New: Chantecaille Poudre de Perle in Akoya Pearl for Summer 2012

Steady my heart, Chantecaille's Poudre de Perle in Akoya Pearl ($58) is even better than I expected - and I always have unparalleled expectations for Chantecaille. They set the bar high for their competitors.

Created exclusively for Christopher Kane's Spring/Summer 2012 runway models, Poudre de Perle in Akoya Pearl is a bright rose-pink color that creates a fresh, windswept flush on any complexion. The rosy pink shade looks cheerful.

Prior shades of Poudre de Perle have delivered an innovative all-over highlighting formula. Akoya Pearl is a blush - an exquisite brush. Like its sisters, it arrives with its own brush (unless you buy just the refill) and delivers the perfect amount of luminosity to all skin tones. The smart formula replaces traditional talc particles with weightless, silky, and translucent optics that ensure skin clarity and luminosity. Particles of zinc, iron, and mica provide mineral content to calm our sensitive skin and fortify it from environmental elements.

Now for the color! How many superlatives can I string together into one sentence? Just let me gush and get on with it. I'll admit that I had some worries that Akoya Pearl might be too bold a color for my skin when I first saw its photo. I should have known it would be perfect.

I took my photos in sunlight that could have been brighter. Basically, I took what I could get. With high clouds, it was bright outside between periods of rain, so I ran outside and started snapping. I applied Akoya Perle with its own brush - heavily so that you could see the color. Had I applied it the way I apply it on my cheeks, my photos wouldn't have worked well for a blog.

With this heavy application, you can see the gorgeous color on my arm. It's an uneven swatch (hey, I was racing clouds!), but now that I have the brush primed and ready to roll (not always easy at first), the blush will apply evenly.

The pink powder is "just on the cool side" of a warm pink. I suppose that makes it a neutral pink. That's why it will look great on nearly all complexions, but the term "neutral pink" sounds boring. Akoya Pearl is anything but boring. It adds radiant pink color to my cheeks and makes me look happy and perky. It doesn't get better than that.

Poudre de Perle in Akoya Pearl is available at Chantecaille's Web site, where I purchased mine. I looked for it on the new Summer 2012 display at Neiman Marcus, but the tester was missing. There was no one staffing the counter, so I don't know whether they have it yet. You have to try this one! If you delay too long, I'll bet it will sell out. That's excruciating for beauty lovers.

In the morning, I'll show you the equally exquisite new cream blushers from Chantecaille. Wow! I purchased all three.

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