<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"  Like the &amp;quot;perfect&amp;quot; guy who vanishes after a few great dates, your perfect lipstick shade can disappear without warning. &amp;quot;Existing products get replaced as we continue to improve products and introduce newer, more advanced technologies,&amp;quot; says Sarah Vickery, PhD, senior scientist for CoverGirl. But unlike the dating game, there&amp;#039;s recourse for women who want to track down a beloved beauty product that&amp;#039;s gone missing. Before you use up every last speck of eye shadow or tube of lipstick, follow these steps\u2014the road to restocking is easier than you think.  Reach Out One call can put an end to your quest. Many brands have consumer hotlines to help customers get their hands on any unopened leftovers in existence. If you&amp;#039;re seeking something from any of the Est\u00E9e Lauder brands (think Clinique, Bobbi Brown, M.A.C), the company created the Gone But Not Forgotten program in 2000 to help consumers in North America purchase up to six remaining pieces of any discontinued product\u2014as long as it still has a shelf life\u2014for its retail price, plus $5 shipping. And when there&amp;#039;s a palpable outcry for a particular item, the Lauder locators work with marketing to bring products back: More than 3,000 calls for Clinique Water-Resistant Eyeliner led to its resurgence last summer. Call 800-216-7173 for more information. For Almay, Revlon, and Ultima II, try cosmeticsandmore.com or call 888-882-5629. Other brands, including Lanc\u00F4me, Molton Brown, and Nars sell their discontinued inventory on their websites.  Surf the Web  If a brand has no stock or no help line, let your fingers do the finding. Google the product name and stop by key websites like beautyencounter.com, ebay.com, amazon.com, overstock.com, and discountmakeup.com. One click may produce the exact shade of retro lipstick you&amp;#039;re hunting\u2014or at least a support network of other women in a similar situation. You can also try swapping stories and products at makeupalley.com.   Go Custom If you have a small sample (and sometimes even if you don&amp;#039;t), you can re-create any piece of makeup with the help of custom blenders like the pros at Prescriptives or Three Custom Color Specialists. &amp;quot;About half of our business is custom blending, and 90 percent of our requests for that is lipstick,&amp;quot; says Three Custom cofounder Chad Hayduk, who can clone everything from lipstick and blush to brow powder and concealer. The company has an archive of 9,000-plus shades that go all the way back to the 1930s. Most requested? A Revlon lipstick in Naked Pink. &amp;quot;Our clients take their discontinued products very personally, and they are very loyal.&amp;quot; Check discontinuedlipstick.com for your shade. If it&amp;#039;s not there, you can simply mail in a blob from your secret stash and blenders will whip up a brand-new tube by hand\u2014and eye. No computers are involved in the process because, among other things, it can&amp;#039;t account for a color&amp;#039;s three-dimensional qualities. &amp;quot;We can make any shade you desire, and we guarantee it,&amp;quot; Hayduk says, adding that the company can match fabric, paint, or anything else you want to duplicate. Your purchases remain on file, and you can expect to pay $55 for two tubes, pots, or wands. Other brands with similar services include Laura Geller, Motives, Giella Custom Blend Cosmetics, and lipsticksandmore.net.   Mix Your Own If you want to try making your own match, Hayduk says there are five qualities to keep in mind: coverage, undertone, overtone, and texture, plus any optical effects like shimmer. &amp;quot;If you have the colors red, yellow, and blue, you can mix and match almost anything. You have to be adventurous,&amp;quot; he says. To create lipstick at home, try mixing blobs on paper using a butter knife, then microwave your concoction for about 20 seconds to melt it down. (&amp;quot;It will be very hot,&amp;quot; Hayduk warns) Put your custom color in a small travel jar and let it get to room temperature before testing it on your lips. And don&amp;#039;t forget to check the hue in both natural and artificial lighting to make sure it&amp;#039;s right. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/beauty/makeup-skin-care/tips/a2441/lost-beauty-lovesfound-317612/>