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.

Tarte Knew What We Needed Before We Knew We Needed It

It's always nice when a cosmetics line anticipates what you need next, like a partner in a healthy relationship. So it was with Tarte this year.  Amid the frenzy of lip stains that came out last spring, ranging from the horrendous felt tip pens of Cover Girl Outlast Lip Stain and Revlon Just Bitten (even more work than CG with its annoying two-step process of covering the gross, dry felt tip pen with balm), all the way to goopy glosses by the major cosmetic houses that could hardly call themselves stains at all, came a parting of the clouds known as Tarte's Lipsurgence.

Already a perennial favorite of mine starting with its Flush cheek and lip stain many years ago, Tarte introduced Lipsurgence this spring claiming that it would increase my lips' moisture content by 6000% in 28 days. Really? Well, I don't care and I really have no idea how I would even figure out if this were true. All I know is that I totally fell in love with this product, and the timing could not have been more perfect. Spring turned into one of the hottest and driest summers on record, a summer when it was hard to be bothered with makeup at all (or what we all had on melted right off) and here was this lovely-textured lip color and balm, sheer enough to put on without a mirror but pretty enough to be noticeable, with its jojoba oil, its peppermint for awesome taste and smell, and vitamins C and E.

But now this wretched summer is over and, as if on cue, my Lipsurgence is running out. It didn't seem right to replace it with more of the same - Tarte seemed to have made this product just for summer.  So imagine my glee when I walked into Sephora for my usual survey of new products, only to find a whole new line of Lipsurgence natural matte lip stains, custom-made for fall in matte colors! The colors are similar to the original line-up, but more muted and subtle, more...well...fall-like. The texture is, as expected, drier (although they're holding to that 6000%!) but the colors are lovely and the matte finish is just what the season needs when you don't really want to go all lipstick-y but you want more than a lip balm or your ChapStick. My favorite is Lively.

 

Thank you, Tarte, for knowing what we needed, when we needed it!

New Sponges (Not Peace and Love) Solve Bacterial Warfare

You go to the makeup counter or drug store (or wherever you buy your products) and purchase your powder compact, either for home or handbag take-along use. It comes with an applicator sponge or puff, usually round or rectangular in shape. You use it for a few weeks and notice that it becomes a little, shall we say, gunky on the applicator side, as well as perhaps a little dirty on the side you have had your hand on. You decide on the lesser of two evils and flip it over. A few more weeks go by. Soon the "new" side is indistinguishable from the first side. But, wait, your sponge is spent and you haven't even worn a hole in your powder yet? What are you supposed to do? Please don't answer this question (even in your head) by saying "keep using the sponge until the powder runs out." This is the wrong answer and will lead to a sponge that looks like this:

This formerly-bright white specimen (for that is the only word I can think to use for it) is, alas, real, and belonged to a dear friend of mine who now knows what I am about to tell you: The sponge that comes with your compact will never last as long as the powder! Why is this important to know? Because as your sponge becomes more used, it's accumulating oils and dirt from your face, and every time you use the powder (perhaps to cover a breakout or two or to absorb oily shine?) you are doing yourself a great disservice because you are merely clogging your skin up further with your own dirt, oil and dead skin cells from earlier, which has now become all mixed together with the lovely powder you spent your good money on. This witches' brew of bacteria and grime is going back into your pores every time you whip out that sponge. Moreover, if you're prone to breakouts to begin with, you are probably breaking yourself out even more.  

Since you now know that your sponge will never last as long as your powder, you should always have an endless supply of replacement sponges of similar size and shape ready to switch out every few weeks...more frequently in the summer (sometimes I switch out once a week during the hot months). These sponges are fortunately easy to find, and - best of all - cheap. You can find them at any drug store, Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond or other store that has a healthy supply of beauty products. If you are fortunate enough to live in New York, the best place to find replacement sponges in my humble opinion is that incomparable Temple of Beauty and magenta wigs, Ricky's. There, among many other things (more on that in another post) you can find my personal favorites, the 24-pack replacement sponges for $4.99!

And there you have it...one of the secrets to clean, clear, bacteria-free skin! And so easy!