Hyper-Personalized Makeup: How AI + AR Can Customize Your Beauty Buys

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR) are seeping into all areas of our lives, including our beauty regime. It is now allowing for highly personalized product recommendations and virtual experiences that allow customers to “try on” makeup virtually before buying it. It is even helping brands to develop new formulas based on very specific analyzed consumer data, and this ultimately creates a more customized and convenient shopping experience for users. —Jennifer Cox

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

There are many ways that Artificial Intelligence is impacting beauty trends, and many companies are taking advantage of this new technology. Neutrogena’s Skin360 can assess your skin and create a custom skincare routine that fits your needs. Cetaphil, L’Oréal, and Estée Lauder all have services similar to Skin360 that analyze a user’s photo and recommend a skin care routine.

Sephora has also embraced AI to transform its customers’ shopping experience. By integrating AI into various aspects of its customer experience, Sephora has not only improved service personalization but also created more engaging and meaningful interactions. One of Sephora’s outstanding innovations is its “Color IQ” service. Using advanced image analysis technology, Color IQ scans the customer’s face in-store and online to precisely identify their skin tone. Based on this data, the system recommends the most suitable foundation products from thousands of shades available at Sephora, guaranteeing a near-perfect match. This personalized approach takes the guesswork out of the product selection equation and increases customer satisfaction by reducing returns and exchanges due to inaccurate color matches. Similarly, “Skincare IQ” offers personalized skincare consultation, recommending products based on the customer’s specific skin needs, concerns and product preferences. “Virtual Artist” is another illustration of AI-driven innovation at Sephora. Accessible via Sephora’s mobile app, this tool enables users to virtually try on a wide range of make-up products, from lipsticks to eyeshadows, using augmented reality. Customers can see what these products would look like on their own faces in real time, facilitating the purchasing decision process both online and in-store.

Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented Reality can be used for virtual try-ons of makeup and skincare products, allowing consumers to experiment with different looks and shades before purchasing, and for personalized product recommendations based on skin tone and type. Companies like Mac, Urban Decay, and Covergirl were among the first that offered AR try-on for beauty products via Google a few years ago, while Revlon, Splat, and L’Oréal’s suite of brands were among those offering it for at-home hair colour. Since that time, Augmented Reality can be used to monitor skin health and access customized skincare recommendations. AR simplifies product exploration by offering instant shade matching—facial recognition technology can recommend foundation and concealer shades tailored to each user’s skin tone, as well as complementary suggestions—try on a lipstick shade and get suggestions for coordinating lip liners, eyeshadows, and blushes to complete the look.

L’Oreal’s industry-leading ModiFace AR is a prime example of this technology. It calibrates makeup shades so you can easily preview lip, eye, cheek, face, and brow products on a live video or image. It comes with additional features such as before and after comparisons, options to save and then share, and more.