Review of Boots No7’s new Match Made App for at home foundation shade matching.You might have already noticed Boots No7 Match Made machines in store. I tried the service out for the first time recently when I bought some fantastic Beautifully Matte Foundation. The Match Made machine is a handheld device which you use to scan clean skin and it tells you which No7 foundation is the best match for your skin tone. I was matched with Deeply Beige. I did feel like it would be slightly dark for me, but when it’s on, it looks Okay.

Boots No7 has recently launched a Match Made App. This is a really cool idea. Foundation is the one thing you really have to buy in person. If you don’t have a good colour match, you’re screwed. 

A phone app is a genius idea, it means you can double check your skin shade before you buy from the comfort of your home. There are a few reasons you might not want to go to the store to get foundation- embarrassment, lack of time, having kids hanging of you, to name but a few. Even if you know what shade your skin is and you buy No7 foundation regularly, your skin colour will change with the seasons, so it’s good to get it checked.

After downloading the app from the App Store (or Google Play if you’re on Android) you will need to get a Match Made card from the Boots shop. That’s the only bit that’s not genius. You have to go into Boots anyway to get a card.

How The Match Made App Works

You have your Match Made card and App, so the next bit is the fun bit. The App guides you through the process. Firstly scan the QR code (the black and white square) on the card then make sure that the skin on your jawline is clean and dry. The App uses your phone camera to scan the coloured square, it asks for 2 scans on 1 side and one on the other. Voila! You have your shade. It is slightly tricky to line up the squares while holding the phone and the card, you might need some help (I managed on my own, my husband would have been all “what the bloody hell are you doing now?”).

The shade chosen for me was Cool Ivory. This was the shade I thought I was going to be before I was matched in store. It could be that Deeply Beige is a bit dark after all, here’s a jawline swatch, I’ll leave it for you to decide-

No7 Match Made App Overview

All in all, this App is a great idea, enabling those who don’t want to or can’t getting a Boots store have access to shade selection. It seemed to choose a good shade for me- a light cool tone is what I normally go for.

The only downside is that you have to get a Match Made card. I did read that you get one sent to you if you order from Boots.com, so that’d be a way round this situation. Boots will be adding other products, like blusher, concealer and lipstick, to the Match Made App soon.

Available from Boots.com 

PS I always doublecheck my foundation match with Temptalia’s Foundation Matrix

FYI there is one teensy affiliate link in this post and I have in no way received any money, my thoughts are my own