Tech in Beauty — with Artificial Intelligence to impeccable skin
The Beauty Branche appears to just be one of those things that have existed forever. Especially with the rise of social media, it has managed to evolve into one of the largest communities out there. It never seemed to evolve much in and of itself, however, seemingly only ever presenting differently.
While the bigger waves of it remained static, that in no way means that concepts such as digitalization and progress have not reached the beauty industry just as much as it had others. It might be more subtle, but as we all know, as the trickle starts the rain, the rain can bring some heavy waves down the line.
But what can tech and digitalization even offer an industry that is so well-established and seemingly polished?
The answer turns out to be a lot more than you might think.
Have you ever struggled to find the perfect skincare routine? Some skin is very obviously dry, some is very oily, but as for me personally, finding skincare that worked for me was (and, might I add, still very much is) a trial and error process.
Well, Amazon came out with something that is meant to solve that issue. HiMirror is the name of the wonderous device — through Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence, this little shiny mirror helps you a lot more than an average one. It analyzes your skin regularly, adjusting its analysis day by day, and recommends you the perfect products. It tracks up to 10 different factors, such as dryness, pores, and wrinkles. A skin analysis tool and a (basically) magic mirror are all you need.
The brand Olay is promising a similar solution, using no gadgets aside from a smartphone though. Downloading the app and taking a selfie is all that it takes to get some advice on preferred products. Using the feedback they received combined with customers’ experiences concerning the products, an Artificial Intelligence tool is able to figure out which products are most likely to satisfy the specific needs of each and every user, leading to your search for the perfect facemask hopefully being made a lot easier.
Now, what if a gadget was there to not just adjust perfectly to your skincare needs, but also adjust to your make-up needs? I doubt I’m the only one to have struggled with getting tan and then slowly losing said tan over months — no make-up fits properly and it’s a hassle to find the proper foundation. Well, here comes PERSO! A 3–1 gadget for personalized Makeup brought to you by L’Oreal and presented at the Consumer Electronics Show 2020. A gadget meant to create personalized and perfectly fitted skincare, lipstick, and foundation.
Yep, that’s right, personalized foundation!
It’s a gadget that goes hand in hand with the appropriate app, evaluating your skin and environment, taking your personal concerns and priorities into account while calculating and drawing up the perfect product. The surprisingly compact PERSO is able to blend colors and textures to create the perfect shade for you. Like your personal little Makeup helper, over time, PERSO learns and gets smarter, adjusting more and more to your preferences.
As undeniably cool as this idea is, it is not groundbreaking per se. A Japanese company named Shiseido came out with a similar service and decide a year prior. Named Optune-Service, it was billed monthly. Optune is a skincare system that offers 80k different patterns to match its customers’ ever-changing skin conditions. This skincare solution also includes both a gadget and an app.
Obviously, these would be the more known and influential examples of high-tech used in the Beauty Industry, but there are more examples to be mentioned still.
For one, if you can’t afford a multiple hundred-dollar investment for a gadget to tell you your skin texture of the day, there are chatbots that are programmed to assist you. Sure, they might not be as precise, but taking your words at face value, they will do their best to offer you the best solution for your problem.
Now, have you ever considered a smarter solution for your hair, and not just your skin? Obviously, hair can be as demanding as your skincare needs and your often very unique skin tone. There is a hairbrush, the first intelligent hairbrush ever, in fact, “Kérastase Hair Coach Powered by Withings”. Sensors pay attention and scan your hair to analyze whether it’s too dry, or broken up. Adjusting their speed and the way the brush works, it uses a built-in microphone to communicate whichever adjustments it needs to make to treat your hair perfectly.
It seems as though the beauty industry has been developing a lot faster than we ever thought it might. Many of these developments are not even known to your average everyday end-user, but all of it is still progress.
If these gadgets and developments based on Augmented Reality or Artificial Intelligence succeed and gather an undeniable position within the market in the future, is yet to be seen.
