Colour me coral -- do you need help with your make-up?

"Hewlett-Packard has developed a new service capable of receiving photos from cell phone cameras, running them through sophisticated image-processing algorithms, and returning scientifically based recommendations for the shade of foundation, lipstick, blush and eye shadow that best suits a person's skin tone," says Scientific American.

Colour matching is subjective, so HP hired freelance experts: "makeup artists you'd hire for events, a movie shooting or weddings."

There's a press release, HP Technology Takes the Guesswork Out of Matching Colors.

Nobody's really going to do this themselves, are they? But it might work as part of a sales pitch at an in-store beauty counter.

HP's Jhilmil Jain holds the specially designed color chart near her skin while someone uses a mobile phone to capture and send the image via MMS for a color recommendation.