Estée Lauder Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelée from Modern Mercury Collection for Fall 2011

Estée Lauder's Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelée ($40) from the Modern Mercury Collection for Fall 2011 is a superstar. It's unique, exquisite, and lust-worthy. Don't miss out; it's a limited edition.

Estée Lauder describes it as a "tribrid" system of liquid, powder, and gel that will revolutionize makeup application and wear. The first-of-a-kind "multi-powder" creates a "theatrical blur of shimmer when applied dry and a fierce flush of color when applied wet." The unique suspension of golden pigments and pearls gives a polished finish with a reflective sheen to the skin.

I kind of gasped when I saw it at Neiman Marcus. OK - all pretense aside - I really gasped. I hadn't been sure what to expect. A press release photo had been fairly close to the shade I see in front of me, but the photo on Estée Lauder's Web site, shown at the top of this feature, gave it a warmer tone. When I saw the warm rose gold shade - one of my favorite highlighter and eye shadow shades - in the compact, I didn't hesitate before I bought it. Then, when I got home and started to play with it, I realized the shade adapts to its surroundings.

My photo directly above shows the beautiful swirling shades in the embossed powder-gel. I'm going to call it a powder-gel because I feel a little silly writing "tribrid," even though that's accurate. It has the most amazing texture, it's going to be hard for me to describe it perfectly. Consider it one of the creamiest powders you'll ever use. It's luxury in a large compact, accompanied by a useful sponge applicator.

Like the eye shadow shades in the Modern Mercury Collection for fall, Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelée's color adjusts to light and its surroundings. I took a few swatch photos to show you, and all portray the highlighter with a slightly different hue. It's gold; it's rose-gold; it's peachy gold. Just go buy it while you can. It's golden, gleaming, and gorgeous.

My photos were all taken in full morning sun. Some were taken with the sun directly facing my arm. In others, I tried to show the shade from a bright angle. I applied the powder-gel dry with its cute little applicator.

Make no mistake, this illuminator shines. That shine on my arm isn't only a result of the sun's reflection. You can mute the shine by applying the product lightly or by buffing or blending it (try a Kabuki brush) once you apply the color. You'll have fun experimenting with it.

Apparently, it arrived at the store in short supply. I may have bought one of two, but I'm sure more will be on the way. Neiman Marcus received it just in time for their Estée Lauder gift-with-purchase promotion, which starts Friday. Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelée is now available at the Estée Lauder Web site. I assume most of the counters have it now or will receive it very soon.

Photo at top courtesy of Estée Lauder; other photos by Best Things in Beauty