This New Foundation Can Be Custom-Made to Your Exact Skin Tone—Here’s My Review

For me, finding the perfect foundation has always been a bit of a task. Putting the questionable shade ranges aside, I seem to have another requirement that not many brands want to fulfil—I like sheer-coverage foundations but without an overly dewy finish. While I’d describe my skin as pretty low-maintenance, I have a super-oily T-zone, so I’m always seeking a light foundation formulation that will both even out my skin tone and mattify the oily bits—but without making my face look 2D. Trying to satisfy these needs at the same time as having to seek out a foundation range that caters well to deeper skin tones is challenging to say the least.

That is until I discovered Dcypher. A truly disruptive new brand on the beauty block, Dcypher is bringing custom foundations to the masses by uniquely creating a foundation for every individual. As soon as I heard about it, I was intrigued, but I don’t always trust custom skincare and makeup, as everyone’s opinion on what makes a “good” product can vary so dramatically. 

However, in the name of research, I put my reservations to one side and delved headfirst into the world of Dcypher’s customisable experience in the quest for my perfect foundation. And I have to say, I think the resulting formula is pretty close.

Dcypher was founded by husband-and-wife duo Adam and Claire, a British biochemist and a consumer scientist. After years of experience in the beauty industry, they decided to venture into the new space of personalisation after seeing a huge gap in the market. “Our research shows that only 45% of female customers regularly use foundation,” says Adam. “We believe they have given up on the category as they failed to find a product that works for them. We plan to change that. Our mission is to disrupt the beauty industry by making personalisation the norm. Giving the customer exactly what they want, with infinite shades, finishes and formulations.” 

I was worried that custom might equal confusing, but the Dcypher website is super easy to navigate. To help the team decipher (see what they did there?) your unique skin colour and undertone, you’re required to take three images of your face using your phone or computer camera. As I was on my laptop, I moved around the room in different lights, which I think helped to get me such a spot-on colour match.

Brands have certainly upped the shade game over the place few years, but having a wide range of colours doesn’t necessarily mean inclusive. These foundations have the biggest shade ranges across the skin tone spectrum, hands down.