving it a refined essence that is ultimately classic and unforgettable. Pétales reminds me a bit of perfumes that were popular in my first decades of life - and first memories of fragrance. It's bold - not a shrinking violet, like some of its floral sisters.

On first spray, it's all flowers - exotic white flowers that command my attention. As it dries down, the flowers give way to a depth that's soft and pleasant. Think about a sun-filled tropical garden on the edge of a rain forest. As you walk through the garden, you become intoxicated with its rich scents. As you enter the forest, you can still detect those beautiful flowers, perhaps carried int he breeze or a lingering memory, but the woods start to beckon. Then, as you walk deeper into the forest, the experience changes to one of soft woods, tempered only by the greenery that can survive in deep shade - a world apart from the lush sunny garden that is now a pleasant memory as the fragrance dries down. To me, Pétales is a romantic story, an image, and a dream.

Even the bottle is gorgeous - so typically Chantecaille! It's a fragrance you will want to show off on your vanity. Also new from Chantecaille are Frangipane, Kalimantan, and Vetyver, some of which are re-introductions, but all in the same gorgeous bottle.

Pétales is available exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Harrods, Holt Renfrew, Seibu, and Lane Crawford. It does not appear that you can order it at Chantecaille's Web site - yet.

If there's anything you would like to order from Chantecaille, you should visit now. With any $100 purchase, you will receive a full-sized Brilliant Gloss in Charisma.

Photo courtesy of Chantecaille

The Winner of the Neiman Marcus Mazza Gallerie $500 Beauty Shopping Spree

The winner is...Ava S from Alexandria, Virginia! Congratulations, Ava! Your entry was drawn by Neiman Marcus from the "entry bag." Ava is a local Best Things in Beauty reader.

Ava, you will be contacted directly by Neiman Marcus. Be on the lookout for that e-mail or phone call!

Neiman Marcus at Mazza Gallerie generously offered Best Things in Beauty readers the opportunity to shop with them for Beauty Week, receive a cute little bag with goodies in addition to the Beauty Event bag, and be entered in a drawing for a $500 shopping spree in the beauty department! Who could resist that offer?

Some of my local readers and friends from work went (I've already heard they enjoyed themselves), and I know some of you called from out of town. What better motive to treat yourself than a chance to win a beauty shopping spree? I hope you got to know the fabulous beauty department professsionals during your visits. They are real standouts!

I am so grateful to Neiman Marcus at Mazza Gallerie for their generosity (and clever idea)! Thank you to the PR team and the beauty department. You're the best!

Photo by Steven Swain

Giorgio Armani Beauty Uptown Mauve Collection Swatches

The Giorgio Armani Beauty Uptown Mauve Collection Rouge d'Armani swatches for which you have been waiting are here - at least four of them! Constrained only by my bank account, I purchased four of the new shades (so far).

Because all of these are limited-edition shades, I am going to have to hoard them. I will purchase more as soon as they arrive at Saks in Chevy Chase, Maryland. I'm sure Loyd will select the shades he thinks I should have the moment they arrive and call me. He's a love. I already want more of every shade I selected from the Armani Beauty Web site.

Rouge d'Armani hit the beauty world by storm last year. From the classy case, with its magnetic snap, to the gorgeous colors, these are the first long-lasting lipsticks that ever snagged me. The shades stay vivid on me for hours, surviving light snacks and drinking (water, of course). I should have predicted this because the colors didn't wipe off my wrist easily with a tissue when I first tested them last year. It takes a serious makeup remover to get them off, and that's a good thing. Armani promises eight hours of wear. I don't get eight hours, but they last as long as any long-lasting lip color will last on my lips. It's a tall order for a lipstick to survive my napkin obsession at mealtime.

The Rouge d'Armani lipsticks have a very soft and creamy texture. Historically, dry textures kept me from embracing long-wear lipsticks. Most felt like chalk on my balm-addicted lips. These feel great, even without Armani's fabulous Lip Shimmers added as a topcoat.

No swatch photos I take are going to do these shades justice. I adore the new, more sheer Rouge d'Armani that was promised with the Uptown Mauve Collection. It's my kind of lipstick. Here are the shades I purchased, top to bottom, with the photo taken in full sun, making them look shinier than they are.

