Sephora Color IQ: Best Beauty Invention of the Year

Selecting a new foundation can be a daunting task--with so many options to choose from how do you select the right brand, the best formula, and, toughest of all, the perfect shade to match your skin tone? Makeup artists often say you should try matching the makeup to your skin in natural light. But this is not the most convenient method when many products are sealed and you can't exactly step outside to apply it before purchasing. Thankfully Sephora has partnered with color specialists Pantone on a genius new method to remove the guesswork.

This new service is currently only offered in select Sephora locations. We went to the Times Square store in New York City to try it out for ourselves.

Sephora + Pantone Color IQ

uses a handheld device to to determine the exact color of your skin. Technicians are on hand to walk you through the process. First they remove your makeup to ensure an accurate reading, and apply a very light moisturizer. They also ask if you have recently worked out, used self-tanner, or received a chemical peel, all which may alter your natural skin tone. No messing with accuracy, here! Next they use the scanner to take three photos of your skin-your neck, your lower cheek, and your forehead. The machine then averages those colors and and finds the comparable hue within the official numbered Pantone skin tone shades. We got 5Y04. To be sure, the technician did a second round of photos and we received the same result.

Now for the fun part. The device wirelessly connects to an iPad screen, and scans Sephora's database over 1,000 foundations by various brands to determine your perfect match. Our results included two powder formulas and two liquids. It's summer time, so we decided to try our luck at the lighter powder formulas. First up: BareMinerals Ready Foundation Broad Spectrum SPF 20 in Light R230. It looked too dark in the compact, but applied a little too yellow. Next we tried Benefit Hello Flawless! SPF 15 in Never Settle Petal. A perfect, seamless match! We took a mirror and stepped outside. It passed that test, too.

If none of the product results match your skin, there's also a handy function that allows you to find additional products that are slightly darker, lighter, or redder than the initial selections. And your skin tone number and product selections can all be emailed to you from the device, so you can purchase at a later time if you so desire. How did we live without this thing?

"SEPHORA + PANTONE COLOR IQ eliminates many of the variables that can affect shade selection, including pigment challenges, skin texture and undertones which can often distort the clients match," SEPHORA PRO Gilbert Soliz said in a press release. "As an artist, I know the right foundation is essential to a great makeup look so this is an amazing resource to have for my consultations. It allows me to pull the best matches across all our brand offerings for my clients personalized consultation."

The even better news: this technology will soon be applied to more than just foundation. "We see this as the first application of this patented Sephora exclusive technology, and are excited to expand its capabilities for other uses in the color world," Margarita Arriagada, SVP of Merchandising at Sephora said in a press release.

For those looking to try out the new Color IQ device, click here to find a Sephora store near you. Since participating locations are limited at this time, you can also try their online tool. Just select one foundation shade you currently enjoy, and the site will calculate your skin tone number and share comparable products in that shade from other brands.

Who would have thought computers could determine the perfect foundation? Fingers crossed for more Jetsons-like devices in the future to help style our hair!

Related links:
Sephora Revamps Beauty Insider Program
The Official Pantone Color of 2013
7 Tips from a Sephora Beauty Advisor on Primping like the Pros