After an incredible week in New York City, I am pleased to bring you my full report on the stores I visited, the lines I saw, and the great (and not so great) products I tried! From Fifth Avenue to the Village, here's the play by play...

From the very beginning, I knew my main objective in NYC was to see those more exclusive lines that aren't available yet in Oregon, like Lorac, Laura Mercier, and Face Stockholm. I was also interested in visiting the Kiehl's store in Greenwich Village for the true Kiehl's experience. What I never expected was just how different the department stores in NYC would be compared to what I am used to. Talk about fancy! If you ever have a chance to visit NYC, don't miss Henri Bendel and Bergdorf Goodman for the ultimate shopping experience!

Kiehls
My first cosmetic stop was at the Kiehl's store in Greenwich Village. Quaint and unassuming, Kiehl's looks like an old fashioned apothecary, stocked to the brim with a huge assortment of hair and skin care products, including "must-haves" like Creme with Silk Groom and Lip Balm. Even though the store was bustling with shoppers of all ages, the Kiehl's staff was readily accessible, friendly, and very knowledgeable about their products. After a brief skin consultation, I received samples of the cleanser, toner, and moisturizer that should best suit my skin: Rare Earth Oatmeal Milk Cleanser #1, Calendula Toner, and Ultra Facial Moisturizer in both SPF 13 and non-sunscreen versions. Kiehl's philosophy is not to just sell you products, but to help you find the products that are right for you through sampling (yay!). Look for complete reviews of the skin care samples, as well as samples of hair styling products Shine 'n' Lite (very good so far) and Wet Look Groom, coming to Cosmetic Connection over the next few weeks. If you find yourself in NYC, absolutely don't miss the Kiehl's store on Third Avenue in the East Village.

Lorac by Carol Shaw
I had been curious about Lorac since reading about the oil-free foundation in "In Style" magazine last March. At the Lorac counter at Henri Bendel department store (Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan), a makeup artist from France was on hand to help me with colors and application. Although I couldn't find a good foundation color match for my skin (the M1 I tried wasn't *quite* right), the texture was smooth and blended easily. I had better luck with the concealer, eye shadow, and lip colors. The concealer comes in tiny round pot, can be used with your finger or a concealer brush, has a very creamy and blendable consistency, and comes in a good range of colors (I got C1). The eye shadow colors in Pewter, CT Brown, Beige, and Charcoal were very pretty, but they creased badly by the end of the day. I really liked the lipgloss I tried in Amethyst, a sheer raspberry color that was glossy and nicely emollient. All in all, I'm glad I saw Lorac and picked up some products that really worked for me. One word of advice: Don't let them charge you $50 for a makeover, even though the fee goes toward product. I got around it by asking to try the products one item at a time.

Face Stockholm
Although the upscale department stores were incredible to see, I had the most fun, and success, at the Face Stockholm store on Prince Street in Soho. The best part of going to Face was my terrific shopping companion, Pam from the Cosmetic Connection Product Panel! Pam and I had a great time choosing colors, and exchanging tips and techniques. Thanks for the fun, Pam!

Face is a Swedish line that has been around for over 10 years in Sweden, and in NYC since 1989. Their easy-to-use displays of colors, tools, and brushes makes it really simple and fun to experiment with anything you want. I was greeted right away by one of the artists, and she helped me select a good foundation shade (Oyster) in their Matte formula. I really liked this foundation, and the color was great on me. After applying my base, I was ready to fill in the rest of my "canvas" with eye shadow and lipstick. Pam helped me choose eye shadows in Platina, a grayish slate blue that luckily looks more gray than blue on, and Joy, one of Pam's favorites (and now mine), a real chameleon color that looks sort of plum in the container but looked more like a grayish plum brown on my blue eyes. There are tons of eye shadow colors to choose from at Face, from matte classic browns to ultra-shiny loose iridescent reds, so take your time browsing and playing.

Picking a lipstick was more of a challenge - the first one I tried, Matte Brick, was too red for me, then the second, Fresh Plum, was darker than what I was looking for. One thing to keep in mind is that the matte formula lipstick can be quite dry and crumbly, so if you fall in love with one of the matte colors, be sure to moisturize those lips beforehand!

Since I liked my foundation and eye shadow choices very much, I didn't really think to find out the prices until I was ready to pay. I was amazed at how reasonable everything was for a boutique store - $19 for foundation and $12 for eye shadow ($14 for lipstick). I even got a free bottle of nail polish with my purchase, a sassy fushia-red (color #12). If you find yourself in the Soho/Greenwich Village area of the NYC, I highly recommend visiting Face Stockholm for a truly fun cosmetic experience.

Laura Mercier
On my second visit to Henri Bendel department store, I decided to try Laura Mercier Classique. After her involvement in Madonna's makeup for "Evita", it seems Laura Mercier has been on everyone's minds lately. I was most interested in trying the oil-free foundation and secret camouflage concealer, but I ended up getting a full makeover.

I have to admit I was slightly disappointed with my experience. Although many of the colors seemed very nice, and the foundation texture creamy and smooth, the artist applied everything so heavily that it all looked pastey and just plain bad. The eye shadows in Buttercream, Vanilla Nut, and Twilight Gray were nice, and they did last all night, but the look was ruined by a very heavy application of black eye liner at the base of my lashes. Even that night after washing my face several times, it took me two days to get all the black liner off! The Warm Ivory foundation was a nice color, not quite a perfect match for me (too yellow), but she laid it on so thick that I couldn't wait to blend it out when I got back to my hotel. The artist that did my makeover was very nice and really seemed to know what she was doing, so I can't understand why she felt the need to turn me into a mask of makeup! The only product I really liked was the mascara, but I refuse to pay $16.50 for something I have to throw away in 3 months. My best advice with Laura Mercier is to try the cosmetics on by yourself without an artist helping you. They have some beautiful colors that are worth seeing as long as they are applied to look natural.