Sunday 20 September 2009

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!

5 comments:

  1. Wow, you put so much effort into this by doing some journalism! Thanks for the interesting post.

    http://clearlybeautiful.blogspot.com/

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  2. i like this blogpost...i wouldn't have found out about the prescriptives thing if i hadnt read your blog...good info...i like the questions you asked in your interview as well.

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  3. matilda - thanks so much. I was nervous to do it (why - it was only 4 questions!) but this has encouraged me to seek other ways in which to do it too!

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  4. Clearly - thanks so much - I enjoyed doing it!

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  5. it is sad to hear that another good brand is gone.
    i actually like some of their stuff

    and im a new follower and love your blog. hopefully you can check out mine too.
    http://sparklemidori.blogspot.com/

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