One of my favorite cosmetics brands, Prescriptives, won’t be around much longer. The Estee Lauder Group, which owns the brand, has decided to kill it. I have been suspecting for many months now that Prescriptives was on the list of soon to be dead brands because they have not had product launches in a while, they are not advertising and their counters do not have staff. It just felt empty. Now we know why. The Estee Lauder company has not been investing at all in this brand.

Prescriptives was the first brand to categorize colors of foundation, eye shadow, blush and lipstick into three color groups — warm, neutral and cool — to help women choose the right shade for their complexion. It was also one of the first to create yellow-based foundations which appealed especially to Asian women. Despite its innovations in the early years of its existence, other brands caught up and Prescriptives never really came up with the *killer* product. Brands like MAC and Benefit targeted younger women with trendy packaging and edgy advertising campaigns. But in its own market — high-end cosmetics for older women — other brands, including those within the Lauder group, were more successful.

The last products I bought from Prescriptives was their custom-blended foundation. This was an absolutely brilliant way to get a foundation that exactly matches your skin tone. They also had custom-blended powders and lipsticks.

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