Rouge Bunny Rouge SKIN SOUL DROPS Foundation Essence

Rouge Bunny Rouge's SKIN SOUL DROPS Foundation Essence ($63) is a creative face foundation that beauty mavens will adore. Highly saturated with pigment and enriched with uniquely processed silica and mica, this concentrated formula with beautiful adjustable coverage will blend to match  most skin tones perfectly (as long as you don't have very dark skin) and is designed to work well with all kinds of moisturizing, serum, dry oil, and primer products to achieve the perfect degree of seamless, picture-perfect coverage.

Rouge Bunny Rouge sent me all three shades, and I've had fun playing with them. I will show you "my shade" below.

The texture is fluid and sheer if you apply it lightly; however, it can be applied more heavily for more coverage. Here's how Rouge Bunny Rouge describes its texture.

• Lightweight, silky-soft, moisturizing liquid formula
• High percentage of pigment, perfect color purity (approximately 36%)
• Blendable with skin-care products to create a custom result - Each shade can flawlessly
• match with up to four skin tones
• Demi-matte finish with buildable coverage
• Minimizes the appearance of pores and imperfections
• Absorbs excess sebum and melts seamlessly onto the skin

It has unique ingredients.

• Anhydrous silicones: for extended wear and ultimate comfort
• Jojoba esters: superior emoliency, soft with no greasy film
• Silicone elastomer: a highly engineered sililcone gel for enhanced smoothness of texture, diffuses light
• Unique mica: highest skin adhesion, supreme softness
• Special silica: absorbs sebum, gives skin an even finish and look
• Lecithin-coated pigments: extended wear; excellent skin protection, highest skin-affinity and
• moisturizing effect
• Plant-derived (jojoba, mimosa, sunflower) waxes
• Natural moisturizing texturizing agent: provides for unique blendability and product versatility, combines functionality with sensorial liquid emollient advantages

The formula is free of cyclomethicone, fragrance and preservatives.

Rouge Bunny Rouge suggests these makeup artist tips and tricks. Apply SKIN SOUL DROPS with your favorite treatment product(s). Apply between a pea to coin-sized amount of treatment product and mix it with Foundation Essence (one to four drops, depending on your preferred coverage level) in your palm. Swirl the mixture using a foundation brush or your fingertips. Then apply to your complexion beginning along the center T-zone of the face, brushing down and outward. To spot treat areas around your nose, the orbital bone, or around the edges of the lips, use a concealer or touch-up brush. You can apply a finishing powder to add a velvet or shimmery finish - whichever you prefer.

Directly above, I've provided Rouge Bunny Rouge's snapshot of the three SKIN SOUL DROPS shades: Miriam, Lalla, and Yeshe. I swatched them on my arm in full sun, and I did not blend them. The results are shown below.

I would definitely wear Miriam, shown at the top. The other shades, as you can see on my arm, are much darker. Miriam, when blended in my palm and applied over my moisturizer, provides a lovely, even finish to my face. It is slightly yellow-toned on me, which is good. It hides my winter red, cold, wind-burned skin well. In the summer, I probably would blend it with my moisturizer for a sheer finish.

I like it! You might too. Right now, you can find SKIN SOUL DROPS at the Rouge Bunny Rouge Web site. Although it says "Coming Soon," I think that will be flipped to available very soon. Before too long, you will be able to find it at Beautyhabit.

P.S. It comes in a lovely black box, with a base that nestles the bottle and a tall top that's black with white lettering and shiney black designs. I will photograph it for you when it's not 17 degrees outside.

Photos courtesy of Rouge Bunny Rouge; swatch photo by Best Things in Beauty

The Friday Forum and Guerlain's Marcus Monson

It's Friday, so it must be time for The Friday Forum. First, though, let me tell you briefly about my visit with Marcus Monson, Guerlain's Celebrity and National Makeup Artist. He is shown above consulting with a long-time customer whose makeup he did after mine. Some of you, Eileen in particular, have been singing his praises for years, and now I can join the choir. My session with him was fun, and his expertise as a makeup artist drew many compliments as I left the store. I will tell you the products he used in another post. It's ashamed I had nowhere to go last night.

Right now, I want to thank Karen Somers at Neiman Marcus for inviting me to the event. I understand Marcus is at the Mazza Gallerie store today, so if you are in the DC area, I'd recommend that you call the store to see if there are any open appointments. He is a master of his art.

As you know, the Friday Forum has always been an opportunity to share information. Are you using a fabulous product and want to sing its praises? Tell us about it! Did you find a beauty product disappointing? Tell us why! Do you have questions others might be able to answer? We can help! Want to talk about skin care? I'm game. Just use the comments. We have busy weekends and slow ones on the forum.

Just a few of the features coming up here in the next few days (I need bright sunlight for photos to use in makeup features): Chanel, Guerlain, and Moroccan Oil. Hope to see you in the comments.

Photo by Best Things in Beauty

Diorskin Nude Air Glowing Gardens Illuminating Powder in Glowing Pink for Spring 2016

When Dior says "limited edition," they really mean it. At every store where I have asked, I was told they received three of each limited-edition item in the collection. Three! That's exclusive, but crazy. They are leaving money on the table. I went last weekend to the Dior counter at Neiman Marcus at Mazza Gallerie and purchased the last Glowing Pink Illuminating Powder ($58) they had. The gold one on display had already sold out.

To describe the full collection, Dior offered this...
Dior cultivates the art of a beautiful glow in what are now considered must-haves, inspired by the techniques of professional makeup artists and the products they use backstage, like Lip Glow, the Colour Reviver Lip Balm. This spring, Peter Philips, Creative and Image Director for Dior Makeup, reinterprets the art of a gorgeous glow with a luminous makeup collection that teams new Backstage Pros essentials with eyeshadows and lipsticks in colours inspired by the flower gardens of Granville.

