Whatever the marketing bumf says, true and meaningful innovation in beauty is infrequent. But for 2024 I’m buzzing to tell you about two innovations that I believe could and should change how many of us buy makeup.
Here’s how foundation is usually sold: brands attempt to anticipate which skin shades will prove useful and popular, manufacture accordingly, then rely on customers and staff to choose the right ones and minimise wasted stock.
But genius British brand Dcypher rejects this process. Instead, it relies on AI (I know, but stay with me) to analyse your skin tone using a 60-second online process, and then custom-blends your unique shade to order (£42). This results in zero surplus stock and packaging, and no excess freight and storage. No one can be more astonished than I am that it truly, brilliantly, works.
Unlike other online colour matching brands, which tweak one generic foundation, Dcypher allowed me to choose my coverage level and finish, and combined these with my AI-generated shade, which was absolutely spot on.
Try it – I’ll be amazed if you have cause to use their free adjustment service.
Whether you’re vegan or not, you may be disgusted to learn that the vast majority of vibrant red lipsticks are made from carmine, a pigment extracted from female beetles. Up to 1,000 of them are sun-dried and crushed to create just one lipstick. The same process is followed for bright red paints, fabric dyes and medications, as well as many foods and drinks, and it is widely accepted that nothing else works as well in delivering rich, vivid reds.
Vegan red lipsticks do exist (though they’re often the only non-vegan lipstick in a shade lineup, so do check), but they lack the brilliance and saturation of carmine reds.
Carisa Janes, founder of Hourglass Cosmetics, rejected the industry standard and, after three years’ research alongside parent company Unilever, has developed Confession Red 0, a refillable, 100% vegan, patent-pending lipstick for which not a single insect was harmed.
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This is a true, rich, fire engine-red in a slim bullet for sharp application. It’s pricey at £35, but both packaging and formula feel suitably luxurious, and the innovative technology will probably, over time, trickle down into the mainstream.
