**UPDATE June 21, 2017
Following Shiseido‘s recent acquisition of MATCHCo, the foundation experts at bareMinerals have announced the launch of its complexion-perfecting digital platform. Dubbed MADE-2-FIT, the skin-analyzing app leverages MATCHCo’s complex technology (detailed below) and merges it with the coveted foundation formulas bareMinerals have long been known for. According to the brand, each MADE-2-FIT Fresh Faced Foundation ($49) is tailored to each user’s skin tone (the same algorithms and scans described below are used to perfectly analyze undertones and match them) and is delivered directly to the customer’s door.
“Since its founding in 1976, bareMinerals has always put customization for its consumers first, investigating and advocating for new technologies to serve them,” Jill Scalamandre, president of the global Shiseido Makeup Center of Excellence, says in the brand’s press release. “Known for creating innovative formulas with pure, nourishing ingredients, the company has been connecting with its customers in meaningful, forward-thinking ways for over 40 years. For that reason, bareMinerals is an ideal partner for MATCHCo: Together, they’re looking to fundamentally change the way consumers shop and experience cosmetics.”
The MADE-2-Fit app is currently available for download exclusively for iPhone on the App Store, and each tailor-made bareMinerals MADE-2-FIT Fresh Faced Foundation Customized by MATCHCo retails for $49.
**Originally Published December 10, 2015
While I’ve found a few good matches through the years, nailing down a perfect foundation shade for my skin has been, what seems like, a never-ending battle. So when I received news about MATCHCo, a new beauty app that promises a unique shade customized to my skin tone through a series of photos, I was immediately intrigued.
MATCHCo prides itself on their patented technology’s ability to analyze skin tone and color and blend a customized formula for every woman. According to the brand, the process is so precise that the app has blended formulas for more than 500 women so far (creating a perfect match for 98 percent!) and has never blended the same color twice. Not only is the foundation mixed just for you, but it also boasts an all-in-one blueprint, delivering a primer, high-color coverage foundation, hydration and the benefit of antioxidants (think green tea, peptides and vitamin E) to your skin in one pump.
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After excitedly downloading the app, I was directed through a superspecific process, starting with the calibration of my phone’s camera to ensure precise images. After my camera was properly calibrated, the app walked me through the photos (they’re so close-up that they’re pretty much scans) needed of my wrist, cheeks and forehead in order to analyze my skin tone. Once these images were taken and processed (in less than two minutes), I was taken to a page displaying my custom formula packaged in a luxe bottle. The next step was clicking “Add to Basket” (the foundation retails for $49) and waiting anxiously for the bottle to come in the mail—easy as that.
In about a week, my foundation arrived, and I was more impressed than ever. Not only did the formula perfectly match my skin (I barely needed to blend!), but it also came housed in a super luxe glass bottle with my name printed on it, as well as the date it was mixed for me. When it comes time to reorder (because I will be reordering), the app stores your past scans for quick purchasing, or lets you re-scan as many times as you’d like to ensure your foundation matches your ever-changing skin tone year-round. Better yet, it ensures you’ll never have to guess which shade matches your skin in a store ever again.
So, what are you waiting for?
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