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                                                                  Exhibit 10.78


                             RENAISSANCE COSMETICS, INC.
                                  635 MADISON AVENUE
                               NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10022


                                   May 15, 1998


Mr. John R. Jackson
1116 Preserve Circle
Golden, Colorado  80401


     RE:  EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT ("AGREEMENT")

Dear John:

          This Agreement sets forth the terms and conditions of your 
continued employment with Renaissance Cosmetics, Inc., a Delaware corporation 
("RCI"), Dana Perfumes Corp., a Delaware corporation ("Dana"), Cosmar 
Corporation, a Delaware corporation, Flirt Cosmetics, Inc., a Nevada 
corporation ("Flirt"), Marcafin, S.A., a Swiss corporation ("Marcafin"), 
Perfumes Dana do Brasil, S.A., a Brazilian corporation ("Dana Brasil"), and 
certain of RCI's other subsidiaries (the "Subsidiaries") as designated from 
time to time by the Chief Executive Officer and/or Board of Directors of RCI 
(the "Board").  RCI, Dana, Cosmar, Flirt, Marcafin, and Dana Brasil are 
collectively referred to herein as the "Employers."  This Agreement shall 
become effective as of May 15, 1998 (the "Effective Date").

          1.   EMPLOYMENT AND SERVICES.  You shall continue to be employed as 
a Group Vice President, Corporate Development and Human Resources and 
Secretary of RCI and Vice President and Secretary of each of the Employers 
and the Subsidiaries,  for the period beginning on the Effective Date and 
ending upon the two year anniversary of the Effective Date or earlier 
termination pursuant to paragraph 5 (the "Employment Period"); provided, 
however, that, in the absence of termination, the Employment Period shall be 
extended for successive one year terms so long as neither party gives written 
notice of non-renewal to the other party not less than 90 days prior to the 
then-current scheduled expiration date of the Employment Period.  If such 
notice of non-renewal is given, this Agreement shall expire at the end of the 
then-current term.  During the Employment Period, you shall render such 
services to the Employers as the Chief Executive Officer 

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and/or Board shall designate from time to time, and you shall devote your 
best efforts and full time and attention to the business of the Employers.

          Each of the Employers is jointly and severally liable for the 
obligations hereunder; provided, however, that with respect to the fringe 
benefits provided hereunder, such benefits shall be provided under RCI's 
plans and in the event RCI is unable for any reason to provide such benefits, 
the Employers shall promptly make a cash payment to you in an after-tax 
amount sufficient to permit you to purchase equivalent benefits in the 
marketplace. The Employers shall determine, in their discretion, which 
Employer shall make all cash payments required under the terms of this 
Agreement, but nothing herein shall limit the joint and several liability of 
each of the Employers. 

          2.   COMPENSATION.  During the Employment Period, the Employers 
shall pay you an annual base salary of $210,000 ("Base Salary"), payable in 
installments in accordance with RCI's regular payroll practices.  The Base 
Salary shall be subject to annual review by the Board and possible increase 
on an annual basis, in the discretion of the Board. In addition, during the 
Employment Period, you will participate in RCI's senior executive annual 
bonus program, in such manner and at such level as is determined by the 
Board; provided, however, that you will be entitled to receive a minimum 
bonus of $10,000 for each year during the Employment Period without regard to 
the amount you would otherwise be entitled to receive under the bonus program 
then in effect.  The bonus program is reviewed by the Board yearly at which 
time the Board sets targets which it deems reasonable for RCI.    

          3.   BENEFITS AND OTHER MATTERS.  

               (a)  INSURANCE AND OTHER BENEFIT PLANS.  You shall be entitled 
to participate in the insurance plans, retirement plans and all other benefit 
plans generally available to RCI's executive employees as in effect from time 
to time. 

               (b)  VACATION.  During the Employment Period, you shall 
receive four weeks of paid vacation per year.   Unused vacation shall accrue 
for the following year; however, you agree not to take more than five weeks 
of vacation in any one year.  In addition, any unused vacation (determined on 
the basis of four weeks per year) from the first date of your employment with 
any of the Employers up to the Effective Date shall accrue in accordance with 
the terms hereof.  Upon termination of your employment for any reason, you 
will be entitled to receive payment for any accrued but unused vacation 
through the date of termination.   

               (c)  INDEMNIFICATION.  RCI ratifies and confirms that its 
obligations under the Indemnification  Agreement, dated May 12, 1997, by and 
between RCI and you, remain in full force and effect, and each of the other 
Employers agrees to become a party to, and assume and perform the obligations 
of RCI under, such Indemnification Agreement.

