I had the chance to stop by 3 Custom Color Specialists Studio in NYC, a make-up studio which offers tons of great services and products. The custom color specialist team is made up of Trae Bodge, Scott Catto, and Chad Hayduk. Combined, the team has over 30 years of experience in the world of beauty. The company was actually launched in Scott and Chad’s Hell Kitchen apartment and now, years later, you can visit their studio in the Flat Iron district and gets loads of information about make-up, buy pieces from their Ready-to-Wear line (over 250 color choices), or drop off an old, discontinued lipstick and have them make you an exact color copy!

My friend and I spoke for a while with Chad, who looked over our skin tones and get this—the color of our veins (mine were more green and my friend’s blue)—and decided what colors would look best on us. I was considered a warm skin tone, while my friend was considered more cool toned.

Tip: check the color of your veins on the inside of your wrist to decide what tone you are

More green= warm; Bluer= cool.

Chad was so knowledgeable about color and make-up. It’s clear he loves what he does! He showed us a color wheel and said everyone interested in finding their perfect color palette should have one. The trick is to look on the opposite side of the wheel (say, from your eye color) to find what colors work best for you.

3 Custom Color Specialists offer some great services. As mentioned before, they can reproduce discontinued products so if you have a cherished lipstick and only have a tiny bit left (I have a browny-pink lipstick that I wore religiously!), you can mail the remainder to them and they will copy the color for you. They also have an archive with over 9,000 discontinued shades. Another service I loved was their make-up bag updates. You can visit their studio, email them, or call them and they will walk you through a make-up bag revision. I personally think this is a great idea for the fall. I’m already feeling a little sick of my make-up choices. New season, new colors! 3 Custom will help you choose what to keep, inform you on what you need, and they’ll do a whole color consultation if you want one, too! Services also include: one-on-one consultation with a make-up artist, a guided tour through their Ready -to-Wear line, and Bridal Trials and Make-up services.

3 Custom Color’s own, unique line is also great. Some of my favorite products:

• Special Effects Palette—an incredible palette of colors which you can blend with lipsticks you already own to produce the perfect shade; if you have a bunch of lipsticks and don’t like any of the colors, this is the perfect solution!
• Clarifier Pencil—comes in light and dark and you can use it to line the bottom rim of your eye for that more awake, fresh look
• Crème to Powder Blush—comes in about 12 different shades; apply with your finger or a sponge—creates an amazing glow
• The Seychelles Collection—a newer collection with the most gorgeous shades, inspired by “paradise on earth.” I love the peachy gloss.

Visit www.threecustomcolor.com for more information on their great products and services! And thanks to Chad for the great visit and for teaching us a thing or two about make-up!