The machine that could end the cosmetics industry (VIDEO)

In recent decades the makeup industry has changed considerably. A few years ago it was not easy to find the color of the lipstick you wanted, and you had to save money to get an eyeshadow palette or a mascara. However, now everything is about to change and become easier, cheaper... and digital.

It was all the brainchild of Grace Choi, a Harvard Business School student who has unveiled a new 3-D printer that makes nothing less than makeup! And, as Jamie Feldman explains in the US edition of The Huffington Post, she can create different products and in any color you want. You simply have to choose the color that you like the most from any image, and select the code for that color using a photo editing system (with the famous Photoshop dropper, for example). From there comes the endless options of eye shadows and lipsticks.

Choi has shown her little machine, named Mink, for the first time at a technology conference. She anticipates that it will go on sale at the end of 2015 for an approximate price of 200 dollars, about 140 euros. Although initially it may seem like a large expense, the price can become a good investment for those who regularly buy cosmetics, calculating that a lipstick in a supermarket or perfumery (depending on the point of sale, manufacturer, size...) can cost between 10 and 40 euros, and some eye shadows between 4 and 60 euros, approximately. The compounds she uses to make the cosmetics have already been approved by the FDA, the US Food and Drugs Administration, and Choi says they are very similar to the ones she uses in any range, from the cheapest to the most expensive, of the cosmetic industry.

The creator assures that her audience would be younger girls, women "between 13 and 21 years old", since they still do not have loyalty to a specific makeup brand and tend to play more with colors and textures. Will it be a revolution that will turn the cosmetics industry upside down or just one of the latest technological gadgets to end up in a drawer?

You can watch Choi's lecture (in English) here: