Can Machines Teach Beauty Habits? (A Technology Trend Report)

In a sweeping overview of the trends for 2024, Mintel has highlighted a game-changing prediction: technology will profoundly shape the beauty industry. Artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) integration will personalize the beauty experience like never before, offering health metrics tracking and virtual health consulting services.

This insight aligns perfectly with the Beaut-AI trend, suggesting that while AI will revolutionize the beauty industry by enhancing personalization and efficiency, its ongoing development cannot overstate the importance of governance and transparency.

In industries like skincare and hair care, where effectiveness is crucial, people use AI and AR to improve the consumer experience, particularly when choosing the right product.

1. AR Skin Care Coach

Take, for instance, Shiseido's innovative Beauty AR Navigation platform. This groundbreaking tool allows consumers to refine their beauty routines using smartphones or tablets. Shiseido developed this app using Kansei engineering, emphasizing aesthetics, sensory psychology, and design to create emotionally resonant experiences that engage the senses.

The system utilizes AI-driven motion recognition technology to capture intricate hand movements, guiding users through skincare steps via the Beauty AR Navigation interface, complete with video and narration. This interactive content provides a quantitative assessment to help users determine if their skincare routine meets their needs. The ultimate goal is to steer users towards an optimal beauty regimen that maximizes the benefits of their skincare products.

The platform overlays a virtual hand on the user's image to illustrate optimal hand movements (direction, speed, etc.). Simultaneously, voiceover narration provides real-time explanations of these movements, allowing users to replicate them and receive system feedback.

This AR platform bridges the gap left by declining consumers opting for traditional in-store experiences, favoring digital interaction. Shiseido notes that while contactless experiences are convenient, they can create educational gaps, leaving consumers wondering if they are correctly using cosmetics or not fully benefiting due to the lack of necessary technology.

According to Shiseido, when users apply moisturizer and lotion using the "Effective Skincare Application Method," they experience enhanced skin moisture, firmness, and elasticity, improving their psychological state. This positive sensation contrasts with their self-care, proving that an optimal routine can significantly increase skin moisture within a month.

2. Comprehensive AI Hair Analysis

Similarly, Ulta Beauty's new Virtual Hair Analysis tool, which integrates Myavana's HairAI technology, helps shoppers understand their hair type and receive personalized product recommendations. The retailer's e-commerce platform has added this tool to the virtual try-on experience, enhancing the hair product search journey.

Myavana's core technology first launched beta in 2012 and analyzes hair strand variations and hair products to create a personalized hair care regimen for each individual. By June 2023, Myavana's Scientific Intelligence (SI) hair analysis system had expanded its capabilities to analyze based on 2 billion hair strands.

Founded by Candace Mitchell Harris, Myavana has garnered strategic investments from Prisma Ventures (Ulta's emerging technology fund) and the BrainTrust Fund (backers of companies like Thirteen Lune). Myavana plans to use this funding to expand its enterprise retail presence, which includes salon channels and global product distribution.

"Myavana is emerging as a leader in using AI technology for beauty because of its hair strand analysis capability, serving every customer in this potential market." It has quickly attracted a broad range of interest, from shoppers seeking personalized diagnoses to retailers and stylists who want to sell the right product to the buyer the first time," said Kendra Bracken-Ferguson and Lisa Stone of the BrainTrust Fund. "We are excited to work with Candace and her team as the brand grows."

"Through Prisma Ventures, Ulta Beauty's digital innovation fund, we are continually seeking to support and invest in technologies that will pave the way for the beauty world, particularly those aligned with our mission to innovate the space through an inclusive lens," added Agustina Sartori, Senior Director of Digital Innovation at Ulta Beauty and CEO of Prisma Ventures. "Candace's visionary approach to digitizing the beauty experience for every hair type, including textured hair, is truly unique, and we are thrilled to collaborate with Myavana on the mission to open new doors for more customers through hair analysis technology."

Harris commented, "When we began at Myavana, we embarked on a mission to transform the hair industry through science and technology. And I am thrilled to partner with Ulta Beauty to start this digital transformation journey in retail." "Through personalized hair care technology that will innovate and enhance our shopping experience, we are excited to bring better identification and understanding of unique hair strands to the market while partnering with the nation's largest beauty product retailer, prioritizing innovation and inclusion.