Now You Can 3D Print Your Foundation — With Some Drawbacks
The custom foundation pen, available for pre-order in five colors. (Photo: Courtesy of Adorn)
I have multiple shades of foundation and concealer that I switch from season to season — and sometimes mix — depending on the degree of my tan. And sometimes, I don’t get the combination right (you can easily tell by comparing the skin on my neck and the skin on my face). I’m sure I’m not alone in wishing for a custom mixed foundation on a daily basis. Adorn, a UK based company, is attempting to solve that problem with “the world’s first portable 3D makeup printer.”
The pen-like device uses a built-in sensor to scan your face and blend a multi-hued foundation using “the power of 3D printing technology.” “Foundation is made up of blue, black, and white pigmentation,” the website explains. “The shades you see in department stores, makeup emporiums, and pharmacies are mixed with different color ratios.” Consequently, the refillable cartridges, which are $20 each, contain pigments like red, blue, black, and yellow in order to create over 75,000 different shades, according to the company.
However, Adorn fails to make specifications about the formulation’s ingredients, level of coverage, and finish. “Adorn is super friendly for any skin type,” the website vaguely states. Earlier this year, Sephora partnered with Pantone to create an in-store foundation matching device, Color IQ. The device detects the color of your skin in pitch-black darkness and matches you with a foundation shade in the Sephora inventory, taking into account the type of formula the individual is looking for. While the Adorn pen blends the foundation itself, it doesn’t take into account that different skin types require different types of formulas.
This was clearly photoshopped in haste. (Photo: Courtesy of Adorn)
The device itself, available in five colors, doesn’t come cheap. Adorn is currently available for pre-order for $139, which is a gamble for a device that has not been tested by the public yet. The official press images released by the company are clearly (and hastily) photoshopped, which means we have yet to see the device in action — the foundation in the pen next to this black model clearly does not match her skin, and the shrunken hand holding the device is clearly not hers, either. The design of the pen is sleek and clean, but the press images themselves are not.
Yahoo Beauty reached out to the company for comment but has yet to hear back as of press time.
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