By Amy Lawrenson

A recent poll of the 25 biggest beauty blunders found that second to heavily pencilled brows (aka The Scouse Brow) foundation marks along the chin are a no-no. We didn’t really need a poll to tell us that, it’s the holy grail of a woman's make-up bag finding the right foundation shade and it’s no mean feat.

Boots found that a whopping 78% of UK women said they would change their current foundation if they could find a better colour match. But artificial department store lighting, our skin’s own annoying habit of changing shade with the seasons and the wealth of choice out there makes finding your perfect foundation partner, well as tricky as finding a human one.

Today, thankfully, No7 has come to our rescue with its new complimentary Match Made service. The beauty consultants are now equipped with a nifty little hand-held device, a click on each cheek takes a reading from your skin, allowing it to pinpoint the exact shade that will suit you.

As well as the device Boots’ scientists called on the faces of 2000 British women to create a whole new spectrum of foundation shades to ensure every woman can be matched to a perfect shade of foundation. There are a staggering 80 foundations across seven different finishes from Lift & Luminate and Protect & Perfect to Beautifully Matte and Instant Radiance.

I’ve tried the service and was matched to Cool Vanilla which I chose in Stay Perfect, £14; a great match to my skin tone right now. I’ll head back nearer Christmas when my post-holiday glow has faded (sob).

The service also has No7 Creative Director and ELLE Beauty Guru Lisa Eldridge’s seal of approval, ‘we make-up artists train for years usingsight alone to assess skin tones and hues and make the perfect colour match but without this training and experience it’s no surprise that most women find it challenging and are, therefore, on an unending mission to find their true match. The no7 Match Made device removes that uncertainty which is why it’s set to revolutionise the face of foundation in the UK’.

Lisa Eldridge shares some quick foundation tips in the videos below...

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