In my never-ending search for a natural-looking foundation and the almighty zit-zapper, I recently spied a relatively new cosmetics line I thought I'd share with Cosmetic Connection readers.

It's called Alchemy, and it's made and sold by the people who own Bigelow Chemists, the beloved New York City old-world pharmacy that carries many of the beauty industry's hard-to-find items right alongside the Ivory soap and Altoids. Alchemy also is sold by many branches of beauty megastore Sephora, but not in all locations (see list at end of review for more information on availability).

Written up in Vogue, Self magazine's 'Best of NYC' issue, French Cosmopolitan and New Woman, the stars of the Alchemy line seem to be the bottled oil-free foundation and the medicated tinted blemish treatment, but that's not to say the color products don't merit a mention. The pigments in all Alchemy products are "milled to pharmaceutical standards, so the color you see is what you get on the skin," says French Cosmopolitan. I couldn't agree more.

I stopped by Bigelow to play with the products on a Saturday afternoon, and I found myself hanging out for quite a while (unharassed by sales associates, thank goodness). Here are the products I tested out and what I thought about them.

Oil-Free Natural-Finish Foundation $30 for 1 fl.oz.
This is a very light-textured, oil-free, noncomedogenic foundation that comes in an impressive shade range. There seems to be a shade for almost anyone, or you could do what I did, which is mix shades to get the perfect color (I don't usually advocate mixing shades among different brands, but I think it's OK if the foundations are made by the same line). This foundation contains aloe and vitamin E to soothe skin and keep it from drying out, and it also has micronized silicone pigments, which reflect light and give the face a luminous (dewy, not shiny) look.

The foundation is fairly sheer, but it can be layered for more coverage when and where you need it. I found it wore well for an entire day of mostly outdoor shopping on a wintry afternoon.

To try on different shades, I used Alchemy's Eyebright makeup remover ($15), and found it gave a clean sweep without being oily or irritating my eyes.

Medic Blemish Treatment Concealer $15 for .50 oz.
I like a tinted blemish treatment either for weekends when I'm not wearing a full face of makeup, or for those times when you have to sleep in the same area as other people but can't bear to bare it all (think crashing in your friend's college dorm room, teenagers having a slumber party, and, well, more "adult" situations). Alchemy's Medic does a great job of covering up boo-boos for just such times, using a blend of herbal extracts to treat the blemish while simultaneously concealing it. What kind of herbal extracts? Well, for starters, there's chamomile, echinacea, lemon, tea tree oil, aloe vera and vitamin E. Medic also contains beta hydroxy acids to help dry up breakouts.

Lo and behold, I did have a boo-boo on the day I was at Bigelow, so I dabbed a bit of the lightest shade on, and the Medic blended seamlessly with the makeup I had on. It didn't cake up or turn orangey on me, and my blemish was noticeably flatter and less red by the time I packed it in for the night.

Two things to know, though:
First, most of the Medic shades seem best-suited to darker skins, except for the lightest shade, which I used, and it's really light.

Second, if you're going to wear Medic overnight while sleeping (or, for that matter, under or over makeup), make sure you apply only a tiny bit - it's all you'll need, and if you lay it on thick, it won't dry correctly. That will leave you with either makeup spots on your pillow or a cakey spot on your face.

The many color cosmetics in the Alchemy line are definitely worth a look, but since they weren't on my priority list that day, I kind of glided over them. From what I could see, though, they were very richly pigmented - the few I swatched on my hand seemed to have a substantial yet natural feel. I particularly liked the blush in a pinch-your-cheeks shade called "Meadowsweet." I also admired the lipsticks, which I suspect contain a good deal of vitamin E like the rest of the Alchemy product line. Good to know.

Pricewise, Alchemy items top out at $30 for the foundation. Lipsticks are $16.50, eye and lip pencils cost about $14, stick foundation is $28 and loose powder costs $30.

For more information on Alchemy or other products sold by Bigelow Chemists (Australia's Bloom line, Get Fresh bath fizzies and soaps, Terax hair care, Ficarre hair clips, etc.), call 1-800-793-5433 for a catalog. Or stop by the pharmacy yourself if you're in New York City - Bigelow is located on Sixth Avenue at West 4th Street in Greenwich Village.

Besides Bigelow, Alchemy is available at Sephora stores in San Francisco, Southcoast Plaza in Los Angeles; South Beach, Miami; Virginia and soon in Las Vegas, Nev. and Rockefeller Center in New York City. Alchemy products also will be available in the UK in March and in Japan in May.

Future Web site of Bigelow Chemists (under construction): http://www.bigelowchemists.com