If I had had unlimited resources, I would have come away with more from the collection. There is a beautiful eye shadow and liner duo. I forced myself to select only one piece, and this was it.

The compact comes with the kabuki brush shown above. The two pieces sit in a moulded plastic case inside the blue Dior box. I took my photos for this feature in full, frigid sun.

The powder itself is not as pink as it appears on Dior's Web site. That's one reason why I really love it. There is a lot of beige in Glowing Pink.

On my skin in full sun, the powder does show its girly pink face, and it sparkles a tiny bit. However, inside, it looks like a beautiful sheen on my skin. I applied it heavily with a sponge-tipped applicator to take the swatch photo below. If you apply it softly with a powder brush, you will achieve a beautiful pink glow.

I think this powder is stunning. If you are interested in it, call before you go to a store. Most of them have sold out. I see it on Dior's Web site, but it's shown as "momentarily unavailable." I have no idea whether that means they intend to produce more of it, or whether that's French for sold out.

If you like a glowing pink finish on your skin, you really should try to find it. I think you will love the  gorgeous glow it provides.

Photos at top courtesy of Dior; other photos by Best Things in Beauty

Orris & Sandalwood Cologne Intense by Jo Malone of London

Presented in the black bottle Jo Malone of London reserves for its Cologne Intense scents, Orris and Sandalwood ($170 for 100 ml) is a captivating fragrance. If you think of most Jo Malone fragrances, you often think floral or fruity. This one is unique - and stunningly beautiful. I purchased mine the moment I smelled it at Neiman Marcus.

The copy on the Jo Malone Web site describes Orris and Sandalwood as, "The surprising duality of orris. Woody and floral. Powdery and deep. The scent of Tuscan hillsides with irises in bloom. Orris’ woody intensity wrapped in creamy sandalwood and sensual amber. Steeped in sunshine."

That's all true, but it doesn't completely describe it. Orris root (rhizoma iridis) is a term used for the roots of Iris germanica and Iris pallida. These are the irises that most of you visualize when thinking iris. Clumps of irises often grow around older homes. They are glorious in the spring. Fabienne Pavia, in her book L'univers des Parfums (1995, ed. Solar), states that in the manufacturing of perfumes using orris, the scent of the iris root differs from that of the flower. After preparation, the scent is reminiscent of the smell of violets. Hence the duality of irises and violets that grace this fragrance.

Sandalwood is the name of a class of woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. You will find sandalwood in many perfumes - old and new. It's a wonderful dry base note.

It was our wish to create a fragrance with orris, because that is one of the most desirable raw materials in the world of perfumes. It was cultivated by monks for centuries, and even today each orris is dried during a period of three years, so that its scent can radiate with two unique nuances: woody-floral and intense-powdery. - a description from perfumer of the new Jo Malone edition, Pierre Negrin.

When you first spray on Orris & Sandalwood, you will smell a dry floral, without a hint of sweetness. Then, as the fragrance matures on the skin, it develops a dry, powdery, luscious scent that lasts on my skin for about seven hours. When I spray some on my arm, my nose seeks it out continuously.

I'm excited about this fragrance. If it intrigues you, you can find it anywhere Jo Malone of London is sold, for example, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, and the Jo Malone Web site linked above.

Photos courtesy of Jo Malone, words4it.com, and homescentscandlecompany.com

The Friday Forum - January 8

We are back in a fog. It looks a bit like the picture above here. At least it's not terribly cold.

By popular demand, The Friday Forum has returned. The Friday Forum has always been an opportunity to share information. Are you using a fabulous product and want to sing its praises? Tell us about it! Did you find a beauty product disappointing? Tell us why! Do you have questions others might be able to answer? We can help! Want to talk about skin care? I'm game. Just use the comments. We have busy weekends and slow ones on the forum. After a long delay, I hope you are ready to share.

I wasn't able to get to counters this week. I hope to go tomorrow, in the rain. If I see something special, I will chime in within the comments section.

Just a few of the features coming up here in the next few days (I need sun for photos to use in makeup features): Chanel, Jo Malone, and Moroccan Oil.

Photo courtesy of beingwoven.org

Chantecaille Happy Cheek Gelée

Chantecaille Happy Cheek Gelée ($39) was introduced in stores with the Holiday 2015 Collection. Online at Chantecaille, it was available earlier. My product specialist was stunned that I had it before the collection was introduced at Neiman Marcus. I feel sorry for store representatives when their new products aren't so new to online shoppers. However, I have no regrets for purchasing Happy the moment it was offered.

Cheek Gelée is a hydrating gel-cream blush that combines the freshness of an emulsion with the lasting power of a stain. Sheer yet vibrant pigments add instant color and luminosity for a radiant, youthful glow.  Happy is described by Chantecaille as a soft rose petal pink that creates a youthful, windswept glow. That's pretty accurate, but they failed to mention the beautiful sheen that it imparts.

I love this color. It's pink, but not a blue pink that might make you look ghastly in the winter. It is long-wearing, although the sheen fades over time. It will brighten your face, but not compete with your gorgeous eyes wearing winter colors.

You can purchase Happy at Neiman Marcus, where shipping is free. Jeannine Barnes at (202) 966-9700, extension 2289, would be happy to help you. You can also find it at some Nordstrom sites, and, of course, you can purchase it directly from Chantecaille's Web site.

Photo at top courtesy of Chantecaille; swatch photo by Best Things in Beauty

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I wish all of my readers a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2016.

Photo courtesy of unknown