My heart is officially broken. After having a great week off from work and catching up with the family on Thanksgiving, I received a somber letter from Nordstrom yesterday. The news? That my beloved Prescriptives was being discontinued in January 2010! It all makes sense now why the counter at my local mall looked like a deserted mess when I went to pick up some foundation last month. After googling the news, I realize that everyone else has known about this except for me! Where the heck have I been?
My devastation stems from the fact that I thoroughly believe that no other foundation was made better for my skin. I love that it’s light, provides great coverage without being greasy, has SPF, and doesn’t break me out. Probably the best and most important thing is that it doesn’t result in that ghastly “white-face” in pictures! True proof of its awesomeness lies in pictures taken recently of my best friend and me–she in gorgeous Chanel and me in my Virtual Matte. In person, her skin was flawless with the perfect tone. However, when we reviewed the shots we had snapped from the night, there was no denying the white sheen cast over her face. I, on the other hand, did not have this problem–and never have since discovering VM in college!
Buzz on the streets points to lack of brand positioning and marketing to the downfall of this Estee Lauder brand. With the huge lot of beauty brands owned by EL (which include MAC, Bobbi Brown, Origins), it’s a shame that not enough attention was focused on Px. With limited visibility and an unclear target demographic, it’s not hard to see why the brand struggles despite the high-quality products it offers. I, myself, admit that I don’t turn to Px for any of my beauty staples besides foundation because the company has never done a great job with advertising. Make-up artists at the counters usually multi-tasked with other brands and only came by when I waved them over to get me my foundation. I once decided I’d ask the MA for some bronzer suggestions and she had difficulty offering me advice on contouring. After stumbling to wow me with any real product recommendations, I left with nothing more to add to my bag. As mentioned last year, the brand also never really took advantage of consumer shopping seasons, such as Christmas. Alas, so many areas that could’ve been fixed to save the brand. I wonder if the “thorough analysis” was only conducted after plans had already been made for the brand’s demise. It’s a shame that the economy claims another victim.
Pick up your last minute buys before all counters shut down in January! The website will stay up until all stock is officially sold out. Bye bye, VM. You will be terribly missed.
Posted by mich LA 
Coastalpolitan 