L’Oréal unveils latest digital beauty innovation

L’Oréal Paris is bringing the personalized service of a department store to the mass market with its latest in beauty digital innovation — “Makeup Genius.”



Based on the insight that beauty is one of the most “Googled” topics in the world — with about 4 billion searches a year — the group’s innovation incubator decided to respond to the needs expressed by consumers by offering greater customization and interaction with their brand.



“By combining our knowledge of consumers and the science of colors with technologies for monitoring facial expressions, we have been able to calculate the best possible algorithm capable of producing an extremely realistic colur-rendering in real time using just an iPhone camera,” stated Guive Balooch, director of the Connected Beauty Incubator for L’Oréal Research & Innovation. This innovation will enable L’Oréal Paris to offer all women an unprecedented beauty “e-routine.”



The world market leader in beauty, L’Oréal Paris aims to be a pioneer in tools offering consumers a personalized experience. L’Oréal’s Makeup Genius enables consumers to test makeup products using their mobile phone or tablet as a virtual mirror and play with new looks in real time.



Unlike other virtual makeup apps that render colors onto a pre-uploaded static image, L’Oréal Paris uses facial mapping technology to transform your iPhone or iPad’s front-facing camera into a virtual mirror where you can try on L’Oreal Paris products. Facial expressions are detected and reproduced, allowing for a result that looks like you actually applied makeup. Makeup Genius captures 64 facial data points and up to 100 expressions.



Consumers can now test makeup products, a new makeup look or scan a bar code at the point of sale and instantly experience the most premium and innovative Before & After service.



“We believe that one of the major trends to come concerns the virtual reality experience, which will offer consumers a new and effective way of trying products, learning how to use them and personalize them, with unparalleled results for the consumer,” said Cyril Chapuy, president of L’Oréal Paris International.

Makeup Genius will be launched in France, the United States and China in May, then in other countries where the brand is present.