Prescriptives To Go

I can't keep up with this - more bad news from the makeup and beauty industry! I read today that Estee Lauder are closing down their global Prescriptives brand. Estee Lauder's CEO and President Fabrizio Freda announced on the website that this has been due to the fact that the brand's "long term business model is no longer viable given the current market environment”.

You may remember my post on Prescriptives' Flawless Skin SPF 15 foundation... I love this foundation and I'm actually due to buy a new bottle since my first purchase in April (yes, that's a whole 6 months' use!) is just about to run out. The great thing about this product is it's not yellow-undertoned - my shade is in Vanilla which is a Red/Orange undertone - making it perfect for someone like me with fair skin, but skin that can tan a little in the summer!

Equally their Flawless Skin concealer which comes with an SPF of 25 is the creamiest, most pigmented concealer I've ever tried - it's my cure for sleepless nights and their tell-tale eyebags and it perfectly hides the odd blemish! This too is still lasting the mile in its pan six months in...

Once again if you want to stock up on any of your favourites, or you may even be curious about Prescriptives for yourself and wish to give them a go, now's the time to do so (of course I can't hold any responsibility for any addiction you may develop and then live to regret, haha!) You have until 31st of January 2010 when all Prescriptives counters will close. You'll still then have a chance to buy from their website until all stocks run dry!

If you have any questions or problems then Prescriptives have opened Freephone numbers to all UK residents: 0800 088 4168, Republic of Ireland: 1800 936 080 and 877-819-2968 for North America customers.

*Starts to tuck away a Winter squirrelling fund for all closing makeup brands* Please, for the love of my purse, no one else close down too!

http://www.prescriptives.com/

My Visit to Prescriptives

I've been having a few problems with my foundation of late. I've happily had success with Benefit's Hello Flawless! that I got hold of at the weekend, however when I collected it the original purpose of my shopping trip was for Prescriptives (what can I say - I got distracted!) :-P

I switched formulas two months ago from Mary Kay's Normal to Dry skins formula to Combination to Oily formula. This was because after a huge improvement in finding the right skincare products for my skin, it had returned from dry and sensitive back to what it used to be - combination.

As my Normal to Dry foundation was compensating for dry skin and providing hydration where I didn't need it I chose to go for the Combination to Oily formula which was great at keeping oil at bay all day! One problem - although I was using exactly the same shade for some mad reason, in the new formula the shade appears too red on my skin. I tried bumping up a shade to a more olive-y tone to complement the olive undertones in my skin but no, too orange.

I decided I'd had enough and had been eyeing up Prescriptives for a good month. I'd been reading interesting reviews and had visited their website. Their products are non-comedogenic (great!) and the MU Artists at the counter really listen to what you're looking for and find out the perfect match ideal for your skin. You can even go the extra mile and have your foundation custom made right in front of you!

I've often walked past Prescriptives' counter in House of Fraser. The poor girls very rarely get a visit from anyone, which is worrying because they do have great customer service and what they essentially offer is a really unique approach to makeup. I think the unfortunate thing for the counter at my House of Fraser is that it's right opposite MAC - with its bright posters, colourful collections and music it's hard to not want to wander over there instead.

But that doesn't mean to say Prescriptives isn't worth the time of day. Their products are a little more expensive but no more so than Estee Lauder or Dior for that matter. But what you pay for is their approach in making makeup unique for you and your skin, providing a personalised service so that you get everything out of makeup that you want and need, because everyone's different! Hence the name, essentially your makeup is 'prescribed' to you based on assessments of your skin.

I came away with Flawless Skin foundation, which retails at £28. The packaging is very nice, simple but a lot like Clinique's packaging. It comes in a 30ml frosted glass bottle so it's quite heavy - if you don't mind carrying that sort of thing round in your handbag then great but if you do I suggest getting hold of a cheap dispenser tube/bottle so you can transfer some into that for on the go!

Flawless Skin claims to works to "protect against sun damage and external assaults" - as it contains SPF 15, another bonus! It goes on to say it "achieves a flawless finish while working 'undercover' to provide your skin with superior skincare protection and boosts skin's own internal defenses against damaging environmental assaults...This lightweight, long-wearing foundation provides natural-looking medium to full coverage for all skin types. Available in 30 shades. Oil free."

I thought when I explained my skin type to the MUA I'd end up with Virtual Matte - their foundation for oilier skins. However Flawless Skin is ideal for combination skins like mine because it's oil-free so doesn't add oil to where there's already plenty but also manages to keep other drier areas hydrated.

Once we determined what formula I'd be having the MUA got to work on "Colorprinting" me - this is the method used by Prescriptives to determine your skin tone and which family it sits in: Yellow/Orange, Red/Orange, Red or Blue/Red. I'm Red/Orange. I have undertones of olive within my skin but I also have rosy cheeks and a hint of red in my skin so I need a foundation that will bring out that peachiness that I have.

