British technology agency Holition is working on a new Facebook mobile app feature that will allow beauty enthusiasts to try on makeup products virtually with special camera filters. For this project, Holition will utilize the technology behind the magic mirror of French beauty brand Bourjois in its Paris flagship store. Bourjois's magic mirror uses 3D sensing smart camera technology to show shoppers how cosmetics would look like on their faces when they touch select a product in the store. The mirror can also suggest makeup products applicable to the shoppers’ skin tones. Holition plans to produce similar results with its Facebook filter which will take advantage of the social media app's AR mesh software. The filter will eventually be connected to Facebook's deep linking feature that will help users know where to buy the makeup products.[Image Credit: © Coty Inc]

As part of its efforts to lure buyers into its physical stores and compete with other retailers like Ulta and Sephora, Saks Fifth Avenue overhauled its beauty department and installed "magic mirrors”. Customers can opt to have the virtual look emailed to them. Magic mirrors are just one part of the store’s efforts to upgrade its beauty customer experience, which now includes a concierge to assist shoppers and space for treatment rooms and events, such as tutorials and presentations. A move to the second floor has allowed more space for the cosmetics department.[Image Credit: © Saks Fifth Avenue]

L’Oréal has acquired its first technology startup, Modiface, for an undisclosed sum to help the group improve how it incorporates advanced technology into its brand offerings. Lubomira Rochet, L’Oréal’s chief digital officer, underscored the importance of global brands adapting to digital developments in order to survive but also said that L’Oréal’s strategy is to determine the most appropriate technologies for its brands and scale them across the group’s websites and stores, but in a way that works for local conditions. It is looking to develop technologies via a number of routes, including acquisitions; Station-F, a startup campus in France; and the Founders Factory, a digital accelerator based in London.[Image Credit: © L’Oréal]

More consumers are choosing personalized beauty products, and artificial intelligence is helping companies address this trend. Blend-it-yourself services, for example, provide customers with products tailored to meet their specific needs. Among the beauty brands using AI in this space to better understand their customers’ needs are Belle Bar, Prose, Skin Inc., and Function of Beauty. LOLI, launched in Spring 2018, also plans to use AI for its blend-it-yourself concept, allowing it to provide a more scalable solution.[Image Credit: © LOLI Beauty, Inc]

Cosmetics company Lush is testing its Lush Lens mobile application, developed in-house. The app uses combines AI and product recognition, allowing users to scan products and access information, such as ingredient lists, even without packaging. It is being tested at Lush’s first ever “Naked” and package-free store in Milan, where visitors can use the app on the store’s Fairphone devices. Lush plans to roll out the app worldwide. It will also be available for consumers to download on to their smartphones.[Image Credit: © Lush Cosmetics]

Wunder2 Cosmetics signed up YouCam Makeup to add a virtual try-on component to its website. The partnership covers the company’s color cosmetics ranges, but other products will be added later. The products can also be accessed through the YouCam Makeup application, allowing the app’s existing users to “try on” makeup looks and 25 items from the range. Wunder2 is also considering offering the service through its retail partners.[Image Credit: © www.wunder2.eu]

Beauty company L’Oréal unveiled a new service to be rolled out later this year for its NYX Professional brand. The digital beauty assistant uses augmented reality and livestreaming to bring a personalized makeup counter experience to consumers’ homes. The company plans to roll out the solution, based on its March 2018 Modiface acquisition, for all of its brands across 65 markets. L’Oréal chose NYX as the first brand to offer the service because it is a “very social brand, a pro brand and a retail brand,” according to L’Oréal’s chief digital officer, Lubomira Rochet.[Image Credit: © NYX Professional Makeup]

Multimedia messaging app Snapchat launched its speech-recognition lenses. Compared with the company's Lens visual lenses, the augmented reality-enabled lenses offer various applications for social media and business. At present, the company's AR business is already generating revenue, accounting for $281 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.[Image Credit: © Snap Inc.]

Perfect365 has announced its integration of Kin, the cryptocurrency for consumer apps, allowing the company to become the only augmented reality beauty platform to offer built-in ways to transact using the cryptocurrency. Users of the Perfect365 app will be able to earn Kin within the app and use it to buy premium Perfect365 features. According to Perfect365, the move also aims to encourage women to use cryptocurrencies.[Image Credit: © Perfect365]

India’s Zenith Drinks has launched what it calls “the world’s first complete anti-aging beverage,” inspired by modern science and the ancient holistic healing system Ayurveda. Auric is a functional beverage available in three blends: mind rejuvenation, body defense and skin radiance. Formulated using eight herbs – including ashwagandha, brahmi, and gotu kola – Auric restores the balance of free radicals and antioxidants to prevent inflammation, according to the company. The low-calorie beverage, containing no chemicals or preservatives, is sold in more than 500 stores across India, and online. The company plans to create a distribution network over the next three years in the top 15 cities in India and in five other countries.