Prescriptives closing down update & Interview with Lisa Durrant, Acting Beauty Director of Instyle Magazine, UK

Prescriptives closing down update
Hopefully you will have seen my recent YT videos on Prescriptives and the news announced this week that Estee Lauder are closing down the brand worldwide effective as of 31 January 2010.

I had found my HG foundation from Px about 2 months ago - their All Skins Mineral Powder foundation (reviewed on my YT channel). So Selfridges in London was having beauty event for the charity Look Good....Feel Good, which is a charity for women with cancer. I had booked an appointment with Px to rediscover the brand in light of my discovery of my HG foundation and also cos I hadn't looked at it for many years. I think the brand has suffered from this, there are star items like the foundations but the rest of the range doesn't match this or isn't marketed as well so
the range doesn't get much attention from the consumer.

As I said in my YT video, once the stock is gone, that is it. The makeupartist also said that the custom blending facility is copyrighted/patented so if someone wants to bring this out again, they will need to ask permission. I am guessing that Estee Lauder is the person to ask (just in case you wanted to create your own brand with this unique facility!) - but it would not surprise me at all - if EL bring out another makeup brand like Px but give it a different name.
#Fingers crossed#

The makeover
The makeupartist who 'made' me over was lovely and I wanted to try some different eyeshadow colours than my usual - though beloved - bronzes and browns. The eyeshadow colours used on me - purples were mainly matte dusty lilac and grey finishes with one blue shimmery eyeshadow, topped with a navy blue eyeliner and mascara. I'd never tried their Flawless foundation and she used this on me - it was very good coverage and only a very slight satiny finish. Blush was used too. I ended up coming away with an eyeshadow palette with the blue shimmery eyeshadow (which reminds me of MAC's Contrast but not so shimmery) and they had run out of stock of the 2 other matte eyeshadows Mauve and Mushroom. That I think was poor. If you know you have an event, surely you need to stock up. Perhaps that is just a reflection of the brand - unfortunately. Interestingly, the makeupartist told me that they are going to bring out a winter collection of shimmery and frosty eyeshadows in October - so I want to check these out and fill up the rest of the palette.

Overall, I thought the makeover was fine - nothing blew me away - the blue eyeliner that was used on me just looked wrong and looked like I had put on a black eyeliner that had turned colour. : (

The goodie bag included this month's Instyle magazine, a custom blended lipgloss acccording to your choice of colour (I wanted a caramel brown), a full size Super Line Preventor Xtreme. So here is what I walked away with:


Interview with Lisa Durrant, Acting Beauty Director of Instyle Magazine, UK
One of the features of the event was that your makeover was presided over by a beauty editor and the very lovely and friendly Lisa Durrant was assigned to Px. She very kindly answered a few questions I had at the ready - and this was the first time that I've done something like this (especially as a hobby!) so I did feel like I was challenging myself. Also, I only had a pen and notepad so I've paraphrased the interview. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

It's London Fashion Week 2010 this week, and London is known and seen as the centre of the cutting edge and individual fashion. What would you say London is known for in the makeup world?
Lisa: I would say that it's experimental. London girls are eccentric in their style and this translates to their makeup. If you see the girls in East London, they are taking the whole 80s vibe to force and brands such as Illamasqua are leading the way in experimentation. Milan, Paris and New York are safer in terms of their makeup look. The majority of women are still safe in their approach to makeup, but that does seem to be changing.

What important development do you think the makeup world has seen in the last 5 years?
Textures of products have seen a great change. Eyeshadows are more blendable, as well as foundations that now look like skin, even powders are more blendable. Women want skin to look like skin so products now have better and real textures to help achieve this.

What do you foresee being the development in the next 5 years?
Makeup goes in cycles, and a lot of women are still scared of makeup. As the recession has hit and people are now out of jobs, women are spending more wisely, and are more choosy, and only on what they need. But there is also a move towards a bit of escapism that translates into being more experiemental and adventurous with makeup. It makes you feel good about yourself. You've seen the popularity of nail bars in the UK, and more recently Lash bars and the popularity of lash extensions etc - so there might very well be something like this in the future.

