When The Apprentice ex-contestant Erin Elmore heard the fateful words “You’re fired,” a beauty entrepreneur was born. Using her own insecurity about the scars she had as a springboard, Elmore decided that inventing an effective scar serum would be her next quest.

She teamed up with Dr. Shareef Jandali, Chief Plastic Surgery Resident at the University of Pennsylvania, and together they conceived and created a potent “cocktail” for scrapes, cuts, surgical incisions, burns, stretch marks, and acne scars called Scartini.

Being sick and tired of those awkward silicon strips that have to be cut to size and keep peeling off, we received our complimentary sample with open arms. It had a convenient rollerball applicator that only took a second twice a day to dispense the product on a couple of scars of our own. While the silicon strips make you wait six weeks to see any results, we saw changes within days when we started using Scartini.

Centella Asiatica and Lychee Extract are Scartini’s powerhouse ingredients. Centella Asiatica is a plant extract that decreases redness, speeds scar healing and boosts collagen production.

Likewise, Lychee is a moisturizing antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties that decrease redness and promote skin cell repair. There are even anecdotal reports that Lychee promotes long-term skin hydration, encourages skin rejuvenation, prevents hyperpigmentation, and reduces fine lines and wrinkles.

One fan confirmed that after using Scartini as a makeup base, her skin looked more flawless and she saw a dramatic improvement in the fine lines around her eyes.

Scartini comes in a 7.5ml bottle and retails for $29.99 at www.Scartini.com. To win a bottle, tell us why you should win a bottle and we’ll pick the winners within one week!!

We declare ourselves madly in love with Moulin Rouge 1889, the latest fragrance from Histoires de Parfums, celebrating the year this world-famous burlesque theater was brought to life. Edith Piaf, Colette, Ella Fitzgerald and Liza Minnelli were among many stars whose careers were launched at this legendary landmark. 1889 is described as “a vibrant, sensual scent, full of vivacity and elegance, with just a hint of feathers and sequins.”

They got that right. One spritz gives us an alcohol-free high equivalent to downing a split of Veuve Clicquot. This fragrance will fill a hole in many people’s perfume wardrobe-namely, a scent with sizzle for those of us who thought we could never wear one.

The pyramid has top notes of mandarin, plum and cinnamon; heart notes of absinthe and Rose of Damascus; and base notes of iris, patchouli and musk. The intoxicating blend of plum, cinnamon and absinthe has the character of an aperitif-fizzy, effervescent. It conjures images of white, slightly damp rounded shoulders, garters and champagne flutes.

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We’ve been mineral makeup mavens since day one, starting with Paula Dorf’s professional line used by dermatologists, plastic surgeons and estheticians to soothe and protect inflamed skin after cosmetic procedures. Bare Escentuals was largely responsible for selling the product concept to mainstream consumers, and suddenly every beauty company was jumping on the bandwagon. Unfortunately, mass production became the name of the game.

A picture of Aromaleigh founder, Kristen Leigh Bell

Lately we find the best formulated products come from artisanal brands such as Aromaleigh. Since 1998, this independent online company has been micro-formulating its proprietary blends with the finest grade pigments, natural ingredients and botanicals. Aromaleigh products do not contain micronized ingredients or nano-particles.

Most products are micro-formulated by one extremely hands-on woman, company founder Kristen Leigh Bell. Kristen also maintains the website, makes the labels and-with a little help from her friends-packs the jars and ships the orders. There is no middleman, no advertising and no fancy packaging, all of which enables Aromaleigh to offer the highest-grade cosmetics at very affordable prices.

Being very fair-skinned, we were thrilled to find out that the palest of pale foundation shades are the specialty of the house. Aromaleigh offers a true matte foundation powder without Bismuth oxychloride in 31 shades and variable coverage. Special mention goes to cult favorite “Coquille Illuminating Corrective Powder” in “Lilas,” which imparts a subtle romantic pallor when used as an all-over finishing powder. Product prices range from about $13 to $17.

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We love La Prairie for its super-luxe skin treatments targeting lines and wrinkles, so we were excited to learn that the beauty company has launched a trio of products to effectively attack slackness and discoloration of the skin. Harnessing the legendary firming benefits of caviar, the White Caviar Illuminating Système is a three-part system that lightens, tightens and firms while preventing future age spots and pigmentation patches.

