As the world reopens, retail stores are making functional changes to ensure customers and employees are safe and healthy. For starters, the notoriously social activity of shopping now requires associates and customers to maintain distance and wear masks.
Customers need to feel comfortable when they sit down at the cosmetic counter, too. While the role of the beauty consultant is not going away, demo makeup applications and cosmetic testers are. This leaves retailers seeking a sanitary way to help customers confidently choose the right cosmetic colors for their skin tone.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) tools alleviate social distancing challenges by allowing beauty consultants to virtually engage with consumers.
Virtual Try-On Technology at the Cosmetic Counter
The multi-billion-dollar beauty industry has been using AI and AR for years. With facial recognition apps and brand cosmetic palettes, customers can virtually “try on” different shades of makeup to determine the best match for their skin tone.
This article in Experience magazine shares how Nordstrom’s flagship store in Manhattan is creating a virtual makeup experience using digital “Lipstick Finder,” “Skincare Finder,” and “Beauty Stylist Virtual Mirrors.”
While AI and AR technologies are instrumental in enhancing the customer experience, they now provide beauty retail with a coronavirus response and an alternative to cosmetic testers.
Technology to Support Social Distancing at the Cosmetic Counter
X-Rite Pantone brought technology to the cosmetics counter in 2012 to help well-known cosmetics brands and retailers find a good color match between skin tone and foundation.
CAPSURE Cosmetic is a small, handheld color measurement device that you hold against the skin to measure the color. It takes 27 photos to achieve a good representation of overall skin color, then compares the color sample against databases to determine the best foundation shade and color harmony products such as lipsticks and blushes.
Cosmetic retailers have developed product lines that use these skin tone numbers to identify the perfect foundation shade for every skin tone based on the CAPSURE measurement. With this technology, consultants no longer have to rely on trial and error to recommend colors their clients will love.
Fast acting towelettes, like 60DIS : DisCide® Ultra Towelettes which kill pathogens in one minute or less, can be used to wipe down and sanitize the CAPSURE handheld device between customers for safe use at the cosmetic counter. In addition, please review the following resources for disinfection protocols:
- How to Disinfect Your Color Measurement Device blog
- The EPA Guidelines for device sanitation against SARS-COV-2
The Future of Cosmetic Counter Technology
X-Rite Pantone is working hard to find new ways to help cosmetic manufacturers keep customers and employees safe and healthy. Look for more to come.