• Beige #105
• Pink #515
• Pink #516
• Plum #606

I think every single one of these shades is incredibly gorgeous! What do you think?

You can purchase them now at Giorgio Armani Beauty's Web site and at Armani Beauty counters very soon.

Top photo courtesy of Giorgio Armani Beauty

Xtreme Lashes GlideLiner Long Lasting Eye Pencil

Xtreme Lashes, well known for eyelash extensions, has a dynamite eyeliner! Called GlideLiner ($29), it's an eye pencil that you are going to love if you like a long-wearing liner that's easy to apply, easy to smudge, but stays put once it sets. I mean really put. When I applied it to my arm for the photo below, I couldn't wash it off with soap and water.

I was recently offered (and accepted) the opportunity to test two products from Xtreme Lashes: AMPLIF-eye Lash & Brow Fortifier (which I am using every night before bed) and GlideLiner. I'll report in soon on AMPLIF-eye Lash & Brow Fortifier, after I have used it for a month. Today, I want to tell you all about GlideLiner in its newest shade, Black Pearl.

The concept behind GlideLiner is that everyone loves the look and performance of liquid and gel liners. They give you rich, intense color, and most of them are very long-lasting. Unfortunately, not everyone is born with a steady hand and the eye-hand coordination to apply liquid liner. You failed at tennis? You probably aren't the best candidate for liquid liner. Sometimes gel liners can be just as balky. Women like the ease of pencils! Most of my friends, when polled, said they preferred pencils to other forms of liners.

In 2008, Xtreme Lashes set out to take a pot liner formula and put it into a pencil that can be sharpened (with a unique sharpener too). GlideLiners offer rich color with one stroke (or contiguous dots as I like to nestle the liner into my lash line), and it won't budge after you finish with its application. You know you are supposed to remove liner when you go to sleep, but if you don't (lecture time!), it will still be exactly where you put it the morning after.

The magic is in the soft, gel formula that allows about 20 seconds of working time (to smudge or not to smudge) before the liner sets. You can leave your line defined or smudge it. Just smudge quickly if that's your plan.

GlideLiners received a Cosmetic Innovator of the Year Award from the Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers & Distributors Association in 2008. Since then, it has been a "cult heroine" in beauty land. Now, Xtreme Lashes has introduced their latest innovation to the line, Black Pearl GlideLiner. Inspired by Jo Mousselli, President and Founder of Xtreme Lashes, Black Pearl was developed to be a shade Jo could call her own. Finding black-black eyeliners too harsh, and plums a bit too flamboyant for her taste (check), Jo was seeking a color that would be soft, versatile, and classy - but not boring.

Black Pearl has a soft black base that is imbued with the subtle violet luster of black pearls (hence the name) - and I adore black pearls. Just like its namesake, Black Pearl can go from casual to dressy in the blink of an eye (no pun intended). After only weeks on the market, it became a best seller, and I can see why. The color is delicious.

When I looked at the pencil, before applying it, I saw plum and thought it might be a dicey color for me. You beauty addicts know that plum is one of this fall's tony shades. Depending on the shade, plum can be hard for me to wear. Then I swatched it and continued to wonder if it was too plummy for me. At right is a swatch photo taken in full sun, the light in which the plum cast is most evident.

On my eyelids, Black Pearl is absolutely gorgeous! It looks like a soft black, but it has an indescribable quality that makes it appear soft black - or navy - or plummy black - depending on the lighting. It's absolutely perfect for me. When I wear it to work, I don't feel like my eyes are telegraphing black liner. When applied in a thin line, the liner makes my lashes look full and my eyes very natural. It's love.

GlideLiner is enriched with vitamin E, a really nice feature for a liner. As I read a brochure about Xtreme Lashes' other products, I was impressed with the quality ingredients in the company's products. For example, their Hydrating Under Eye Gel Patches look like something I can't live without. The key ingredients include hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, green tea extract, panax ginseng, aloe extract, and glycerin. What a line-up! The patches have to plump the under-eye skin, banishing those pesky expression lines.

