Ask any woman what her must-have makeup item is, and you’ll usually get the same response: mascara and concealer and/or foundation. Ask her again which brand she uses for each and she’ll likely enthusiastically extol the virtues of her mascara – “It’s the BEST!” But when it comes to her concealer and foundation, her reply might be a bit less emphatic. “I used to use [insert product name here], but they discontinued my colour” is a common grievance.
Well, there are going to be a lot of very happy shoppers with the addition of Holt Renfrew‘s newest cosmetics counter, Sayuki. The concept is quite simple: custom-blended cosmetics. The end result is nothing short of amazing.
The idea sprang from Sayuki founder Tracy Sayuki Wells while she was on the job as a makeup artist. Day in and day out she noticed the same problem of women trying to match their foundation colour to their neck, and even if they did find their right shade the correct formulation or coverage wasn’t always available.
While dealing with one customer who was especially difficult to match she thought, “What if you could scan someone’s skin to match the exact tone?” After consulting with her entrepreneur father for advice and a bit of research (she discovered, to her surprise, there were no existing patents for this sort of technology) she decided to make her dream a reality.
The result of her three-and-a-half-year process is a skin-tone scanner that finds your precise colour, and an ultra-precise machine that custom mixes pigments in the base of your choice (you can also customize your coverage and formulation). The process is very similar to paint mixers at your local hardware store. In exactly two-and-a-half minutes your perfectly matched foundation or concealer is ready. Go ahead, try it. You’ll be stunned at how perfectly it blends in.
Your unique colour code is printed on your bottle, and also stored in Sayuki‘s database, so you can always access your exact shade at the counter or online. The best part is, it’s affordable considering the level of service involved. The tinted moisturizer retails for $92, the foundation for $89 and the concealer, $62.
Sayuki also offers a range of other products like a silky smooth primer, rice-powder bronzer and high-quality makeup brushes.
Editor’s note: Sayuki custom-blended a concealer for me, and as a vain man hoping to conceal the evidence of blemishes and dark circles, I highly recommend this product to men and women alike.
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