Prescriptives: The Wonka Factory of Cosmetics

Some months ago, nearly a year now, when the announcement was made that the beloved Prescriptives would be closing its department store counters and phasing out its products online, you could practically hear the collective cry of dismay rise up from women everywhere. It was painful. First the counters ran out of everything, leaving the Prescriptives make-up artists and skin analysts standing around looking simultaneously bored and apologetic, halfheartedly pointing women toward Clinique. Then the counters closed for good, and we all started clamoring for the website, where when something was out of stock we assumed it was out of stock forever. I stockpiled three concealers and two powder compacts, while most of the other products I used were long gone. One girlfriend told me that she used the bulk of a paycheck from a freelance job – delaying financial allocations to things like rent and food – to stock up on her Prescriptives favorites. 

Why all this fuss and dedication? Because Prescriptives is that one line that, above all others, makes it truly look like you aren’t wearing any makeup. This is because they have, hands-down, the best color matching system I know of for base makeup (foundation, powders, concealers), and if their basic range of colors didn't work for you they would - and still will - mix a custom color just for your skin tone. What could be better? 

But then something strange happened. Once we all had stocked up on what we could get our hands on, or found what we thought were suitable replacements, mysterious AVAILABLE NOW e-mails started coming from Prescriptives again. It started to remind me of how Willy Wonka’s Factory shut its gates for several years, only to begin production of chocolate treats again without ever opening its doors. “Nobody ever goes in…nobody ever comes out.” And that’s kind of true, since Prescriptives is now just a website.

How is all this happening? They say: “We are pleased to tell you that due to the continuing high volume of online demand for certain Prescriptives products from our loyal customers, we have made the decision to resume production of our top-selling products at this time.”

I say: it might just be that Oompa-Loompas have turned from chocolate to Makeup Development and Cosmetology.