What advice would you give someone wanting a career in beauty journalism?
Getting work experience is important, try for internships. Even if you have to make the tea and volunteer for free if you are able. It is competitive and tough now, but network and attend launches as much as possible. I did a fashion degree but it's not necessary to do a degree strictly related to fashion.

Thanks Lisa! I enjoyed chatting with you.



Now the all important question for me is, not will I be buying backups of the Px foundation, but how many?!?!?!?!? ; D

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed making it!

What workout should I do in New York City?

I am very excited as I will be visiting the Big Apple at the end of the month for a week's holiday with my girlfriends. I cannot wait to spend some time catching up with them and their lives (as we don't live in the same cities) - and creating new experiences with them.

So, I'm compiling a list of makeup stuff to check out (the usuals, Sephora, Bendels, Saks) but wanted to see if you had any recs? I really want to go to a CVS or Rite Aid which has a good selection of Essence of Beauty tools, Sally Hensen, Maybelline, Covergirl etc.....any recs?

Any vintage clothing stores as well to check out?

I just can't wait, it's gonna be fun : D

Supermarket makeup workout - ASDA George eyeshadows

This last weekend I was in Milton Keynes and the one thing I would say about London is that we don't have massive supermarket or brand stores like most towns outside of London seem to do. So access to certain supermarket fashion lines (like George at Asda) or makeup produced is non existent. There's a reason of course for that - space - and I know in London we are spoilt for choice with other fashion and makeup lines: D

I've tried Barbara Daly's Makeup brand for Tescos and have loved some things from her line, especially her makeup brushes and her powder highlighter. But I haven't seen anything from other supermarkets that tempted me, or didn't look very cheap in quality.

So the Makeup Artist Collections for MAC came out this weekend and I was thinking of getting the Notoreity e/s quad (being the neutral/natural fan that I am) - until I saw the Velvet Eye Palette in No2 Autumn Leaves by George at Asda.

It's not exactly like for like as the Notoreity quad of course, but I like it much better as a colour quad because it has a very gorgeous olive green shade that reminds me of Stila's La Douce (another beautiful fave of mine). Also the brown e/s with glitter in Notoreity is chalky : ( Autumn Leaves is a very fitting title description and all the colours go very well together. The finish is quite a subtle shimmer - not as strong as MAC's frosts - and the pigmentation is good though a couple of layers need to be applied. I prefer them much over my NYX e/s as though NYX colours are nice, they're just not pigmented and don't last the day, let alone the morning. I also think that the George e/s are much better quality than a lot of the e/s I see in the drugstore like Rimmel for e.g. The George e/s feel quite smooth and I don't feel that they are too cheap quality - as I don't feel like they are going to crack as easily as some drugstore items I have. They last relatively well, and better with my MAC paint Bare Canvas.

So I like all the colours in this quad:
-a cream (which reminds me of my other fave MAC's Brule though Brule has more 'white' in it)
- a copper tan
- a light bronze brown
- a medium toned true olive with gold sheen



Here are some swatches:
Velvet Eye Palette in No2 Autumn Leaves
Retail price: £4.50


There were 2 other quads, one purple range and I can't remember the other am afraid.

I also bought some single e/s, L-R: No 4 Combat (a taupe) and No 20 Delusional (the exact same olive shade as in the Autumn Leaves quad above)
Retail price: just over £2


No 4 Combat is a dead ringer for MAC's Satin Taupe, except it's not frosty. I'm not kidding. Also, No 4 Combat actually reminds me of a taupe from the Laura Mercier Taupe of Evolution set. I would suggest those who don't have MAC Satin Taupe and don't mind something less frosty and drugstore - though still satiny - to go get No 4 Combat as the similarity is surprising! Someone at George must have been a MAC ST fan : D

Swatches from top to bottom - George No 4 Combat and MAC Satin Taupe


There were also quite a range of other single e/s colours - including some bright yellow and orange for the more adventurous makeup fans out there.