White Caviar Illuminating Cream drenches the skin with moisture as it provides lifting and firming benefits. Pearlescent powders in the cream give immediate illumination, while a complex of brightening ingredients works to control age spots and discoloration on the skin’s surface. Continued use promotes brighter, younger-looking skin as dark spots are prevented, and the skin is firmed and protected from environmental damage.

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We pamper our skin much more than men do, but let’s face the counterintuitive fact that our skin also ages faster. Who would have guessed that our foundation is responsible for this cruel and unusual punishment?
Moisturizing claims aside, any foundation dries out the skin. When skin becomes dehydrated it creases more easily, resulting in fine lines or a sagging appearance. Dry, mature skin gets even more dehydrated by foundation, causing even more lines and wrinkles. On the cosmetic side, dry foundation becomes powdery, cracks, flakes and settles into fine lines, accentuating their appearance. So when you apply foundation to cover the signs of aging, you’re using the same thing that’s causing the problem.

Skindinävia breaks this downward spiral with a novel product called 10 Years Younger, which turns your foundation into a moisturizing treatment. It basically takes the makeup you have, regardless of the brand, and perfects it for you. It greatly slows down your foundation’s ability to steal moisture from the skin and then makes it give back the water it takes. The result is a dewy, luminous finish that sits on the surface of the skin, glossing over the appearance of lines and uneven skin tone. It also acts as a post-makeup primer by keeping your makeup fresh and in place for up to 16 hours.

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Here’s one for the Guinness Book of Records: the World’s Most Expensive Soap award goes to Cors Silver Soap, at $120 for 120 grams. So when a sample size landed on our desk, we jumped at the chance to put it through its paces.

The soap is allegedly more miraculous than the Second Coming. What does it do? According to the press kit, plenty. It’s claimed to deep cleanse the skin, minimize the appearance of wrinkles, even skin tone, fade age spots, plump, tone, hydrate, replenish collagen, heal surface skin, and provide UV protection. It can even be used as a spot treatment for blemishes.

The soap is being marketed as cost-effective because it supposedly replaces the need for multiple, expensive products that target individual skin issues. In other words, think of it as the Cadillac version of Olay’s Total Effects.

What makes this product worth its weight in gold (or in this case silver)? Let’s go through the star ingredients one by one. Silver (which accounts for the cost of the soap) is a known antibacterial agent with healing properties that speed cell growth and repair. Four different kinds of collagen are supposed to stimulate collagen formation deep within the skin. Chitosan, a natural fiber, aids cellular rejuvenation, evens out skin tone, and balances oil levels. Sericin, a soluble protein made from silk, is moisture-binding and film-forming, locks in moisture and keeps UV rays out.

Obviously a soap with a $125 price tag has been thoroughly scrutinized by the beauty press, and the reviews have been mixed. SELF magazine named Cor Silver Soap as “Best Normal-Skin Cleanser” in 2007. On the other hand, skeptics say silver is more useful in healing wounds than in cleansing the skin, and regular soap does a perfectly good job.

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We declare every holiday shopping season officially open by gifting ourselves with something that will help carry us through the mad dash from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. This year Tarte Dark Circle Defense fits the bill.

With sleep in short supply, our eyes tell the tale with dark circles, puffiness, and redness, along with more pronounced fine lines and wrinkles. Dark Circle Defense helps camouflage all of the above with finely milled light-refracting minerals that brighten and smooth the undereye area. Other powerhouse ingredients are honey extract, an anti-inflammatory that helps reduce the appearance of puffiness; vitamin E, an anti-inflammatory emollient that protects against free radical damage; and soybean extract, which effectively moisturizes the delicate eye area. Just as important are the ingredients that aren’t there, including parabens, petrochemicals, phthalates, sulfates, gluten, talc, dye, glycol, GMO’s and fragrance.

We’ve lost count of how many under-eye concealers we’ve tried over the years, but this one does the job. Just one swipe of the brush gives us something that’s eluded us with all other concealers: flawless coverage. On top of that, clinical trials have shown a 56% reduction in eye puffiness after four weeks of use. What this amounts to is an immediate transformation of the eye area coupled with longer-term benefits to the skin. Is that the Hallelujah Chorus we’re hearing in the background?

