Harvard Grad Creates 3-D Makeup Printer
eyeshadow palette image via shutterstock
You can 3-D print anything nowadays, and I mean anything. From sneakers to living human tissue, the printers make it easy to create a variety of unique objects.
So why not use the technology for something that we can actually use everyday? And perhaps save a little money along the way? That’s why Harvard Business School graduate Grace Choi invented Mink, a 3-D makeup printer, which she unveiled at the TechCrunch Disrupt NY conference this week. According to TechCrunch:
The little printer lets users choose any color on the web, or in the real world, and using simple already-existing software, print that color into a blush, eye shadow, lip gloss or any other type of makeup.
See, most makeup comes from the same basic substrates, from high-end labels like Chanel all the way down to the cheap stuff available at drug stores. Founder Grace Choi sources the same substrate for the Mink so that users can turn any image into any kind of makeup.
Simply choose a color on a website, Pinterest board, or snap one with your phone in the real world, and use any color picker to locate the hex code of the color. Once you have the code, you can put it into any other program like Photoshop or Paint and simply press print.
Choi says in the below video that the “ink” used is FDA-approved. “Mink enables the web to become the biggest beauty store in the world,” Choi says. “We’re going to live in a world where you can take a picture of your friend’s lipstick and print it out.”
The reports are mixed on what the actual price will be (we’ve seen anywhere from $200 to $300, most likely not including the actual “ink”) but in the end that is a small price to pay considering that one high-end eyeshadow palette alone can cost $50. The printer is set to launch towards the end of 2014.
Below, a video of Choi demonstrating her invention. But if you aren’t into watching videos, Business Insider used screengrabs to highlight the key parts of the video in a story that ran Thursday.:
