The make-up aisles of today's pharmacies are a bright spectrum of colour – but there's always that one perfect shade of lipstick no company seems to make. Harvard Business School graduate Grace Choi is eliminating this irritation with Mink – a 3D printer just for make-up.

Online beauty start-up Julep is an internet phenomenon, targeting women of all ages who are genuinely passionate about beauty products and want their opinions and expertise to count. But what’s attracting so many women to sign up?

Birchbox is a high end beauty e-tailer which dispatches samples to subscribers for a monthly fee. We consider their innovative product service system in the light of changing definitions of luxury and fluctuating consumer trends.

With over 61% of people reading online reviews before making a purchase decision, it’s even more important than ever to separate the good ones from the bad. But with peer reviews and professional write-ups often having contrasting opinions, who should we trust – and why?