At the TechCrunch Disrupt event held in New York May 5–7, 2014, former Harvard Business School student Grace Choi presented her idea to shake up the beauty industry— Mink, a 3D printing device.
Choi created Mink as a way to print color cosmetic products from any color found on the web or in the real world using already-existing computer software. According to Choi, it can be used to print beauty products including eye shadow, blush, lip color, foundation and more, and it is based on using substrates that can then have basically any color integrated into them via the Mink printer.
Choi notes in her video presentation that users can simply choose a color on a website or snap one with a phone in the real world, use any color picker to locate the hex code of the color, put that hex code into any program like Photoshop or Paint, and then simply press print.
Choi also says in the video that she is targeting Mink at a younger, 13–21 demographic, as she seems them as used to the computer programs needed to 3D print makeup, as well as that they less ingrained in their habits with certain brands and retailers. She also shares that Mink costs less than $200, and she has plans to launch it later in 2014.
