From time to time I like to highlight one of our Panelists and the research and reviews she's been working on. This week I'm pleased to share Judith's reviews of Clarins' newest foundation, plus some skin care from Shiseido. Also, look for a special skin care report for women 50+ from Judith in the near future.

Judith, 54, lives in Washington, DC, where she works part time in the advertising department of a major newspaper, runs an online jewelry business, as well as a major mailing list and web site for art quilters on the WWW. A natural blonde until she reached her 40's, her dark blonde hair is cropped short and highlighted. She has brown eyes and sensitive/normal to dry fair skin with yellow undertones. Makeup concerns vary from season to season in Washington, as the weather goes from one extreme to the other. Judith prefers a liquid, cream or gel foundation with sheer to medium coverage and never leaves home without foundation, blush, mascara and lipstick. Her main skin care concerns are fine lines and uneven skin tones and she is always in search of a perfect new product! Have a question for Judith? Email her here.

Take it away, Judith!

Clarins Multi-Matte Foundation ($32.50)
A new entry from Clarins in the foundation department is Multi-Matte Foundation, a lovely cream foundation that is suitable to all skin types. In the past, Clarins foundations that I have tried have left my face feeling greasy or shiny by mid day, but this oil-free formula has a long-lasting finish that stays matte and in place all day long. Clarins, Keeping up with the trend in foundations, claims to play with light by coating their pigments with silica, which diffuse light and keep skintone even. Whether or not this is true... and I am always skeptical about the claims of lights and mirrors... I can put this foundation on early in the day.. in my case usually at 6 am .. and still have a streak free, matte finish when I leave work at 5:30pm.

Promoted for oily or combination skin, I found this foundation worked just as well on dry-skin days for me, as long as I wear a good moisturizer. While many oil-free foundations settle into my fine lines...( a polite way of describing my mid-50's skin!)... I had no problem with this product.

The color I chose was (02) Pale Ivory. Extremely blendable, you can wear Multi-Matte Foundation as sheer or as heavy as you prefer. I tend to go somewhere in the middle.

Most Clarins products are lightly scented and this one is no exception. I prefer scented products, but know that many allergy-sensitive people do not.

All in all, this is a lovely product if you're looking for a medium-weight foundation that works well with oily or combination skin, but at a hefty price of $32.50, it is disappointing to know that Clarins has include no SPF in this product. You'll have to provide your own.

You can find Clarins online at Gloss.com, Nordstrom, Macys and at cosmetic counters at most major department stores.

Shiseido
The Skincare Gentle Cleansing Foam is really deceptive when you first look at it. Packaged in a tube similar to a medium sized toothpaste tube, it yields a very thick cream that is quite hard to spread and definitely unfoamy, but add a little water and lather it up in your hands and ...Voila! .... a nice foamy facial cleanser appears.

Very mild and pleasant to use, I've been testing this product for about a month and am very pleased with the results. It's extremely mild and non-drying, I've had no adverse effects... No residual dryness and no oiliness! Gentle Cleansing Foam cleans thoroughly, although I still had to use a swipe or two of eye-makeup remover.. (my current fave is Lorac Oil Free Makeup Remover).. to get the last traces of my mascara.

The fact that this cleanser comes in an easy to pack and no drip tube makes it great to use as a travel product, too... I plan to include it in my makeup kit for my next trip!

Priced at $25, this cleanser is expensive, but a little bit goes a long way, so you'll get a lot of mileage from one tube.

Shiseido The Skincare Gentle Cleansing Foam is available at makeup counters in many major department stores and online at Neobeauty.com and Strawberrynet.

When Heather asked me to test Shiseido's Whitess Intensive Skin Brightener, I jumped at the chance. Long term use of a 4% hydroquinone product had proved to be very irritating to my skin, so I was in the market for an alternative bleaching agent which might be mild and non-irritating.

I had read about this product, but had never been able to locate it. After a month's trial period, using just a small amount all over my face morning and evening, I'm totally sold! With the consistency of a serum, Whitess Intensive Skin brightener is very light and easy to apply under your regular moisturizer. It's fragrance is vaguely similar to vanilla extract. Instead of hydroquinone or kojac acid, Whitess Intensive Skin Brightener contains a product called Arbutin, which is derived from blueberries, cranberries and bearberries, which contains many antioxidants.

My skin tone is much more even. I have had some residual freckles from years of youthful sunworshipping and a nickel sized "age" spot on one temple, which is a result of years of hormone therapy replacement. All have faded considerably after a month's use.

Okay.. Now that I've told you the good points of this product, I must tell you about two downsides: 1) The price... At a steep $120 a tube, this is a product that I would recommend only to those looking seriously looking for a skin bleaching product; 2) This product is not easy to find. I truly panicked when I realized I was nearing the end of my test tube! This product is not listed on Shiseido's web page. They do not carry it at Sephora, which was the first place where I looked for it. I found this only at one online site... Neobeauty.com. I wrote to Nordstrom's online Beauty Line and received a reply that they did not carry this particular item. In the end, I paid a visit to my local Nordstrom and found, to my delight, (but not to my checkbook's delight), that SOME Nordstrom branches do carry this product. I found it at Nordstrom at Pentagon City in Northern Virginia (703-415-1121). I've been told it is also available at Nordstrom in Chicago (312-464-1515). Your local Nordstrom may have it, too! More products in the Whitess line will be available at select Nordstrom stores in Fall 2002.

Blisslabs Bliss Glows ($15)
In my opinion, Bliss Spa's catalogs are probably some of the most persuasive pieces of advertising ever written! Unfortunately, some of the things I've ended trying from their range of products have not always lived up to the written hype, in my opinion.

One of their newer products has, though. Bliss Glows are little plastic compacts of blush in colors that are so sheer and subtle and I can wear almost any color they make! I've been wearing these for the past several months and absolutely love them! The colors are very blendable and absolutely natural looking. I prefer a cream blush to a powder, because I find them easier to blend, whether I'm wearing a makeup base that has light or medium coverage. My favorite colors are Half Naked, which is a sheer apricot, Nudge, which is a neutral brown pink, and Milky Pink, which is a sheer plum.

Bliss coordinates the Glows with lipsticks which they present as pencils, which I think I would like better if they were in tubes! They also have pots of lipgloss (not my thing...) and powdered eye shadows, which I have not tried.

For my money though, Bliss Glows, at $15, are a great deal... Go with the Glows... You won't be sorry!

Available from Bliss Spa at BlissSpa.com, which, thankfully, has been recently re-designed and updated and is now very easy to navigate!

I hope you enjoyed this issue of The Cosmetic Report!