On Monday, I had a real treat. Prescriptives invited me to Bergdorf Goodman to try its Custom Blend service. Now, this is different from Colorprinting. Colorprinting involves finding out which tones your skin has, then choosing existing products within the appropriate family. The Custom Blend service involves working with a makeup artist to create a precise foundation, concealer, lip gloss and/or powder—specifically created to match your skin tone.
My makeup artist was Matthew Garber, who I highly recommend seeing if you're in New York. He's fun, funny and very easy to work with. We decided to do a Custom Blend foundation ($62) and concealer ($32). To find out how it went, and to see pictures of the process, read more
The first step is to be Colorprinted. This involves putting four different swatches of foundation—all with different undertones—on the cheek, then seeing which color family blends best. I'm a blue-red, which means I have cool rose undertones.
Matthew started making the concealer. First, he asked me whether I wanted an undereye concealer or one that would work on blemishes as well. Because I just wanted to stop looking like Uncle Fester, he recommended the addition of light-reflecting, brightening ingredients. Then he filled a test tube with the concealer base. From there, he added pigment and applied it under my eyes. Now, this is the part that made me happiest. He looked at my eyes, pursed his lips, and squinted at it. "It's not quite perfect," he said, and went back to mixing. A few moments later, he tried again. "Much better," he said. When I looked in the mirror, his attention to detail was apparent. I had no more circles! Better yet, it didn't look like I was wearing concealer.
After perfecting the concealer, Matthew went on to create the foundation. We decided to go for a light-coverage liquid with a bit of moisturizing action. First, he primed my skin with Super Line Preventor Xtreme ($48). Then, after mixing the foundation, he applied it. Again, it was very close but not exact, so he did a little tinkering with the formula. When he applied it this time, I couldn't believe it. You know how foundation often shows up like a coat over your skin? This was the exact opposite. Instead of seeing makeup, I only saw skin. It was absolutely perfect.
I went home with a large bottle of foundation, a smaller travel size, and a concealer—all of which provided equally excellent results when I tried them at home. In fact, TeamSugar saw me with it on the other day, and said, "Did you do something different? Your skin looks great." Yay!
At the risk of sounding maudlin, I can see the Custom Blend service being a life-changing thing for a lot of women. So many cosmetics companies have limited foundation shades, and many people—particularly women of color—have had to settle for foundation and concealer that doesn't match their skin tone very well. If you've had this problem, I think this would be a great solution for you. While it isn't cheap, I think it's worth it considering how personalized it is. Not every Prescriptives counter is a Custom Blend one, so look up the closest one to you. If anyone else has had a Custom Blend revelation, let me know.
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1You are SO lucky
Go you!
2I definitely need this, because even at some counters they make my foundation either too pale or too dark for my skin! thank goodness for this now!
3I love their foundation and I need to get this done ASAP. They did a custom blend event at my Nordstrom's, but I missed it.
4This sounds great. I have very pale skin with yellow undertones, and it's so hard to find the right shade. Everything is so dark.
5I need this too. It took me forever to find the right foundation, but I'd love to try something else too. Why not? Seems like this is the perfect way to find it!
6I really, really want to try this, but the price for liquid foundation is a bit hefty at the moment.
7I can see how the price would be worthwhile (with a little cookie-jar saving of course), but is there a shelf life to the products? Sometimes my drug-store brand concealers and foundations get chunky after a few weeks... will this last longer?
8erg... forgot to subscribe...
9madbain - I've never used the custom blend, but I use their already mixed foundation and it's a dream. No chunks.
10wow bella - i just got custom blended too! i had heard about this service and finally took the plunge. my skin was a little hard to match since i have slightly rosy cheeks. part of me was the blue-red undertone while the other one was yellow (?) I forget exactly. anywyas - my makeup artist did a great job in mixing the bases and levels. since my skin is also dry, she was able to add moisturizer, some redness relief, and a candelight glow so now my skin looks great! i went with the medium coverage and got the foundation; loose and pressed powders. in the end, i look like me, just with the flawless skin i always wanted.
i really like the poweder - most loose poweders have been too light or too dark for my skin, but this custom blended one is perfect! it also doesn't look super cakey which is great.
for those worried about cost, the bottle of foundation is pretty big, plus you get the "leftovers". if you have hard to match skin, it's definitely worth it.
11It sounds really cool - too bad the counters that do it are all kinda far away from me
12Oh, cool, Cleegiants! I'm glad to hear that it was a good experience for you, too. You make a good point — while the service isn't cheap, it's a good value. The bottle of foundation seems like it's going to last for a long time. Plus, honestly, over time I've probably spent a lot more money than $62 on trying to get the right foundation. So for me, it's worth it.
Madbain, I haven't had my foundation for long, but like jmt, I've tried the readymade Prescriptives foundation before. It lasted a long time without getting gloppy or gross. No chunks at all.
13best counter makeup ever, try it!
14I'm glad you had a great experience. My friend went one time to do this, but the lady wouldn't really listen to her. She kept teling her she didnt think the color was right, but the MA said it was okay, that the light made it look that way. Then my friend asked for some luminizer type thing to be added, but the MA added way too much. She wore the foundation one time to school and it looked about 3 shades off, the luminizer thing made her look super sweaty, it was real bad. BUT....she went back and another MA helped her get the perfect look.
15I so want to try this!
16I used to work for Prescriptives and mixing the foundation and the powders was a lot of fun,and very messy too. They also do lipgloss in some counters. It is expensive but so worth it because it matches your skin tone perfectly. Oh and I am yellow orange.
17How much is the loose powder? I'm intrigued but 62 dollars might be a little too much for me to spend on myself right now...esp before the holidays.
18thaats great...and not that expensive either!!
19I love Prescriptives base! Unfortunately, there is no Prescriptives counter any where near me. I had to get the first base I bought out of state. I'll be going back next month, though. I would love to do this. I can never get the right shade of under eye concealer.
20I have two custom blended glosses and they are my favourite glosses (outside of my MAC ones). They're really perfect & exactly what I wanted! I can imagine the foundation is even more awesome... I will hopefully get a chance to try that someday! I had my glosses made when I was visiting a friend in Dallas since we don't have a counter here that does the custom blend.
21Omg! That sounds like a lovely time. I would love to try this!
22i'm going to have to try this sometime- i feel like no matter what i do i never get the perfect shades- so itd be really cool to check this out
23I've been Custom Blended and it was great! The foundation matched perfectly, which is difficult since I'm African-American. I've had it for months (it lasts FOREVER if you use a foundation brush and not a sponge) and is definetly not clumpy or gross. Unfortunately, I went to the Bahamas, and it didn't blend too well for a few weeks since I was darker. I also got the loose powder, which I actually love more than the liquid foundation.
They add whatever you want to it--moisterizer, oil-control, bronzer, you name it. It is well worth the price!
24wow, this sounds amazing! i'm never sure of what foundation works for my skin
25Wow! Being half-Korean, I always have a hard time finding the right color. I especially love that it's non-comedogenic, which keeps my finicky skin under control. Maybe I can get some custom blended stuff for my birthday!! Thanks for the review, Bella! I'd just given up on anything but mineral powders so I'm excited!
26I got a Custom Blend concealer in August and it was by far the best decision I ever made. I've graduated from undergrad and now my skin feels like being a teenager! Anyway, the concealer covers up all my blemishes and just makes me feel less self-conscious. I love you (Custom Blend) Prescriptives!
27The foundation is only as good as the person doing the mixing! I cannot emphasize this enough.
I recommend going to a Prescriptives counter that has been around for a much longer time, getting recommendations, and *sticking to your guns* when you don't think the shade is right.
I'm a halfie too, and my skin-color is tricky. Even so-called yellow-based foundations (truematch, HIP, Clinique, Estee Lauder, etc.) are very orange. Pinker foundations look like clown makeup.
The only foundation that's worked for me is Aveda's liquid foundation "Inner Light"... the color is Wheat.
28I can't wait to go and try this out! I'm SO excited now!
29This sounds really amazing, I'd love the check it out
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