               (d)  REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES.  The Employers  will reimburse 
your reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with the 
performance of your services 

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hereunder, in each case subject to and consistent with RCI's expense 
reimbursement policy; provided that, for all expenses incurred by you on and 
after the Effective Date,  you prepare expense reports within thirty (30) 
days of the date the expense is incurred.  With respect to all expenses 
incurred by you prior to the Effective Date for which you have not submitted 
requests for reimbursement, the  Employers will reimburse you for such 
expenses consistent with RCI's expense reimbursement policy provided that you 
submit the appropriate documentation by not later than June 15, 1998.

               (e)  COMPANY CAR.  You will be entitled to the use of a 
company car at the Employers' expense on terms no less favorable than those 
provided to RCI's  executives generally (the "Company Car").   The Employers 
may, in their discretion, lease or acquire the Company Car for your use, 
consistent with prior practice; provided, however, that the purchase price of 
the Company Car (or the purchase price implicit in the lease rate) including 
all taxes shall not exceed $40,000 (or you may choose a car allowance of 
$1,000 per month).  At the expiration of the Employment Period as provided in 
paragraph 1 hereof or upon the termination of your employment by the 
Employers without Cause (as defined below) or by you for Good Reason (as 
defined below), (i) the Company Car shall become your property, at no expense 
to you; provided, however, that in the event the Company Car is under lease 
to the one of the Employers at such time, the Employers may, in their 
discretion, elect to continue to make the payments under the lease and 
transfer title to the Company Car to you at the end of the term of the lease, 
and provided further that you will not be entitled to the continuation of any 
other benefits under the Employers' then-current car policy, and (ii) the 
Employers will reimburse you for any federal or state tax liability incurred 
by you arising out of the transfer of the Company Car to you.   

               (f)  TRAVEL.   During the Employment Period, you will continue 
to be based in Denver, Colorado.   You will  be required to travel in an 
amount consistent with the amount you have traveled for the Employers over 
the two years prior to the Effective Date, and you will continue to be 
reimbursed for travel expenses in a manner consistent with RCI's practice 
over the same period of time.

          4.   TERMINATION AND SEVERANCE.  

               (a)  The Employment Period shall terminate on the first to 
occur of (a) the then-current scheduled expiration date of the Employment 
Period, (b) termination with or without Good Reason (as defined below) by 
you, or (c) termination with or without Cause (as defined below) by the Chief 
Executive Officer or the Board.

               (b)  If (i) the Employers terminate your employment with 
Cause, or (ii) you terminate your employment without Good Reason, you shall 
be entitled to receive only accrued but unpaid Base Salary and other benefits 
to which you are entitled through the date of termination, plus unreimbursed 
expenses incurred through the date of termination. 

               (c)  If the Employers terminate your employment for reasons 
other than for Cause, or you terminate your employment for Good Reason, you 
shall be entitled to (i) the 

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amount of any accrued but unpaid Base Salary and other benefits to which you 
are entitled through the date of termination, and unreimbursed expenses 
incurred through the date of termination, plus  (ii) the greater of (A) the 
Base Salary for each year (pro rated for any part thereof) remaining in the 
Employment Period after the date of termination, or (B) one year's Base 
Salary (net of any severance payments paid to you under the Employers' 
severance policy as may then be in effect).  In addition, in the event the 
executives participating in RCI's senior executive bonus program receive a 
bonus for the fiscal year in which your employment is terminated for the 
reasons described in this paragraph (c), you will also receive the full 
amount of the bonus you would have been entitled to receive with respect to 
such fiscal year but for the termination of your employment at any time 
during such fiscal year.  The payments described  in (ii) above plus the 
bonus described in the immediately preceding sentence are collectively 
referred to herein as the "Severance Payments."  You shall also be entitled 
to receive the full insurance and other benefits (under the benefit plans 
described in paragraph 3(a) hereof) you were receiving immediately prior to 
the termination date for the period in which you are receiving Severance 
Payments. 

               (d)   For purposes of this Agreement: 

               (i)  "Cause" shall mean:

                    (A)  your willful and repeated failure to comply with the 
reasonable and lawful directives of the Chief Executive Officer and/or the 
Board;

                    (B)  any criminal act or act of dishonesty, disloyalty, 
misconduct or moral turpitude by you that is injurious in any significant 
respect to the property, operations, business or reputation of the Employers; 
or 

                    (C)  your material breach of this Agreement (which shall 
include any breach of paragraph 5 or paragraph 6 hereof).

