Blending In

Ms. New Beauty had a weird day yesterday. She was tired but she wasn't sleepy. She felt like a cold was coming on, but she wasn't congested. She was hungry but didn't know what she wanted to eat. She was thirsty but barely drank her favorite bottle water. MNB actually sat at her desk having to use the bathroom for an hour before she finally got up to do it. It was just a weird icky day. So, when the clock finally struck quitting time, she headed to the only place that could make her feel better - the Beauty Basement at Bergdorf Goodman. The fact that she works on the same block as BG is both a gift and a curse for Ms. New Beauty. She can head there for quick purchases whenever she needs to or she can be drawn in by the powerful magnetic shoppers field that emanates from the building and run up her credit cards. MNB had been good about avoiding the store for the past few weeks, but yesterday she knew that's where she need to go and she knew exactly what she needed to get.

Prescriptives Custom Blend Foundation

I've been a fan of Prescriptives just about all my life. As a child, the only one of her perfumes that my mother would let me wear was Calyx, the sweetest fruitiest scent that's just perfect for a 10 year old heading to church on Sunday. It's always been a brand that I've respected and since the changeover from summer to fall always mandates a new foundation for me, I knew I'd give this a try. Recently, Beauty Bloggerville (which, of course, is the mystical land where all beauty bloggers reside) has been all aflutter and atwitter about Prescriptives Custom Blended Foundation. I've read reviews by some of my faves, like Tia Williams and the Beauty Snobs, that just gushed about the wonders of this foundation. Normally, I try to offer up reviews on products that haven't been reviewed a bunch of times before. I figure there's only so many times a person needs to read that Rosebud Salve works on dry lips. So, I was going to just get my foundation and post about something else. But, I just had to write my own review because it was just so beautiful on me!

At Bergdorf's, Jason was my mix master. After talking with him, I realized that he's also the mix master that Julia and Nichelle went to. All it took was a quick swipe to determine my undertones, though I suspect he knew my base color as soon as he saw me, and then he started mixing up my foundation. I expected some kind of scanning device to spit out an exact formula for him (didn't Prescriptives used to do that back in the day?). But he after he determined my correct base, he mixed my foundation by hand. He asked me what coverage level I'd like (sheer for me) and what additives would be best. I went with the mattifying shine absorber to complement the already oil-free formula since my skin gets oilier as the day goes on. He then added a bunch of different things and some colors that I never would have expected, like mustard yellow and ketchup red. I was certain that he would have to go back and tweak it to get things just right. My mind was thinking "come on, there's no way this'll match on the first try." But it did!

Once he shook the bottle and blended all the colors together, it went on seamlessly. It matched my skin perfectly! And when I say perfect, I mean PER-FECT. Not that "well this blends well enough because no one foundation is invisible" kind of perfect that we've started expecting from products that underperform. This was the "I'm sitting under the lighting on Oprah" perfect. You know that Oprah has the right lights and filters so everyone on her show looks amazing and ten years younger. That's what I looked like, but it real life. It's like I have my own personal airbrusher and photoshop whiz following me around and editing out the discoloration, the post-acne scars, the dark circles, the everything that's standing in between me and skin perfection.

The Custom Blend foundation automatically comes with a travel size bottle of your formula so that you can take it with you where ever you go. And, once the service is done, they keep your recipe on file so that you can get refills with ease. They can also use your foundation recipe to mix up all-over face concealers and powders to give you a complete regimen. The price is higher than most foundations, but it is well worth it.

$62, available at Prescriptives counters.


Look like you're under those Oprah lights all day, every day, and remember to sign up for the M.A.C. Holiday Collections Giveaway, but just don't forget that Ms. New Beauty told you!