Where did customised beauty and artificial intelligence take us in 2018?
The personalisation and customised beauty trend is about refining products to meet specific consumer needs. With the increasing capabilities of tech, some brands are now creating offerings that are specialised right down to the individual demands of a unique consumer.
Personalisation and customisation of beauty is being seen in brands, apps, and individual products and services across the beauty industry.
“It’s about allowing consumers to take more control over what they’re doing and tailor their skin care routine down to the minute as they go through their day,” explained Jamie Mills, Global Analyst with GlobalData, in Cosmetics Design’s webinar on the hot topic at the end of last year.
Top picks for products and services in this space
Many versions of the ‘digital advisor’ entered the market across various brands last year. One key example was from Olay, where we saw the brand’s ‘Skin Advisor’ app offer consumers a personalised beauty routine ‘calculated to address your skin’s specific needs’.
Olay’s Skin Advisor analyses the five main ageing areas of the face and advises customers on the best skin routine. The intention of such services is that they create a more seamless shopping experience, encouraging consumer spending and loyalty.
Another such digital advisor, Henkel’s Choicfy app shows that the customisation trend reaches across categories: the app is dedicated to the hair care segment, specifically to hair colourant products. The app comes from Henkel’s Beauty Care division, and is designed as a mobile solution for the point of sale, guiding consumers when buying colour-at-home style hair dye kits.
Bespoke products
Moving away from apps, we see brands that focus more on the products themselves being more bespoke.
For example, Emulsion is a personalised skincare brand form the UK that allows the customer to tailor his/her own products to tackle specific needs and fragrance preferences. It’s a do-it-yourself approach to customisation, and the benefit of allowing customers to feel empowered and involved in the curation process.
“Through our wide range of products and Add-ons you can find the right blend for you, beginning with our core set of Bases and adding the perfect boost,” the brand explains.
New tech possibilities
And lastly, one other key avenue for offering customised beauty is by creating whole new, innovative tech solutions.
L’Oréal is a leader in this space, with its sun care sensors that detect possible sun damage in its UV Sense range.
And hot off the press, the global beauty company has kicked off this year with the launch of its new ‘microfluidic sensor’ to measure skin pH levels, in what L’Oréal describes as world first launch.
“My Skin Track pH by La Roche-Posay is the first wearable sensor and companion app to easily measure personal skin pH levels and create customized product regimens to better care for skin,” explains the company. With tech capabilities only increasing, 2019 looks set to be a year of customised beauty advances.