Retailing at $32, Dark Circle Defense is available in two shades-light-to-medium and medium-to-dark-and includes a brush with synthetic bristles and a wood handle. Find it at tartecosmetics.com, Sephora, sephora.com, and beauty.com.

Kudos to Shiseido makeup director Dick Page for his Fall 2009 Color Collection. We’re especially fixated on several great new eye products, starting with the Luminizing Satin Eye Color range. The eye colors were previewed on the FW Fall 2009 runways for leading designers including Michael Kors and Narciso Rodriguez.

The dazzling mono-eyeshadow palettes come in 15 shades of neutrals, pastels and brights. Cavern and Alchemy are two color options that flatter all skin tones. At $25, the formulation contains dual-optimizing powder and satin smooth pearl to deliver a luminous, silky finish, and “super hydro-wrap vitalizing DE” to provide continuous moisture.

We never had any luck with eyeliners until we drew a perfect line on our first try with Shiseido’s Smoothing Eyeliner Pencil ($20). It comes in black and brown and has a smudge applicator on the other end for blending or creating a smoky eye.

The Natural Eyebrow Pencil ($20) is our absolute favorite. The pencil, which comes in four shades, doesn’t deposit any detectable color but rather melds into the natural color of our brows. Without looking like we’ve applied any product, we can quickly make our eyebrows appear full and symmetrical. A smoothing brush is attached to finish the look.

From now through the end of October, Shiseido will donate $5 from every sale of Luminizing Satin Eye Color in Peony to Cancer and Careers, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting working women living with cancer. So we can do some good while looking great.

The complete collection is available at Shiseido counters everywhere and on sca.shiseido.com

We’ve heard a lot about stem-cell technology, which is supposedly taking the beauty industry by storm, but the idea of applying, well, stem cells to our own face has as much appeal as a root canal. Luckily StemCell Products, a new contender in the field, has found a way around our squeamishness with a product line called Signals.

The technology is a bit hard to follow, but basically Signals captures the “signals” of adult stem cells in a cream solution, which prompt aging cells to behave like those in 19-year-old skin. There are no actual stem cells in any of the products.

The three-sku line consists of an anti-aging peptide-based exfoliant; a day lotion to protect and repair the skin; and a super-hydrating night cream to repair and restore the skin’s elasticity. The day lotion and night cream dispensers deliver the precise amount of product without allowing any air to come in contact with the active ingredients, which means there’s less chance that the cream or lotion will become stale, contaminated, or oxydized. We find that the day lotion even helps our makeup go on more smoothly.

The company claims that in two-week clinical trials, the hydration of the subjects’ skin increased by up to 107%. We saw that after two weeks of consistent use, our complextion glowed. There was a noticeable change in the softness and smoothness of our skin, and our fine lines and wrinkles appeared to be diminished.

The three-item kit is $199.95. Each kit should last two months, which translates to about $100 per month. (Postage and handling charges are $9.95 per order but are waived if you sign up for the Auto Ship program.) New customers get a free trial period, during which they can return the products for any reason within 45 days. For more information or to place an order, go to www.stem120.com.

We are giving away a complete kit, valued at $199.95, to a reader (chosen at random) who enters a comment below. Winners will be notified via email. GOOD LUCK!

We’re longtime fans of ThermaFuse’s heat-friendly hair products. But this time the salon brand has really outdone itself with its newly launched ThermaFuse HeatSmart Serum. As a dry oil treatment, a stand-alone styling product, or a styling prep to make other styling products work better, it does everything but the dishes.

Made of three certified organic oils-argan, acai and flaxseed-the serum is instantly absorbed, continuously hydrates, eliminates frizz and delivers a smooth satin shine. It even makes our hair dry faster. Like the rest of the ThermaFuse line, the serum contains a concentrated amount of HeatSmart Complex that works with heat to actually enhance the health and beauty of hair. We also get great results when we apply it to dry hair as a finisher between shampoos.

As if that wasn’t enough, the product is an adventure in aromatherapy. Notes of blackberry and raspberry blended with green mandarin, apple, violet, jasmine, rose, amber, musk and vanilla pamper the senses and leave us feeling like we’ve been on a mini-retreat. We’ve even discovered we can dab a drop of it on the back of our hand and wear it as a summer cologne.

ThermaFuse HeatSmart Serum retails at $19 for 2 fl. oz. in select salons and spas. Find one near you at ThermaFuse.com.