As technology continues to be a leading driver in beauty, brands are turning to artificial intelligence and augmented reality to provide customers with the ultimate experience.
In a conversation presented by Perfect Corp., Amanda Smith, chief executive officer of Fairchild Media Group sat down with Alice Chang, founder and chief executive officer of Perfect Corp. and Lynda Pak, senior vice president of global brand and corporate function technology at Estée Lauder Cos. to discuss how the two companies have worked closely together to allow consumers to be their most beautiful selves.
Since launching Perfect Corp. 10 years ago, Chang said that AI and AR have become an important business driver, and noted the rapid evolution of its practical applications.
“When we were talking with brands about using AI/AR in makeup, it was very new,” Chang said. “Not everyone understood what we were doing. But we know that technology can help beauty lovers and beauty purchasers. Ten years ago, it was impossible to try different colors on your own face.”
Perfect Corp. launched with a business-to-consumer app that exploded in popularity. Over the past decade, its technology has greatly evolved to now include virtual makeup trials, skin analysis for skin care concerns, personalized product recommendations and hair diagnostics.
From mapping skin care concerns to makeup try-ons and shade matching, the Estée Lauder Cos. has utilized Perfect Corp.’s AI and AR technology to create powerful personalization tools for consumers.
“Estée Lauder has been an early adopter to deliver to our consumers beautifully immersive experiences,” Pak said. “That was back in 2018-2019, so it was fairly early-on. Once COVID-19 hit, it seemed like a natural progression to leverage AR to allow our consumers try on skin care and skin wellness without the challenges of COVID or someone touching your face.”
Pak shared that a core strategy is to partner with tech companies to deliver impactful, immersive and digital experiences across its multiple categories — makeup, skin care and hair care. “As a technologist and with the partnership we have with Perfect Corp., it has allowed us to build modularized components of features and functionality that we can leverage across brands and categories,” Pak said. “We’re able to quickly deploy to multiple brands and multiple markets, while allowing brands to customize and have a brand voice as part of our customer experience.”
Perfect Corp.’s latest AI skin analysis tool has also become a big milestone in the company’s history, Chang said. Able to create personalized recommendations, Perfect Corp. works with brands to recommend products and has expanded into med-spas and aesthetic clinics to work with doctors. The tool is able to create a before-and-after picture for skin care products or procedures.
“Beauty is an even bigger category. It’s more than just makeup or skin care — it’s your whole look. It’s your hairstyle, hair color, apparel, shoes, jewelry and accessories,” Chang said. “While there’s a lot of criticism about AI, it’s only a tool. How you use it is up to you, how you leverage it, in which direction. Our mission is very clear: We’re focusing on beautiful AI — making human’s lives even more beautiful with analysis and recommendations.”