          A determination that Cause exists shall be made by the Board.

               (ii) "Good Reason" shall mean termination at your election 
based on (A), (B),  or (C) below (provided that such termination occurs 
within 90 days of the date on which the event described in (A), (B), or (C) 
becomes effective) or by reason of an event described in (D) below:

                    (A)  a reduction in your fringe or retirement benefits 
that is not applied by the Employers to executives generally or, in the case 
of any benefit unique to you, a more than immaterial reduction in such 
benefit, or a reduction by the Employers in your Base Salary;

                    (B)  the (I) merger or consolidation of RCI into or with 
any other entity, (II) change in control of RCI (which, for purposes hereof, 
shall mean a transfer to a third party (i.e., a party other than one of the 
Employers or one of their Subsidiaries) which vests in such third 

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party 50% or more of the total voting power of the common stock of RCI; 
provided, however, that a transaction that vests 50% or more of the total 
voting power of the common stock of RCI in the holders of the 11 3/4% Senior 
Notes due 2004 shall not constitute a change of control for purposes hereof), 
or (III) sale, transfer or other disposition of all or substantially all of 
the assets of RCI ((I), (II) and (III) are collectively referred to as a 
"Restructuring Event"), unless the entity which survives the Restructuring 
Event shall assume and agree to perform the obligations of RCI hereunder 
pursuant to an instrument reasonably acceptable to you;

                    (C)  you are required by the Employers to relocate or 
your travel time increases materially compared to your travel time for the 
Employers over the two years prior to the Effective Date; or 

                    (D)  you die or become mentally or physically disabled 
for such period of time and under circumstances which entitle you to receive 
disability benefits under the terms of the long-term disability insurance 
policy then maintained by the Employers.

          (e)  In the event that, during the period in which you are 
receiving Severance Payments and the other benefits described in paragraph 
(c) hereof (collectively, the "Severance Benefits"), you secure full-time 
employment with any third party, you shall notify the Employers of such 
employment prior to the commencement thereof.  Effective immediately upon the 
commencement of your new employment, the Severance Benefits shall cease and 
the Employers shall have no further obligation to you with respect to 
Severance Benefits.

          (f)  All Severance Payments shall be made monthly at such time as 
RCI's regular payroll payments are made, with the exception of the portion 
attributable to the bonus described in paragraph 4(c) hereof which shall be 
paid at the same time as RCI pays all other bonuses under the senior 
executive bonus program.

          5.   CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.  You acknowledge that information 
obtained by you during your employment with the Employers concerning the 
business or affairs of the Employers ("Confidential Information") is the 
property of the Employers.  You shall not at any time during or after the 
Employment Period, without the prior written consent of the Board, disclose 
to any unauthorized person or use for your own account or for the account of 
any person other than the Employers any Confidential Information, except to 
the extent necessary to comply with applicable laws or to the extent that 
such information becomes generally known to and available for use by the 
public other than as a result of your acts or failure to act.  Upon 
termination of the Employment Period or at the request of the Board at any 
time, you shall deliver to the Board all documents containing Confidential 
Information or relating to the business or affairs of the Employers that you 
may then possess or have under your control.

          6.   NON-COMPETITION; NON-SOLICITATION.  

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               (a)  NON-COMPETITION.  You acknowledge that you are and will 
be in possession of Confidential Information and that your services are of 
unique and great value to the Employers.  Accordingly, during the Employment 
Period and, if applicable, for so long as you are receiving Severance 
Payments in accordance with the terms of paragraph 4 hereof (the "Non-Compete 
Period"), you shall not directly or indirectly own, manage, control, 
participate in, consult with, render services to, or in any manner engage in, 
any enterprise competing with any business of the Employers conducted or 
proposed (during the Employment Period or on the date of termination of the 
Employment Period) to be conducted, within any geographical area in which the 
Employers engage or plan (during the Employment Period or on the date of 
termination of the Employment Period) to engage in such business.  Nothing 
herein shall prohibit you from being a passive owner of not more than 1% of 
any publicly-traded class of capital stock of any entity engaged in a 
competing business.

