I first read about RMS by Rose Marie Swift in No More Dirty Looks by Alexandra Spunt and Siobhan O’Connor.  With twenty years of expertise under her belt, Swift is a veteran makeup artist in the world of high fashion.  After experiencing health issues many years ago, Swift eventually learned that she had extremely high levels of heavy metals, solvents, pesticides, and other chemicals in her blood.  She was told that it was a result of her profession.  Do you have chills?  How crazy is that?  Swift decided to take on the responsibility of being a Clean beauty crusader.  In fact, she was one of the first of her kind in the high end, high fashion arena.  Her incredible line of makeup and skincare launched in 2008 and it is something you need to know about.

“After many years in the fashion and makeup industry, I’ve learned a lot about the impact of daily exposure to chemicals in beauty care products.  I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t live up to its promises.  I see the results of taking a quick-fix approach to looking good.  I know first-hand the price our health can pay in the pursuit of beauty.  I realized that what women need is a cosmetics line that is as pure as possible, one that creates a solid foundation for anti-aging and long-term beauty.” – Rose Marie Swift

If you are curious or a bit of a Clean beauty nerd, I strongly encourage you to visit Swift’s site, www.rmsbeauty.com.  Not only can you learn more about the products and purchase them, the site is so informative and eye-opening, it is like taking a seminar in Clean Beauty.  You leave with a better understanding of how important it is that we use the most natural products possible on our skin.

On to the product reviews.  A few months ago, I purchased the RMS Beauty Essentials Gift Set here.  It was the best $150 I’ve spent on makeup in a long while.  I am totally obsessed with this stuff.  The kit contains RMS “un”cover-up, cream eye shadow, lip2cheek, living luminizer, and raw coconut cream.  It is all to be applied with your fingers.  At first, I was a little nervous about this – I feel like I just started to master using all my fancy angled makeup brushes.  However, Swift and other famous makeup artists like Pat McGrath use nothing but their own fingers to apply makeup, whether it be for runway shows, photo shoots or on themselves, and I have to admit this application method is liberating and kind of fun.  And quick.  Also, RMS’ formulas are perfect for all skin types, from aging, to sensitive, to acne-prone.  Not many makeup companies can say that.  RMS is on to something.

The “un”cover-up is pretty amazing.  This product can be used as concealer or light foundation for subtle, even, flawless coverage.  Ingredients like coconut oil make it incredibly moisturizing so it melts into your skin and adjusts to match your skin tone.  However, these natural, raw moisturizing agents will not clog your pores or break you out; they actually improve the health of your skin.  A little goes a long way.  I pat it lightly onto my under eye circles, blemishes, or any discolorations.  It is virtually undetectable and lasts all day.  It is offered in four different colors, which doesn’t sound like enough, but trust me, it seriously adjusts to match your skin.

RMS lip2cheek is a great multi-tasker and it’s offered in a few different versatile colors as well.  Again a little goes a long way, so I pat a little onto my lips, then I pat the left-over pigment onto my cheeks.  For more intense color, just repeat.  Again, this stuff sinks into your skin to make it look like the blush is coming from within.  What could be better?

The cream eye shadow is so beautiful and simple.  It makes me wonder why I spent so much time applying four different colored shadows with four different brushes to my eyelids in the past.  This product gives you all the benefits of a mineral-based shadow.  What it doesn’t do is dry out your delicate skin or make you look older than your are by settling into lines and creases.  The subtle metallic sheen is really sheer; you can layer on more if you are going for an intense evening look.  This also comes in a multiple colors.

The living luminizer is the best illuminator I have ever used – Clean or not.  It goes on very sheer and it makes my skin look dewy, which definitely beats the frosted-eyeshadow-applied-to-the-cheekbones-look.  You can apply it to your browbones, cheekbones, the bridge of your nose, the bow of your lip, your collarbone, anywhere you want glowing skin.  This product is truly amazing.  It also works well on dark skin, which many illuminators do not.

RMS raw coconut cream is a do-it-all product.  You can use it as a makeup remover, cleanser, or moisturizer.  This coconut oil cream is unrefined, raw, organic and cold-pressed.  Translation: Super-Clean.  It is naturally anti-microbial and anti-bacterial, so it is perfect not just for delicate aging skin, but for sensitive and acne-prone skin as well.

Ingredients: 100% pure cold pressed organic unrefined coconut oil.

The “un” powder is not included in the essentials kit, but buy it anyway.  It is the perfect finishing powder.  When I am done applying all the other products, I dust this all over my face and upper/lower eyelids.  It “seals” the other products in place and controls shine for the day.  It leaves my face looking finished and polished.  Unlike its competitors, it is talc, silicone, fragrance, and paraben-free and it works on ALL skin tones.

Ingredients: 100% silica.

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To order the colors right for your skin tone:

11, Seduce, and Smile are for light skin with yellow or neutral undertones.
Think Cate Blanchett, Susan Sarandon, Natalie Portman, Kate Winslet, Lucy Liu.

22, Magnetic, and Modest are for light medium skin with warm, olive, or neutral undertones.
Think Charlize Theron, Sarah Jessica Parker, Celine Dion, Sandra Bullock, Demi Moore.  (This is the one I use.)

33, Seduce, and Promise are for medium skin with olive, yellow or neutral undertones.
Think Mariska Hargitay, Gisele Bundchen, Eva Mendes, Jennifer Lopez.

44, Spark, and Rapture are for honey to caramel skin with neutral, yellow or red undertones.
Think Freida Pinto, Alicia Keys, Vanessa Minnillo.

There you have it, folks.  It took a little while to get used to all the creamy formulas and fingertip application, but now that we have gotten to know each other, RMS and I are besties.  You should get to know her!