Estée Lauder has announced that the Prescriptives line is coming to an end. It’s a money thing, of course, but we must pay tribute. Prescriptives was launched in 1979 in large part by Estée Lauder’s Sylvie Chantecaille, now founder of the Chantecaille line. We had the pleasure of interviewing her last week about her personal line, but she did talk a bit about the birth of Prescriptives. Sylvie described the pre-Prescriptives makeup looks and companies as big, bold, and a bit obnoxious. Prescriptives, she decided, would exist to cater to the intelligent, modern (and a little hippie-ish) woman who wanted to wear makeup, but wanted it to look natural. The line became a pioneer for personalized foundation colors and makeup with a skincare emphasis. For me, Prescriptives holds some fond personal memories. When I first starting wearing makeup, my mom took me to the Prescriptives counter in our mall for my first set of quality cosmetics: shadow, foundation, and gloss. I still have the shadow case as a souvenier of that moment. (It’s probably time to throw it out, I know.) I told Prescriptives’ wonderful public relations person this story, and she told me she’s continually heard stories like this from editors. Prescriptives, you will be missed! Counters will disappear by January 2010. Go to prescriptives.com to stock up on favorites. Oh, and Calyx lovers, don’t worry. The perfume will still be sold at department store perfume counters and online.
ShopTalkers, any personal Prescriptives favorites?