               (b)  NON-SOLICITATION.  During the Non-Compete Period, you 
shall not (i) induce or attempt to induce any employee of the Employers to 
terminate, or in any way interfere with, the relationship between the 
Employers and any employee thereof, (ii) hire directly or through another 
entity any person who was an employee of the Employers at any time during the 
Employment Period or (iii) induce or attempt to induce any customer or other 
business relation of the Employers to cease doing business with the 
Employers, or in any way interfere with the relationship between any such 
customer or business relation and the Employers.

               (c)  SCOPE OF RESTRICTION.  If, at the time of enforcement of 
this paragraph 6, a court shall hold that the duration, scope or area 
restrictions stated herein are unreasonable under circumstances then 
existing, the parties hereto agree that the maximum duration, scope or area 
reasonable under such circumstances shall be substituted for the stated 
duration, scope or area.

               (d)  INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.  You acknowledge that the Employers 
would be irreparably harmed by a breach by you of the provisions of this 
paragraph 6 or of paragraph 5 above, and hereby consent to the Employers' 
request for injunctive relief in connection with any such breach or 
threatened breach.

          7.   KEY MAN LIFE INSURANCE.  In the event any of the Employers 
purchases a key man  life insurance policy covering you, you agree to provide 
such Employer with such information, and execute such documents, as may be 
necessary for such Employer to purchase such policy.

          8.   PRIOR AGREEMENTS.  This Agreement embodies the complete 
agreement and understanding between the parties and supersedes any and all 
prior agreements, arrangements or understandings, written or oral, with 
respect to the matters addressed herein.  This Agreement may be amended or 
modified, and the terms hereof may be waived, only in a writing duly executed 
and delivered by you and each of the Employers.  

          9.   SURVIVAL.  The provisions of paragraphs 5 and 6 hereof will 
survive any termination of this Agreement.

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          10.  GOVERNING LAW.  All questions concerning the construction, 
validity and interpretation of this Agreement shall be governed by the 
internal law, and not the law of conflicts, of the State of New York.

          11.  NOTICES.  Any notices, consents or other communications 
required hereunder shall be in writing and shall be sufficiently given only 
if sent by overnight courier (such as Federal Express) or by registered or 
certified mail (return receipt requested), postage prepaid, addressed as 
follows (or to such other address or addresses as may hereafter be furnished 
in writing by notices similarly given by one party to the other): 

               To you:

               Mr. John R. Jackson
               1116 Preserve Circle
               Golden, Colorado 80401

               To the Employers:

               c/o Renaissance Cosmetics, Inc.
               3 Landmark Square
               Fifth Floor
               Stamford, Connecticut 06901
               Attention:  President and Chief Executive Officer

               With a copy to:

               Brownstein Hyatt Farber & Strickland
               410 Seventeenth Street, 22nd Floor
               Denver, Colorado  80202
               Attention:  Jacquelyn Kilmer, Esq.

          12.  COUNTERPARTS.  This Agreement may be executed in two or more 
original counterparts, each of which shall constitute an original and both or 
all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument.  Only one 
such counterpart signed by the party against whom enforceability is sought 
needs to be produced to evidence the existence of this Agreement.  Signatures 
may be exchanged by telecopy, with original signatures to follow.  Each party 
to this Agreement agrees to be bound by its/his own telecopied signature and 
to accept the telecopied signature of the other party to this Agreement.    

          13.  SEVERABILITY.  The various provisions of this Agreement are 
severable from each other and from the rest of this Agreement, and, in the 
event any part of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable by a 
court or otherwise, the remainder of this Agreement shall be fully effective, 
operative and enforceable.  

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          14.  ATTORNEYS' FEES.  Should any dispute arise between the 
Employers and you concerning this Agreement or its terms and conditions, the 
substantially prevailing party in any action or proceeding brought to resolve 
such dispute, whether at trial, on appeal or in another proceeding shall be 
entitled to receive from the other party its/his reasonable attorneys' fees.  

          Please execute the extra copy of this letter agreement in the space 
below and return it to the undersigned at the address set forth above to 
confirm your understanding and acceptance of the agreements contained herein.

 
                                   Very truly yours,

                                   RENAISSANCE COSMETICS, INC. 
                                   DANA PERFUMES CORP.
                                   COSMAR CORPORATION
                                   FLIRT COSMETICS, INC.
                                   MARCAFIN, S.A.
                                   DANA DO BRASIL, S.A.


                                   By: /s/ Norbert Becker  
                                       ---------------------------
                                   Name:   Norbert Becker 
                                   Title:  President and Chief Executive
                                           Officer




Accepted and agreed to:

MR. JOHN R. JACKSON


/s/ John Jackson
---------------------------


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