My make-up routine has existed longer than some marriages. For the past 10years, I've swiped my cheeks and lids with a two-in-one blush and eyeshadow from Nars, lined my eyes with Laura Mercier's black liner and used Diorshow mascara on my lashes.

The only deviation has come from the lipsticks and lipgloss I have picked up on impulse in drug and department stores.

I craved a major change, but I have minimal knowledge about cosmetics and little interest in navigating through the thousands of products available on my own. And the professionals at make-up counters are obviously interested in pushing only their own lines.

Luckily for me, there are now personal shoppers for not only fashion and home decor items, but also cosmetics. I met Ms Raychel Wade, whose New York-based business, Cheek To Chic, matches women with make-up, at the Nars counter of Barneys New York.

I told her I was time-pressed but wanted to look chic and pulled together. We then walked through the floor and she recommended a few new colours of eyeshadow, including a sparkly one for night, blush and lipstick from a variety of brands. She also insisted I pick up an eyelash curler from Kevin Aucoin, which she promised would be a game-changer.

An hour later, I had a whole new look.

Ms Wade is part of a growing industry of personal shoppers around the country who have found a niche helping women navigate an increasingly littered maze of lipsticks, blushes, foundations, eyeshadow shades and other cosmetics.

HONEST SUGGESTIONS

Prestige make-up sales were US$3.8 billion (S$4.7billion) last year compared with US$3.3 billion in 2008, according to the NPD group.

Unlike many professional make-up artists who are widely quoted in the advice columns of magazines but affiliated with specific brands, such as Ms Gucci Westman for Revlon, these professionals make a selling point of their neutrality.

"You walk into a beauty section of a department store and are accosted by sales staff trying to sell you what they say is the best," said Ms Wade, a make-up artist in her 30s who is a cast member on the TLC reality series, Randy To The Rescue, and an ambassador for La Prairie (a brand she did not mention during our consultation).

"You can leave more confused than when you started and end up with a bunch of stuff you don't really need."

For a starting price of US$200, she meets women at Barneys New York, Henri Bendel or Sephora and spends one to two hours exploring different lines and experimenting with shades to find the ideal products for them.

Ms Jennifer Buenviajie, 30, is an owner of the personal shopping service Makeup For Your Day, which is based in both Wilmington and Raleigh in North Carolina. As a make-up artist who has worked for Clarins, Bobbi Brown and Chanel, she knows that store employees are trained to push the lines they represent.

"The suggestions I make are honest, which isn't necessarily the case if a customer is speaking to a department store salesman," she said. "I don't make any extra money by selling you a certain product."

SAVING MONEY

Unlike Ms Wade, who focuses on high-end brands, Ms Buenviajie and many other shoppers cater to more cost-conscious clients.

Trips to Walgreens are a staple of Ms Wendy Fitos' Just Browsing make-up shopping business in Cleveland. "I get the woman who will spend US$1,000 on a jar of face cream, but there are plenty of them who want to spend only US$200 for the entire year on beauty products," said Ms Fitos, 43.

Ms Alesha Lifka, 33, a massage therapist from Cleveland, is one such client. She was looking for a spruce-up after giving birth to her son in late 2011. "I didn't want to fall into the mum trap of leaving the house in sweats and a plain face, but I don't have a lot of money or time to spend on make-up," she said.

The two met at a local department store, where MsFitos spent an hour walking Ms Lifka through the aisles and helping her choose two brushes, a blush, an eye shadow palette, a mascara and a few lipsticks from affordable brands such as Cover Girl, Maybelline and Wet And Wild for less than US$100.

Stocking a make-up bag is only part of what MsWade offers. She also applies the make-up on half of her client's face and has her work on the other half while she gives pointers. She also leaves them with a face chart that outlines the application process step by step.

This advice does not come cheap. Ms Wade's most popular package, Working Face, costs US$375. Both Ms Fitos and Ms Nicole Pearl, 34, who offers shopping trips in the Chicago area through her business, Beauty Girl, charge about US$75 an hour, and Ms Buenviajie's services start at US$250.

But Ms MB Lieberman, who is in her early 40s and lives in Chicago, said the US$100 she paid Ms Pearl to take her shopping at Sephora actually saved her money.

"I was always buying lots of make-up that I didn't use, so a lot was wasted," she said. "Now, I have a smaller selection which I use regularly and I spend much less."

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