Sephora and Pantone in search of the perfect complexion

By

Sarah Ahssen

Published
Feb 26, 2013

Scan the skin, analyze its color and find the perfect foundation, that is the mission of the 'Sephora + Pantone Color Profile', a technology developed exclusively for the selective cosmetic brand by the color specialist Pantone.

To help customers find the perfect foundation color, Sephora sales staff will be equipped with small portable scanners known as spectro-colorimeters. The device scans and analyzes the surface of the skin to calculate a Pantone color code that exactly defines the skin's color. This Pantone code corresponds to a range of foundations colors available in Sephora stores. The client can visualize and select a foundation product on Sephora iPads.

All total, Sephora has indexed nearly 1,200 foundation colors, complied in a library known as the “Sephora Universal SkinTone Library for the Ipad.” This nearly made-to-measure service will be adapted to match in-stock merchandise available in stores.

The technology was tested last July in two stores in the United States and will become available across the entire U.S. Sephora network by the end of the year. The “Sephora + Pantone Color Profile” will be available as of late June in France in fifteen stores and in Italy and China. However, Sephora intends to make the service available internationally.