Is Sephora + Pantone Color IQ the future of foundation?

Finding the right foundation shade can be a long and gruelling process of trial and error. But thanks to Sephora + Pantone Color IQ, those days might be over. We spoke to Adi Lando, Sephora Pro Lead, Canada, to find out how such a small machine can make such a huge difference in our makeup routines.

“The Sephora + Pantone Color IQ is based on Pantone’s Capsure, a compact, hand-held spectro-colorimeter that is used in the design world to identify colour with unsurpassed accuracy,” explains Lando. It identifies your skin tone by taking images of your skin, analyzing them and assigning you an official Pantone SkinTone number. Once you have your number, you can use it to find the right foundation for you.

If you’re worried your perfect match won’t be in the system, don’t be; Sephora’s Universal SkinTone Library houses over 2,900 different selections. “I don’t think anyone should have to go through the trouble of combining more than one shade; there’s so much out there!"

Short on time? Lando explains that the “Sephora + Pantone Color IQ records 27 colour-accurate images in 1.8 seconds using eight different visible illuminations and one ultraviolet illumination for unsurpassed accuracy.” Try saying that ten times fast.