Once she Colorprinted me and showed me to make sure I was happy with her conclusion she got to work applying the foundation. She tried two of the lightest shades and it turned out I was Vanilla. I've been using the foundation since, and I save it for weekends and nights out as it's my HG foundation so I don't want to get through it too quickly.

It's fantastic, you need very little - probably not much more than a 5 pence piece-sized drop on the back of your hand so despite the cost I can see this foundation lasting a long while! Then take your foundation brush or stippling brush and get to work. It's very easy to put on, distributes nicely across the skin and blends in beautifully. It makes my skin feel very fresh and dewy and it's the PERFECT shade to my skin colour - no more 'mask' of foundation which I hate - a beautifully clean match.

It also lasts all day and doesn't slide off my face in my T Zone but keeps my skin looking matte but not dull. It's great, in fact I'd almost say that Flawless Skin isn't a bad name because the finish is very natural and it almost looks like my own skin just without the odd blemish - a more even tone all over! I can see this being my ultimate favourite product for months to come...

If you live in the UK you can't buy Prescriptives online but you can find them in any House of Fraser and also QVC.

Visit their website here.

Image Source

Image courtesy of Prescriptives.com

Popping my Benefit cherry...

Hey everyone!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend - I LOVED the sunshine, I made the most of it on Sunday in the pub garden - true bliss! Oh and I also had a very interesting haul weekend. I swung by the Benefit counter at my House of Fraser on Saturday as I normally do to look at what they have to offer.

I've heard hit and miss things about Benefit's collection, but their counter always gets me looking due to their quirky product names and even cuter packaging and branding! Some people don't like it at all but I think it's very vintage - what's not to love?!

The only thing that's really ever put me off is their pricing - some of their products are two times more expensive than their more established counterparts and I've found that interesting since Benefit have been around for a fraction of the time in the UK. Still I gave them a shot for the first time the other day and I must say I'm impressed! Here's what I bought...

Hello Flawless!

This is Benefit's brand new hot-off-the-counter product so you may not have heard of it yet but go along to your local Benefit counter and give it a go! It is also my favourite buy from my Benefit haul so I have to tell you about this one first :-)

Hello Flawless! is a cover-up powder that really does do what it says on the tin... or box! As I was in the market for a new foundation I thought I'd give it a go. The cover up powder comes in 7 shades so there's a shade suitable for everyone, I'm "Me Vain? Champagne" and each powder comes in a compact with a mirror, sponge and small brush.

The great thing about it is it also has SPF 15 which is something I've been on the hunt for for a while. My current foundation's been letting me down recently and the other downside is that it doesn't contain any SPF in it for that extra mile of protection. More and more of us are being made aware of the damaging effect the sun's rays can have on our skins and after seeing many demonstrations of the damage on television I think it's too late to be ignorant.

The only trouble is my current SPF protection cream that I put on before foundation is a little too greasy and heavy for my liking. It cancels out all of the effort that I go to in eliminating oil on my skin and not to mention the smell - I can't really describe it other than think of the unpleasant greasy smell you can get from some sun lotions, but instead sits on the face all day right under your nose. Bleh. So having the advantage of an all-in-one SPF & foundation is a God-send!

The cover up powder provides 3 forms of coverage:

1) Sheer coverage - for those of you who like your coverage light and just want a quick dusting, use the brush provided and sweep onto your face in upward and outward motions starting from the centre of the face.

2) For concealing spots or dark circles use the sponge and dab the powder onto any, as Benefit call them, "boo boos" :-) Keep building up for ideal coverage.

3) For full coverage use the sponge to apply the powder as you would with the brush.

Because I have a few blemishes and ruddyness in my skin I prefer to use the sponge for concealing and also all-over coverage. I was so impressed as I swept it on, I dabbed it onto a couple of recent blemishes I had and in no time at all and with very little product they disappeared. To finish off my face I swept the rest of the powder across my cheeks and forehead very quickly and easily and I found I was done. SO much quicker than my liquid foundation!

Putting this on seems virtually effortless, it seems so quick and easy and the great thing about it is that the powder doesn't look powdery on the face - it doesn't cake up even where I've layered it on in the blemishy areas! I'm so impressed with the match to my skin colour, there's no clear line/tide marks so it doesn't look as if I'm wearing a mask of foundation. It just looks natural and I love that because it's a powder it keeps the oil at bay for most of the day.

The ultimate test now will be waiting to see if it causes breakouts. It's not non-comedogenic so I'm waiting to see if I get some spots as a result of using it. After only two days of use it's hard to tell at this stage but if it doesn't cause problems I will most definitely be buying this product in future!

The powder retails at £24.50 which I know is a little on the not-so-very budget side but trust me give it a go at least, it's very, very good!

Coralista

This is a blush that I think has been one of their best-selling products for a while now. It comes in a very cute leopard print box with its own small wooden blush brush. The blush, as you can probably guess from the name, is a coral, pinky colour - perfect for someone like me who has a natural pinky blush to my skin anyway.

When I first used the blush on myself I noticed it actually has a scent - it smells a little like raspberries! I think quite a few of Benefit's products are scented, as I tried a bronzing powder of theirs which smells like roses. So it might not be recommended for those of you with sensitive skins who might react to scented products.

This blush is very good however, you can build it up as you apply to take it to the level that you like. I'm new to blush so I'm always a little timid with it as there's a fine line between looking like an English rose and a clown! I'll certainly be adding this to my beauty routine more often as it gives the right level of warmth to the skin :-)

Coralista is £22.50.

Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner

I've never tried a cream eyeshadow before so decided to get hold of this when the MUA tried some on me to bring out the bluey greens in my eyes. I bought the shade Birthday Suit which is a lovely nude brown or as Benefit describe, a brushed chrome colour.

This stuff is very creamy and shimmery and feels very smooth as it goes on. I was a little worried that cream shadows might feel a little thick and heavy but not this one. It blends great and you can build it up from a sheer sweep of colour to a deeper wash of colour, or use it for contouring in the crease of your eye for added depths!

It mixes nicely with other eyeshadows so don't worry about blending. Plus it can double up as a fantastic eyeliner if you take an angled eyeshadow brush, run the edge of it through the cream shadow and then glide along the lash line for added wow!

I like this shade so much because it seems to be so versatile - it's most definitely a shade to be worn in the day, to work, or when built up and/or combined with other colours is perfect for a night on the tiles!

You can find this cream eyeshadow/liner for £13.00 from your local Benefit counter or on the Benefit website.

Image Sources
All images courtesy of Benefit

It's all about building on great foundations!

Well this is my first post for my blog - how exciting! : ) You might have guessed from the title that this post is a review about foundation - well one in particular! I thought I'd start with foundation because usually that's the base we work on!

The foundation I'm going to be reviewing is Mary Kay Full Coverage Foundation. I had it recommended to me by a friend and I honestly haven't looked back! I'm also speaking as a person who has never before worn foundation much, usually because I could never find the right coverage or the foundation would 'white' me out.

Please note you won't be able to buy this in-store, as you can only purchase from Mary Kay consultants (much like Avon). This isn't a problem however because if you go to the Mary Kay website http://www.marykay.co.uk/ or http://www.marykay.com/ you can find your local consultant (if you don't already have/know one) and get in touch with her directly.

You'll find the product comes in a white 29ml tube with a pink lid at a price of £12.50 (£12.00 now VAT is at 15% at the moment). This may seem quite a lot for what you get but this will easily last you a good 4 months as a little goes a very long way! You really don't need to apply that much to get a good all-round even coverage.

There are two types of coverage on offer - Full and Medium. Full coverage is for those of you with normal to dry skin, like mine, if you suffer from dry patches, flaky skin or just generally skin that seems thirsty for moisture then this is the one for you! It not only offers you great coverage but it also hydrates the skin for up to 6 hours!

Medium coverage is best if your skin leans towards the oilier side such as if you suffer from a T Zone etc. It too offers great coverage and controls excess oil for up to 8 hours. Both products are hypoallergenic (and not tested on animals!) and what I found useful is that they're also non-comedogenic which means they don't clog the pores. If you're anything like me this is a miracle because I have extremely blemish-prone skin and very few products on the market offer this benefit which means I came up in break-outs frequently.

The best thing to do is to start off by visiting your Mary Kay consultant as she can match the ideal shade of foundation for your skin tone. The great thing about this stuff is it offers buildable coverage, so you can start off by applying a light application and build up if you want more coverage. Or if you have a blemish or spot you'd like to conceal you can concentrate the foundation in that specific area by dabbing a bit of foundation onto the area (saving on buying concealer which is great!).

You can either apply using your fingers (some people recommend this as your fingers are warm which allows for better distribution over the face and eases blending). Or you can use a cosmetic sponge which helps to blend in the harder places such as the creases of the nose and around the eyes. This foundation is great as it sets after about 10 minutes and lasts the whole day. It doesn't go cakey, or peel or crumble like many foundations can nor does it smear off and transfer onto fabrics (unless you fiercely rub of course!). I only tend to need to reapply at the end of a hot or tiring day if I want to head out in the evening but have no time to freshen up at home.

In addition I've found my skin has improved since using this product - I don't get half as many blemishes as I used to and thought I would considering I'm covering my face in foundation every day now!

The final cherry on the cake, believe it or believe it not, is that if for whatever reason you're not happy with a product that you may buy from Mary Kay, you're entitled to a 100% full refund! Yes, that's even if you've used it and opened the packaging and everything : D

Overall this product is highly recommended. If you're tired of your current foundation not lasting the mile or working how you would like or fancy a change then I think you should try this next!!