Turning department stores into factory floors where cosmetics can be immediately whipped up to suit to any individual's specifications sounds like a promising proposition and Lancôme is testing whether it can deliver on that promise by producing made-to-measure makeup at the counter.

Under the auspices of the L'Oréal Technology Incubator, the L'Oréal-owned beauty brand piloted a Le Teint Particulier custom-blended foundation program starting in November at Nordstrom stores in Seattle and Torrance, Calif. The program responds to gaps in complexion shade selections particularly affecting women of color — a frustrating issue intensified by growing diversity — and consumer demand for customization fueled by the power of smartphones. Le Teint Particulier builds upon technology created by Sayuki Custom Cosmetics, a Laguna Hills, Calif.-based company L'Oréal acquired. The technology turns three scans of a customer (usually of the cheek, forehead and jawline) taken on a colorimeter, an instrument assessing skin color, into a recipe for how much red, yellow, black and white pigment is required to make a foundation that matches the customer's skin tone. The precise amounts of pigments are poured into a bottle over three to four minutes in a microwave-size machine prior to be shaken for two minutes or so in a smaller machine. The entire process takes 30 to 45 minutes.

After its prepared on-site, Le Teint Particulier's personalized foundation is handed to the customer couched in black inside a substantial white box, and inscribed with the name of the customer and a complexion identification number for repeat purchases at Nordstrom.