New trend report: Beauty Tech Futures

The Innovation Group is proud to present Beauty Tech Futures, a new report exploring how digital culture, technological innovation and scientific advances are upending the beauty category, ushering in a new era of connected applications, products and habits.

With product discovery and beauty inspiration continuing their steady march into the digital realm, brands and artists are reimagining beauty products and makeup application—from 3D-printed face masks to AI makeup—for a fully digitized future.

Four years ago, the beauty industry was in the midst of a New Natural renaissance. In a trend fueled by rampant fear that the world around us—from the food we eat to the air we breathe—is filled with poisonous chemicals and toxins, beauty products were stripped back to their purest forms. Organic, farm-fresh ingredients and natural production processes were non-negotiable, base expectations for beauty consumers, while all things synthetic, manmade or genetically modified were shunned as hazardous and unhealthy.

But now, “natural” and “engineered” are no longer perceived as mutually exclusive. As new technologies emerge that replicate the services of the doctor’s office or manufacture biomimetic ingredients, the beauty industry is course-correcting. Skincare and beauty brands are turning to AI, machine learning and data analysis to bring unprecedented personalization and deep knowledge to beauty-conscious consumers.

Highlights from the report include:

Molecular Spas

The next generation of skincare leverages technology, data and biology to offer hyper-personalized treatments for an increasingly educated—and adventurous—class of skincare devotees. Cosmeceuticals that tap into biology and genetics to offer clinical diagnoses of skin health and inform bespoke treatments are fast becoming the ultimate beauty luxury.

Skin Scanners

The latest wave of skincare tools is bringing the dermatologist into the home, integrating high-powered scanning technology for hyper-customized analysis and product recommendations.

AI Beauty

As augmented and virtual realities create new planes for self-expression, an emerging cohort of cyber artists is experimenting with virtual and augmented beauty. What started as playfully using filters to entertain friends on social media is evolving into a respected channel for makeup artistry endorsed by designers, celebrities and retailers.

Printed Skincare