Now, the eyeshadows do have talc and mica in it for those of you sensitive to it - as well as a whole bunch of C numbers! The quad comes with a duo sponged applicator, an applicator that I don't find useful and the singles don't have applicators.

SO......

PROS
Fantastic quality with an unbelievably fantastic price! (Don't let the low price fool you!)
Great, wearable colours
Good pigmentation and staying power

CONS
Possibly has ingredients not good for sensitive skins
Oh....can't get easy access to it from London ;D

All in all, I was pretty chuffed with this and can't wait to play with the quad for an office look tomorrow.

Any purchases you made this weekend? Share!


PS. I did check out MAC's new collection and I think I'll get both the blushes - Notable and Perfect Cheek. I'm going to NYC on a girlie holiday at the end of Sept so I'll wait to purchase either at Heathrow or in the US....

Workout playlist? What are your top 5 workout songs?

Ok, so I'm getting bored with my playlist and need some heart bumping workout songs. I generally like remixes of pop songs - something I can run on the treadmill to but equally do weights with. Here are my current top 5 songs on repeat - what are yours? I need some fresh songs : D

Release me by Agnes
Funk So Brother by Fat Boy Slim (gets me working every time)
Uninvited remix by the Freemasons (actually any of their songs)
Sweet Dreams by Beyonce (love the 80s influence in this)
Lately by Lisa Scott Lee (I know, I know, but it's great to work out to!)


So share - what are the songs that get you going?

Nail workout - a twist on the frenchie

This twist is not new, but it's the first time I have done it! I'm trying to be a bit more adventurous.

I'm pretty conservative on the whole - especially at work. But I am loving this manicure I did this week, a basic french manicure but with nail stickers applied! I bought the nail stickers from HK (cheapo at HK$10! Which is about £1). Pretty gold and white bows and hearts.


I used the white polish from the Loreal French Manicure set for the tips and Essie's Fed Up on top. Then I applied the stickers and set over this with Sally Hensen's Top Coat. It was much easier than I expected : D

What's your favourite manicure/pedicure this week?

Bank Holiday Outfit workout - and a mini accessories haul

So I noted that one of my favourite things at the moment is surfing ebay for vintage dresses and worked them out (as least I think I did) over the bank hols with my favourite piece of clothing after my Lee jeans - a good old pair of black leggings (courtesy of M&S). I can also see both these dresses working it in Autumn/Winter, paired with thick black tights and my beloved Pied A Terre patent Mary Janes.

Here's the first one - my take on the flowy/hippie-ish/festival-ish look (perfect with middle parted long hair, with a braid or two). I love the butterfly sleeves:


I had a 20% discount magazine voucher for Dorothy Perkins, I bought 2 things. To replace my wallet that was stolen : ( I bought this lovely sturdy leather studded wallet with a lovely tassle - perfect to use as a clutch too. The blushed pink patent platforms are a total impromptu purchase - I don't have anything like it in my wardrobe - but I thought it would go great with an outfit to my cousin's wedding next year, as well as add to the beige/nude collection I am trying to carve into my wardrobe : D But a good shoe purchase at £29! They had them in black too and looked very Pamela Anderson : D


So I had to try out the new heels with my outfit:


To my UK subscribers there is a 20% voucher to Dorothy Perkins with this week's Look Magazine (the one with Cheryl Cole on the cover) - just in case you were interested.

Onto my 2nd outfit, teamed with black leggings of course, is this lovely blue floral cotton dress with pockets which I put together with an old denim shirt as a jacket too:






I just love the gathered sleeves at the top and also the granddaddy collar.

I love finding vintage dresses on ebay - most of them go for pretty cheap (though some are outstandingly expensive!). I'm digging this fashion thing : D

Do you like vintage? What's your style?