You may have heard us raving about Cosmetics a la Carte’s Matte Miracle Primer, if you haven’t, you can read it here. We wanted to find out more about the brand and what they do, so we were delighted to be invited to visit their Knightsbridge boutique and experience their “My Mix” bespoke foundation service. Tucked away on Motcomb Street, just past Christian Louboutin, the boutique is a little haven of luxury for makeup lovers, cheering us up instantly even on a cold, dark and rainy Tuesday!
We’re in good company, Cosmetics A La Carte can boast some of the biggest names from the last forty years in their client base; Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Kylie and Gaga to name a few.
We were greeted by Laura, a trained makeup artist like all the staff at A La Carte, who told us that over 90% of the foundations that they sell now are through the bespoke service. That’s no surprise to us, over the years we’ve started investing more and more into our foundation, understanding that if the base is right, then everything else will look and last so much better. We’ve also become much more switched on to how important it is to get the colour match exactly right. Long gone are the days were we thought adding colour to our face needed to be done with foundation – you should match it exactly to your natural skin colour and then add warmth/colour with your blush, bronzer etc. Once you start sticking to that rule, you’ll dramatically improve the look of your makeup!
The aim of the “My Mix” service is to find exactly the right shade, but also the right texture for your skin. Sometimes it’s possible to find one or the other, but we’ve never managed to find that “perfect” match. Laura started by talking through what kind of finish we want to achieve; a semi-matte look that we can build up depending on the coverage we want, but still maintaining enough of a glow so that we don’t look like we are wearing a mask. They try to take a very prescriptive approach, listening to both the finish you want to achieve, but also your skin type and advising what will and won’t work well for you. Laura decanted four different bases, all with different textures, ranging from a very light tint, through to a full coverage velvet finish. We tried them on the back of our hand first, before Laura applied them to our face so we could see how they translated. As Laura had predicted, we really liked the coverage of Skin Velvet, but wanted it to be just a little bit lighter, so she explained she would mix three-quarters Skin Velvet with one-quarter Moisture Tint.
The shelves boast every shade from paper white to blackest black
When it comes to colours, the shelves at Cosmetic A La Carte look like a makeup lab, with every colour from paper white to blackest black, including yellows and reds to allow them to match the exact hues and tone of your skin, no matter what ethnicity you are. There is an actual lab, but that’s in Battersea, where they work with high end ingredients to create the fabulous products on the shelves in Knightsbridge. We think it sounds like somewhere that science meets creativity, but on a much more individual scale that the large laboratories used by some of the cosmetics giants, plus A La Carte have never tested on animals.
Once we were happy with the colour and the finish, Laura applied the mix to our whole face, so that we could double check we liked it and we admit, we fell in love with it straight away. Pulling bottles off the shelves, Laura weighed out the exact combinations required to make up enough of our bespoke formula for a full size 30g bottle, and a mini handbag-sized one. They even offer you a choice of bottle – plastic or glass. Laura decanted ours into a plastic one (we’ve got a habit of dropping glass bottles and they create a lot of mess!), then both bottles were wrapped in tissue paper and presented to us with a couple of sample sized testers, including the Rose Dew Primer that she’d used on us.
As we headed for the tube, we kept trying to catch our reflection in shop windows, convinced we’d really see a difference as we could definitely feel it! Unfortunately as it was dark, our vanity had to wait until we arrived home, and we were pleased to see that it had stayed fast and still looked great. After using it for a week, we can safely say we’re even more in love with it. It feels soft and smooth, and sits, to steal an overly used cosmetic marketing phrase, like a second skin! We can build up the coverage if we have any blemishes, and it still doesn’t look heavy, and the colour is an exact match.
Now we’ve got our very own custom blend, we can safely say we won’t go back to buying “off the peg” and if you can get to London, we recommend it’s something everyone should treat themselves to – or get a loved one to take you a long for a special present! If you can’t get to the store, you can complete their online diagnostic questionnaire and they can send you some samples to help you make your choices at home.
You can visit Cosmetics A La Carte online here, or visit their boutique at 19 Motcomb St, London, SW1X 8LB (020 7235 0596). Their bespoke “My Mix” service is priced at £48 for a 30ml bottle and free handbag size.
Original article: Bespoke Foundation, every girl should have one…
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