Adorn 3D Makeup Printing Pen promises to exactly match your skin tone – 3DPrint.com

It would be a bit of an understatement to say I’m pale. Glow in the dark, ghostly, vampire – I’ve been called all of those things. As long as I don’t expose myself too much to the sun, I’m fine, but I have a hard time finding the right foundation. Even the lighter shades tend to make me look a bit orange or pink. So I’m intrigued by the new portable 3D makeup printer to be released by UK-based Adorn. The scanner and printer combination promises to produce a foundation that perfectly matches your skin tone, no matter what the tone.

Last year, we covered the Mink Makeup Printer, which lets you print your own eyeshadow, lipstick, and even nail polish. The Adorn printer is foundation specific and comes in the form of a compact, lightweight pen pre-filled with a mix of blue, black, and white pigments. A built-in scanner, when placed against your cheek, detects your skin tone and blends a shade that perfectly matches your complexion. Once mixing is complete, the push of a button dispenses or prints a small amount onto your fingertips, ready to be applied.

“They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” said an Adorn spokesperson. “We like to say that it is in a smart pen. Women no longer have to settle for coverage that is too light or too dark. With Adorn, they can print catwalk-worthy coverage at the touch of a button.”

According to the company, the printer is capable of matching some 75,000 different skin tones, and the foundation itself is suitable for any skin type, be it dry, oily, or combination. The pen is powered by a rechargeable battery which, depending on how often you use it, can last for a few weeks before needing to be recharged. Foundation cartridge longevity obviously also depends on frequency of use, but replacement cartridges can be purchased for as little as $20, less than most higher-end foundation brands. You can choose the pen style you like best, with finishes available in gold, space gray, cherry red, pink, and black, so it’s sure to fit in with the rest of your aesthetic.

The Impression Pen retails for $279, but for a limited time it can be pre-ordered from the website for $139, 50% off. Not a bad deal, when you think about how much money you might spend on a basis in a typical year. My skin tone doesn’t change much throughout the year: I go from scary pale to tomato red to scary pale in the summer, with breakouts of freckles (I like to call it “selective tan”). However, I know many women whose skin tone changes drastically as soon as the sun rises, and I can only imagine how many foundation purchases they make to try to keep up with the seasons.

If you’re one of those women who doesn’t need foundation, well, I don’t want to talk to you, because you’ve obviously sold your soul. However, if you’re like the rest of us and decide to give the Adorn base printer a try, I’d love to hear how it works. I have a bunch of useless foundation cans lying around the house, and it would be nice not to have to spend half an hour at the drug store trying to figure out the stupid difference between “porcelain” and “ivory”. Discuss this new device in the Adorn 3D Printing Makeup Pen forum at 3DPB.com.