Back to GlideLiner. It's available in other colors. You must try Black Pearl, but you can also order Graphite, Xtreme Black (for you vixens), Golden Olive, Midnight Blue, Plum, and Expresso. I think I will have to order Midnight Blue, and maybe Golden Olive, and then there's Expresso. Check out the Xtreme Lashes Web site and see if you can resist. With free shipping on orders over $75, I'm making a list.

Stay tuned for my review of AMPLIF-eye.

Photo at top courtesy of Xtreme Lashes

Le Métier de Beauté Blushing Bronze Duet in Romeo and Juliet

One of my Le Métier de Beauté purchases at Neiman Marcus during Beauty Event, which ends today, was Le Métier de Beauté Blushing Bronze Duet ($65) in Romeo and Juliet. It was introduced earlier this summer, but given my newly found sources for Le Métier de Beauté, I saw it for the first time recently.

This compact embraces the incomparable pairing of Le Métier de Beauté's signature Radiance Powder Rouge in a beautiful cool pink shade with a fabulous Bronzer (a sheer, light bronze powder). Le Métier de Beauté says this beautiful and balanced combination creates a quintessential, natural glow with ease and grace. I completely agree! The bronzer is Sun Kissed, the same shade in Traviata (see below). The blush is unique to the duet.

There is a warm version, Traviata, and this cool-toned Romeo and Juliet. It was clear that Romeo and Juliet was perfect for me! Lisa Lingis showed it to me at the Mazza store, and it jumped right into my bag.

The compact is elegant silver, a departure from many of the sleek matte black Le Métier de Beauté compacts. I would be happy with either color. It's what's inside that counts.

Romeo and Juliet is very sheer, imparting believable, natural color to the skin. I don't know what tools other bloggers have used to make its sister Traviata look pigmented (although I would love to find out). I applied both shades with a foundation brush (better to get concentrated color than a blush brush), and you can see on my arm photo how sheer the individual shades are. That's why I adore it!

Here is a photo at left of both colors, applied individually. The photo was taken in full sun, making the powders appear more shimmery than they are. I would describe them as subtly shimmering. You can see the cool pink, a blush on me - possibly a pretty pink highlighter on someone with much darker skin. The bronzer is absolutely perfect for me. It's hard for me to find just the right bronzer shades. This one is light, sheer, and natural looking. I can apply it on the high spots of my face where the sun would normally add a little color (if I didn't wear sunscreen), or I can use it to contour lightly. It's fabulous right under my cheekbones. Either way, it's a winning shade - and a winning duo.

I wanted you to see how beautiful the shades are when mixed. I used the arrow at right in the center point of my application with a fluffy blush brush. The pink-toned bronze of the mixed shades is perfect for any time of year - lovely now, and allowing me to look like I vacationed in the Caribbean this winter.

The Le Métier de Beauté love continues! I purchased some new eye shadows, and I'll show you them this week. Maybe by midweek, my MARCHESA colors will arrive from Bergdorf Goodman, and I can show you them too! I'm having exciting days.

The Le Métier de Beauté Blushing Bronze Duet is available at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. It's also available at Nordstrom, but only online.

Photos by BTiB

Clé de Peau's New Eye Color Quads

I promised swatches of Clé de Peau's beautiful new eye shadow quads. I had seen the photos in the fall mega-catalogs that Saks and Neiman Marcus had sent out. When I got my hands on the "real thing," I was smitten. These gorgeous eye shadows, with their coordinating shades, highlight and define the lids with the "the ultimate in color sophistication and luxury care." They shimmer too!

I purchased three of them, but I really wanted all five - even the one at the bottom of the photo, Thulite, with its blush-like color in the largest (left side) pan, is gorgeous on the lids. It was used on the model for the new Clé de Peau look, and the Clé de Peau rep at Neiman Marcus Mazza Gallerie was wearing it. Very nice! The other quads, top to bottom, are Kyanite, Malachite, Gold, and Platinum - all materials for gorgeous jewelry.

Clé de Peau uses light-reflecting technology in these shadows to enhance the eye area. The finish is seriously silky and soft, allowing you ultimate flexibility in creating a flawless look that's resistant to smudging, creasing, and fading. I can testify to that! Even Clé de Peau has joined the argan oil movement, adding it to the shadows to ensure smooth application and tender loving care for the skin around your eyes. The company also uses its exclusive Hydro-Wrap Complex to ensure that you get advanced moisture with its shadows.

