Abstract
This paper contains an analysis of Artificial Intelligence in the skincare industry that reveals how start-ups and current industry giants are revolutionizing the market by incorporating AI into their technologies and products. Discussed will be the current AI Key Players in Skincare, AI Research in Skincare, and AI Ideas for Skincare. These represent the industry’s Box 1 and Box 3 respectively. Tech start-ups and existing skincare companies will individually be assessed to see how they implement AI, machine learning, and deep learning into their skincare products and technologies. The whole industry will also be assessed to see how AI is changing the face of the industry from consumer interaction to personalization of products. Also included will be current research and future ideas of AI in beauty. AI is doing big things in the skincare industry, for both the consumer and the company.
How AI is Revolutionizing the Skincare Industry
Background
Technology, more specifically Artificial Intelligence, has finally made its way into the beauty industry. With $140 billion in the global skin care industry, it is no surprise that technology companies and start-ups are pursuing the possibilities in the market. Over the years, we have tried to quantify and define beauty by measurements and standards. But now, researchers are trying to calculate and find the formula for facial beauty with the developments of computer technology and AI. With the current beauty industry consisting of mass-made products, these AI companies are personalizing the skin care and beauty industry to better the lives of customers with technology.
Artificial Intelligence plays the role of personalization in the skin care industry. So, what is AI exactly and how is it used in skincare? Artificial Intelligence (AI) is defined by Merriam Webster as: 1: a branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of intelligent behavior in computers 2: the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior. The two main branches of AI being used to develop technology in this industry is machine learning and deep learning. Machine learning is being used to “learn from data, identify patterns and make decisions with minimal human intervention” (Machine Learning). Deep learning is used to detect the prescience or absence of features with “models made up of hierarchies of filters called layers” (Skin Care).
Many companies like Proven, “an inclusive beauty brand that creates personalized skincare products based on the largest beauty database in the world”, Sephora, and Olay are incorporating AI, machine learning, and deep learning to develop beauty solutions. Skincare is not a one-size-fits-all model; not everyone’s skin and living conditions are the same. Products can now be specifically tailored and personalized to each customer. With these new technologies, the possibilities have now become infinite.
BODY
AI Key Players in Skincare:
There are two kinds of companies involved in AI for skincare: those companies already existing in skincare who are adopting AI as their box 3 and those who are disrupting the skincare industry with their AI start-up skin care business. The main three start-ups in the industry are Proven Beauty, OPU Labs, and Modiface. The main three existing big brands in the industry are Olay, L’Oréal and Sephora. Each company takes a different approach to AI in the skincare industry, but each one’s main objective, their Box 2, is to help consumers find their perfect customized beauty regime.
Proven uses AI to create data-driven skincare products and routine personalized to your skin type and needs. Ming Zhao, entrepreneur, and Amy Yuan, computation physicist, couldn’t find skin care products that worked for their skin, so Proven was born. They thought to expand the AI platform into skincare and launched The Skin Genome Project, known as “the most comprehensive analytical database of clinically effective ingredients for skincare ever created” (Proven). Winner of MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Award 2018, Proven’s Skin Genome algorithm uses computational science to analyze “8 million product testimonials and reviews, 20,238 skincare ingredients, and 100,000 products” and sifts through this data to find general patterns and trends regarding particular products for particular skin types (Proven). All one needs to do is fill out the Proven questionnaire, let the AI algorithm find your perfect products, and use the products customized to the needs of your skin.
OPU Labs is an innovative new platform, founded by Marc Bookman, that uses AI and blockchain to improve how people address the skincare world. Their mission is to “improve how the global skincare industry exchanges data, information, and rewards in a way that benefits patients, dermatologists, treatment centers, brand specialists, and product manufacturers” (Tokenizing). OPU has 5 Core Service: OPU AI, OPU Search, OPU Coin, OPU Connect, and OPU CRM. Focusing on OPU AI, they have developed AI technology that provides treatment recommendations based on a facial scan. The facial recognition technology scans any facial image to detect and measure acne, wrinkles, redness, skin tone, and hyperpigmentation (B.B). After the facial scab, machine learning technology is used to analyze, compare, and recommend treatments and products. OPU aims to become the “leading digital solutions provider for skincare measurement, management, and monitoring” (Tokenizing).
Modiface is a tech start-up that has become the “leading provider of Artificial Reality and Artificial Intelligence technology for the beauty and medical industries” (Modiface). They use AI to perform make-up or hair ‘try-on’ simulations in images and live video. Modiface, along with dermatologists, has created the Skin AI technology to precisely detect skin concerns and to simulate changes. They also have created a Face AI SDK that 3D tracks and measures facial movements and expressions using 68 facial parameters which have enabled this technology to become “one of the most precise real-time facial video tracking and analysis technologies in the world” (Modiface). Multiple skin brands like Sephora and Estee Lauder have launched applications using the technology of ModiFace’s Skin AI and in 2018 L’Oréal acquired Modiface in order to get ahead in AR and AI in the skincare industry (Neff). The acquisition of an AI tech start-up by one of the largest beauty companies will bring about many advances to AI in skincare.
Olay has been an existing company in skincare for over 50 years, but they have recently harnessed the power of AI to keep their company relevant. In 2016, Olay partnered with Nara Logics and released their AI-powered Skin Advisor and has since doubled their sales and increased the average basket size says CEO Nara Logics (Larson). Skin Advisor works by uploading a non-makeup selfie, answering a questionnaire about the products you use, and then the AI deep-learning algorithm will “pinpoint exactly where on a person’s face might need a product, recommend what they should use as well as advise on when their skin is looking good” (Faull). The algorithm will learn and increase effectiveness as more people upload their selfies. Olay is an existing skincare company that is leading the movement of infusing AI into skincare and beauty.
L’Oréal is one of the giants in today’s beauty industry and they are maintaining that title by incorporating AI into their technologies and platforms. For starters, they have including chatbots, using cognitive engagement, to their Facebook Messenger to “produce services for its beauty brands and learn more about consumers” (Roderick). L’Oréal also acquired Modiface, an AI and AR tech start-up, earlier this year to expand in beauty tech. Parham Aarabi, founder of Modiface commented on the matter and said, “L’Oréal’s acquisition of Modiface provides an incredible opportunity to innovate on beauty augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) at an unprecedented scale, the results of which will shape the beauty industry for the decades to come” (L’Oréal). L’Oréal is focusing more on using AI to better interact with customers than using AI to customize skincare, but they do believe that Artificial Intelligence is ‘big’ and will be a driving force in the skincare world.
Sephora has implemented many AI technologies into its business model. First, they have piloted chatbots on Kik that gives personal recommendations and skin-care content like product reviews and how-to videos and on their Facebook Messenger to answer questions and to book in-store appointments (Arthur). Sephora is harnessing the cognitive engagement sector of AI by using chatbots. They have also launched Sephora Visual Artist, operated by Modiface, “an augmented reality, AR, startup that uses AI to detect faces and project virtual makeup looks in real-time” (Zhou). This tool also includes Color IQ, to color match the user and allow them to virtually try on over 20,000 products to find the most suitable one for their skin tone (Rayome). Mary Beth Laughton, Sephora’s vice president, says, “digital and innovation have always been part of our DNA” and the company knows that technology and innovation is where the future of skincare and beauty is headed.
These six companies display the vast ways artificial intelligence is being implemented into skincare. From customer interaction, to face scans, to personalized routines, it is evident that the industry is being revolutionized. Technology start-ups, like Proven Skincare, are disrupting the industry by releasing more effective products with the use of AI while existing companies like Olay are using AI as their Box 3 to keep their company on trend in a competitive industry. Even though AI in skincare is relatively new, it is already shaking up the business, and it will be exciting to see what these companies continue to achieve with AI.
AI Research in Skincare:
The feature of beauty is getting technical. Many companies have already invested in Artificial Intelligence, but they are still pouring large sums of money into research and development for the latest AI algorithms, deep learning technology, and machine learning technology. Technology and AI research are ahead of the industry and most are vying to get in on it. AI is advancing beauty is on its way to getting perfected and customized to each individual person. What research is being done to further this progress?
There are many up and coming companies pursuing AI in skincare. Proven, as previously mentioned, is perfecting its algorithm to make precise skincare regimens with only the help of a user completed survey. Proven believes that there is a good reason “that modern deep learning is the first technology with a real chance at untangling the complex dynamics that govern how and why beauty products work or fail” (Proven). In addition, the company Function of Beauty is developing perfect customized hair care for customers with algorithms using machine learning and big data. A company approaching AI in a different way is MIRA, who is using AI to find beauty products, images, and videos. In addition, My Beauty Matches holds one of the world’s largest databases of beauty products, with over 400,000. Their algorithm helps customers find the best and cheapest existing beauty product they need (Abraham). This research in AI is driving a whole new era of beauty,
AI Ideas for Skincare:
The future is bright for artificial intelligence in skin care with many more ideas to explore. There are many possibilities that existing beauty companies could explore or tech start-ups can pursue. Some ideas that companies could potentially pursue are creating better skincare and makeup products, understanding the human face and what we consider beautiful using facial analysis, using similar people’s facial characteristics to help analyze your own, and many more (Kurilyak). AI, including machine learning and deep learning, has proven to be an innovation playing field for the skincare industry. Time will only tell what ideas and innovation will come into the skincare world in the future.
ANALYSIS/INTERPRETATION
The skincare industry is a multi-billion-dollar industry that only keeps growing. Among the rise of technology and artificial intelligence, skincare companies are competing to stay ahead of trends. The enormous amounts of beauty information and products in the market makes it hard for consumers to find what they want and need. The social demand for beauty allows one to search and search for the right product to make them look the best they can. This demand allows beauty companies to thrive, especially with AI allowing companies to customize the product to the customer.
Artificial Intelligence, machine-learning, and deep-learning are harnessing the power of the future of the skincare industry. Not only does this technology create personalized skin care regimes and help companies better understand their customers, but it keeps buyers more informed, saves the money, and reduces the amount of time they need to spend researching and trying out products. The beauty industry never was supposed to be a one-size-fits-all model, but with mass consumption and production, consumers only had the choice to choose from pre-made products; now they have the chance at personalization with algorithms and data points. AI has become a win-win for company and consumer.
From tech start-ups, to beauty industry giants, AI has infiltrated the market. AI is changing the industry, from the products to the technology to the communication channels. AI will keep growing and expanding within the market to give the companies better technologies and the customers better products. One would not consider such technological revolutions to be happening in the beauty industry, but they are, and they are changing the face of beauty.