Siri and Alexa have already made artificial intelligence part of our daily lives, but AI is also transforming the way we consume beauty and skincare.
Just about every day we hear a beauty brand announce its foray into the world of augmented reality (AR). Virtual makeup, one of the first triumphs of AR technology, is revolutionising the customer journey, harnessing digital innovation to personalise the shopping experience and make experimenting with makeup more fun, hygienic and convenient than ever before. AR-enabled virtual makeup apps blend users’ real-time videos with digital overlays so they can instantly see how a product looks on them from all angles in real time. It essentially allows us to try on as many products as we want without even having to step into a store.
Augmented reality has been a big part of our social media lives for years now – your favourite filter and photo editing apps all use AR to allow you to use different effects to change the way you look. But the adoption of this technology by beauty brands (even well before COVID hit) is transforming the way we select and purchase makeup.
With emerging technologies such as AR, we can now virtually try on thousands of shades and textures of foundation, lipstick and eyeshadow – applying them in real time to your face using just an app and the front-facing camera on your smartphone or tablet. And without touching a strand, we can satisfy our curiosity at what we’d look like with blue ombre or champagne blonde hair. You can even “try on” nail colour and instantly purchase the product from your phone. And thanks to the wizardry of artificial intelligence and deep learning, we are receiving product recommendations personalised to our unique needs and wants like never before.
All of this, of course, is made possible by cutting-edge, and constantly evolving, facial recognition and feature tracking, as well as advanced AR tools in our device’s operation systems.
AR has become so uncannily accurate that major beauty companies like Sephora, L’Oréal, Estée Lauder have all jumped on the bandwagon as a way to offer their customers a more personalised approach and super-enhanced take on the try-before-you-buy mantra.
Global beauty brands – including Chanel Beauty, Bobbi Brown, Nars, MAC Cosmetics, Maybelline, YSL Beauty, Garnier, Benefit Cosmetics, Revlon and OPI (we could go on) – are currently offering a whole host of new buyer experiences powered by AR, some of which include virtual product “try on” experiences using different combinations of products and real-time MUA assistance.
Most recently, Revlon launched their innovative ‘Super Lustrous Virtual Mirror App’, marking their first foray into the tech-sphere. The app allows consumers to try on all 54 shades of Revlon’s Super Lustrous lipstick and make a purchase from their phone.
Driving the new (augmented) reality
The two major players and leading tech providers in the AR beauty market are ModiFace and YouCam.
Modiface was founded by University of Toronto engineering professor Parham Aarabi in 2006 and has powered AR technology for brands like Sephora, Smashbox and Covergirl. It can also simulate hair changes, anti-ageing treatments and more with its futuristic makeover technology. As well, its skin diagnostic technology analyses the user’s skin condition and produces a customised beauty routine, based on scientific research combined with a ModiFace AI algorithm. The cutting edge virtual makeover platform was acquired by L’Oréal in 2018 – the first time the beauty multinational ever acquired a tech company.
The other major player in beauty AR is Perfect Corp (best known for its beauty app YouCam Makeup). Based in Taiwan and led by CEO Alice Chang, Perfect Corp boasts more than 900 million downloads globally and 300 brand partners. The company uses facial landmark tracking technology, which creates a “3D mesh” around users’ faces for realistic virtual makeovers.
Its YouCam Makeup app lets users “try on” virtual products from more than 300 global brands. Launched in 2014, YouCam Makeup has expanded from augmented selfies to include livestreams and tutorials from beauty influencers, social features and a “Skin Score” feature.
Google has also well and truly moved into this space with the launch of an AR-powered cosmetics try-on experience on Google Search, with help from ModiFace and Perfect Corp.
The search giant is working in partnership with top brands like L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, MAC Cosmetics and Charlotte Tilbury to allow consumers to try on makeup shades across a range of models with various skin tones or on themselves using their front-facing camera on mobile devices.
Next-level personalisation
With today’s advances in AR technology, it’s now possible to virtually match a shade of foundation, concealer, lipstick, eyeshadow, nail polish, or any other cosmetic product you can think of, to suit your skin tone precisely, with realistic colours, textures and finishes.
Some beauty brands are going a step further in the personalisation stakes. YSL Beauty has launched its Rouge Sur Mesure device, an AI-powered at-home system developed through the L’Oréal Beauty Lab. The brand says it is the first-ever smart personalised lip-colour device which can create thousands of different shades of the YSL Velvet Cream Matte Finish using single cartridges (which are also refillable). Once you’re happy with your hue, you press print and a sample pops out for use.
AI skin analysis and tailored product recs
Perfect Corp, the company behind the widely popular YouCam, also offers a unique AI algorithm for real-time skin analysis.
Used by many of the world’s leading skincare brands, the AI Skin Diagnostic tool uses AI face mapping and skin health visualisation to provide instant skin analysis that scores key skin parameters including: spots, wrinkles, moisture, redness, oiliness, texture, acne and dark circles, with more to come.
It then can recommend suitable skincare products based on your personalised skin analysis and survey questions. You can even track the efficacy of your skincare routine over time and see the results of how your products are benefiting them.
Joining the AI-powered skin diagnostics realm is L’Oréal’s SkinConsult AI for its Vichy Laboratoires brand, claimed to be the first skin ageing algorithm developed with dermatologists.
With one selfie, the SkinConsult AI platform measures skin ageing and tracks seven major ageing signs (under-eye wrinkles, lack of firmness, fine lines, lack of radiance, dark spots, deep wrinkles and pores). This is followed by a dermatologist reference scale to create a personalised skin assessment and deliver a tailored skincare prescription.
The new technology is powered by a comparative deep learning algorithm that grades facial features against a databank of 10,000 graded images of all skin types in different lighting conditions. Developed with dermatologists, the result is a high level of skin assessment precision. The skin diagnostic technology is set to expand to other L’Oréal brand websites throughout the world.
Other movers and shakers in the AI skin diagnostics market include La Roche-Posay with its Efaclar Spotscan – a world-first acne diagnostic tool powered by advanced AI, designed specifically for people with oily, acne-prone skin. The diagnostic tool, accessible on a smartphone via au.spotscan.com, was developed with the expertise of leading dermatologists, to support people with acne-prone skin, accurately diagnosing pimples, blackheads and pigmented marks, to provide an acne grade, personalised product solutions and enabling guided follow-up.
On the home front, Aussie serum specialists BOOST LAB have recently launched their latest innovation, Skin Advisor. Accessed via beautylabco.com, Skin Advisor gives free, personalised skincare advice – simply take a selfie and get your personalised skin analysis and product recommendations in real time. The brand’s AI technology analyses your skin against a library of over 30,000 images of real people to accurately measure over 100 different skin metrics to give you a personalised serum recommendation. CBM
Tech talk decoded
(according to Merriam Webster dictionary)
Artificial intelligence:
A branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of intelligent behaviour in computers; the ability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behaviour.
Deep learning (machine learning):
the process by which a computer is able to improve its own performance (as in analyzing image files) by continuously incorporating new data into an existing statistical model
Augmented reality:
an enhanced version of reality created by the use of technology to overlay digital information on an image of something being viewed through a device (such as a smartphone camera)
Virtual reality:
An artificial environment which is experienced through sensory stimuli (such as sights and sounds) provided by a computer and in which one’s actions partially determine what happens in the environment.