The first one I wore, given my love for gold shadows, was #204, Gold. My photos were all taken in full sun, which makes these shimmering shadows look more shiny than they are. They are definitely shimmering, though, so if you are a matte lover, these are not your quads. I love shimmer (not glitter, shimmer) on my lids. Gold, shown at right has four shimmering shades. The top shade on my arm is the largest in the palette, while the white highlighting shade at the bottom is the smallest. All of the swatch photos were taken left to right in the quads.

Platinum, #205 shown at left, has two very light silver shades and two grey shades, one a light charcoal and one light grey (at bottom). Don't be afraid of these shades. They are all gorgeous on the lids! You can also mix them with any of the other shades in the new quads to create your own look. The shadows blend very nicely.

The third quad I purchased was #201, Malachite. Just a little less sparkly than its sisters, Malachite is, in my opinion, drop-dead gorgeous. It may be my favorite. The second shade from the top in my arm photo (and second from left in the quad above) is a stunner. One might describe it as rose gold or shimmering taupe. However it's described, it is worth the price of the whole quad, even though all four shadows are very pretty. Look at how subdued the green shade is on my skin (third from top) - perfect for a slightly green-toned smokey eye. You could have fun with this shade!

Now, I'm wondering if I can hold out and resist the other two palettes. I am a bit makeup poor right now. Each compact "refill" is $55. That's what I purchased. The refills come in a plastic case - not elegant, but protective. The quad's compact case is $25. If you travel, you will want a case. If not, there's no reason you can't store the refill in its plastic box (within its cardboard box) and save a few dollars for more makeup!

You can purchase these new Clé de Peau Eye Color Quads at Neiman Marcus. I'll bet Nordstrom has them too.

Photo at top courtesy of Clé de Peau

Tried and True: Giorgio Armani Beauty Sheer Blush #10

Barbara asked me to write about makeup that has stood the test of time, my tried-and-true products, the ones I reach for day after day. I said, "Sure!" Then I decided that Tried and True was too long for a single post, but might make a fun series. So, today, I'm inaugurating Tried and True by featuring a product I wear every week, no matter what other blushes I might be testing. I must own hundreds of blushers. I wear this one at some point every week.

The honor goes to Giorgio Armani Beauty's Sheer Blush ($43) in #10. The first thing I have to tell you about Sheer Blush #10 is that Loyd Cassler, Armani manager at Saks in Chevy Chase and makeup artist extraordinaire, uses it on almost everyone, no matter what their skin color or tone. It takes on a different character, depending on your skin. On some, it's quite pink; on others, it's more peach. It lights up the cheekbones of chocolate-skinned women. It is undoubtedly one of the most flexible (and fabulous) blush shades I have ever seen - or worn.

Here is what Giorgio Armani Beauty has to say about Sheer Blush, which is available in six shades, five of which I own.

This extremely soft and light, sheer blush enhances the complexion with a flush of natural color. It sculpts the face delicately and naturally, leaving cheeks with a warm, radiant glow.

• Soft, lightweight texture
• Sheer, natural color
• Universal range of shades

To apply, use the blush brush to sweep over the cheekbones to add a natural flush or to contour and sculpt cheekbones in a circular movement.

Sheer Blush #10 is shown on my arm at right. You see a very soft, almost imperceptible shimmer, but mostly a warm peach-pink and sheer glow. I applied the shade heavily to my arm so that you could see the color well in the photo. This is how it looks on me. I can't predict how it will look on you. I just know from watching Loyd that everyone can wear it. I bought it the moment it was introduced, and I keep buying it. The compact photo above was taken of an used spare. I hoard products I don't ever want to lose. I probably shouldn't worry about #10 because it's a best seller, but you can never be too careful when you're a makeup addict.

I reach for this blush no matter what I am wearing on the rest of my face, and no matter what clothing I may have selected for the day. It works with everything. It has earned a permanent place among the makeup products I keep close at hand. Have you tried it?

Please let me know what you think of Tried and True. I know Barbara wanted to know more about my stand-by makeup. Do you?

Photos by BTiB