Getting Custom Blended at Prescriptives

To a beauty snob, there's something deeply appealing about the Prescriptives Custom Blend service. Bespoke, yes - but affordable too. Oh, the savvy product shopper likes to hear that.

The appeal lies in the whole area of aspirational purchase, and the ability to be able to say, "oh, this little foundation? Why, I had it blended specially for moi". So naturally enough, I like it so much I've been blended three times. I am the proud possessor of a tinted moisturiser, foundation and concealer, plus a lipgloss designed specially for me. While the base-blending is fascinating, and I'd recommend it for anyone who struggles with getting their foundation right, watching the gloss being whipped up, and choosing the options is pretty giddy-making.

You're handed what looks like a paint chart, and you have so much choice - bewildering arrays of colour, obviously, but also opacity (sheer to full), whether you'd like glitter, lustre or chrome finishes, and you can even select a flavour. It's all wonderfully sciency, and your gloss is professionally mixed as you watch, using test tubes and big syringes.

I went with a lovely raspberry red shade, and asked for it to be full-colour - I'm pretty much over glitter. To finish, I selected berry for flavour, but I could have had melon or bellini, either. And cost? About €40, but, like Cilla says, you get a lorra lorra gloss for that - a good 10mls, I estimate.