26. Oktober 2020
The future of beauty isn’t about gloss versus matte or highlight versus contour. Formulas, shades and ingredients will not be the separating factors between brands. Instead, the lengths to which a brand goes to make each customer feel that their experience has been specifically tailored to their liking will decide who stays and who goes. The brand that knows you best, wins.
Unique and Customised Beauty Solutions Through Apps and AI
Skincare shoppers typically buy products for the issues they can see. At the first sight of crow’s feet or dark circles, eye creams and mini rollers are added to the shopping list. No longer will consumers have to fight mall traffic, seek the advice of a beauty counter associate and possibly have their most visible insecurities shared with nearby shoppers. The new now and the near future promise to be far more convenient. 
Sunspots and fine lines that lurk beneath the skin’s surface can be brought to light using little more than a smartphone camera and an app. Aging indicators, once only noticed by dermatologists and acutely trained eyes, are picked up by AI skin analysis. These real-time scans can result in unique active ingredient combinations that deliver a customized serum tailored to the customer’s personal skin needs. In-app selfies provide a basis for determining skin strengths and weaknesses, along with a suggested regimen. Not only does your phone know you better than you do, it also knows you haven’t been applying SPF as often as you should.
The At-Home Department Store
The special treatment and personalisation once sought in prestigious cosmetic departments may soon be just a few feet away. Smart mirrors invite the beauty conscious to begin the day trying on makeup looks, and to end the evening with a skin analysis complete with product recommendations to remedy any issues. Even with in-home analyzations and technology that detects aging before the human eye does, customers need products. They need creams and powders and colours to apply to these freshly scanned faces. In-home bathroom counters could potentially replace cosmetic counters when it comes to seeking the latest shade.
On-demand makeup and skin care have never been more of a reality. Mink, the portable, 3D makeup printer—yes, a printer that delivers wearable makeup—is now available for pre-order. After importing any image into the accompanying app, the user places a special makeup sheet into the tray, prints the image and can wear pigment right off the page. With the press of a button, completely customized foundation, lipstick and moisturizer appear in the L’Oreal Perso, a sleek multi-cartridge machine that looks natural alongside tubes and bottles. The device’s accompanying app diagnoses your skin from a series of selfies and accounts for daily environmental factors like weather, humidity and the UV index to dispense products that address skin needs for the day. AI is used to blend personalized foundation and lipstick shades that are practically instantly available.
Preparing for the Future of Beauty with AR and Voice technology
Developments abound in this industry that intimately impact people’s everyday lives, and Valtech is dedicated to leading the charge. We’re utilizing in-app AI to understand skin, offer solutions and build a customer profile that follows a buyer through their journey. When shoppers return to stores in full force, we’ll be ready with eye tracking and screens displaying details on the item that has caught their attention. AR and voice technology will allow browsers to try on every shade in the store without touching a single swatch. Smartphones and gestures can replace the pickup/put down stage of product selection, and the store can continue at home thanks to digital walk-throughs that give customers the feeling of having the store all to themselves.
The only certainty about the future of beauty is change, but as we’ve watched the industry go from cold creams to jelly cleansers, from roller glosses to all-natural balms and from pore strips to LED face masks, it’s clear to see that change can be a beautiful thing.
