This Woman Is Taking On The USD55 Billion Beauty Industry With A 3D Makeup Printer
Thanks to Grace Choi and her invention 'Mink', you will never run out of your favourite lipstick colour ever again.
By Sadho Ram — 11 May 2014, 12:52 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
Earlier this week, Grace Choi, a Harvard Business School graduate, introduced a 3D printer capable of producing high-end cosmetics right in your own home
Grace Choi, the inventor of the Mink computer, hopes to transform the beauty industry with more individual choice
Image via thetimes.co.ukThe 3D printer introduced by Choi at the conference is called 'Mink.' It is essentially a small electronic box which can easily plug into most computers. The 'print' option on the 'Mink' 3D printer prompts it to blend printer ink with special "substrates" which result in the creation of make-up in any desired shade. The 'Mink users can pick any color on the Web as well as in the real world.
During her product demonstration at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, Grace said: "The Mink enables the web to become the biggest beauty store in the world"
The Mink will eventually print lipsticks and creams as well as shadows and powders.
Image via nydailynews.comFinding the right color of eye shadow or lipstick can be frustrating and expensive, Choi said. Places like Walmart and Walgreens only stock the reds and pinks that they know people will buy, while specialty stores like Sephora sell the bolder colors for a higher price.
nydailynews.comThat’s where the Mink comes in. The cosmetics industry, Choi said, charges an arm and a leg for color, but manufacturers use the same FDA-approved ink and substrates found in color printers to get those shades.
Grace Choi rubbed some of the 3D-printed eye shadow on her hand during her presentation.
Image via nydailynews.comThe Mink hooks up to your computer and utilizes software like Photoshop and ColorZilla to take the color codes from any image you find on the Internet. It then turns that color into a custom eye shadow or powder. Creams and lipsticks are next, Grace said.
nydailynews.comMink will initially retail for USD300 when it launches, and Grace plans to market it to girls aged 13-21
"The makeup industry makes a whole lot of money on a whole lot of bullshit," inventor Grace Choi said at TechCrunch Disrupt earlier this week. "They charge a huge premium on something that tech provides for free. That one thing is color."
policymic.comExplaining the mechanism behind the 'Mink' 3D printer, Choi said: "The inkjet handles the pigment, and the same raw material substrates can create any type of makeup, from powders to cream to lipstick. Implementing this ability on the Mink is not hard to do, it's actually more of a business decision."
And print it using the hex code:
Once users have the color code, they only have to plug it into Photoshop or Paint and press the print button. Choi showed how simple the process was in a live demo. It took less than 40 seconds to print a pink eyeshadow.
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"We're going to live in a world where you can take a picture of your friend's lipstick and print it out"
While Mink doesn't seem to currently have an easy-to-use UI like a program or an app (yet), it's still capable of printing out a block of makeup in far less time than going to the store or even ordering online.
policymic.comAnd if it becomes popular, that's a big problem for the makeup industry, which Mint.com says the average woman spends $15,000 in throughout her entire life. Choi's product will pursue a younger demographic of 13-21-year-olds, but everyone who uses makeup regularly could potentially save money with Mink. "We're going to live in a world where you can take a picture of your friend’s lipstick and print it out," Grace says.
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