Market Research: The AI Boom Expands to the Hair and Makeup Counter

Selin Tyler was frustrated. The director of product marketing and business operations for Dolby Technologies was stuck in what she called “a cycle of trial and error” with her skin. She turned to Parallel Health, a beauty company focused on custom skin care, set to launch next month. Tyler joined the brand’s 2021 ​​Institutional Review Board-backed study and tested customized products tailored to her microbiome. Now she’s wedded to her new regimen. “It’s like driving a Tesla,” she said. “You’ve entered the future, and all [else] seems outdated.”

The custom-designed, artificial intelligence–enabled beauty category is rapidly growing. With companies like Parallel Health and Mutual and innovations from big players like L’Oréal and Neutrogena, beauty consumers may soon swap out Sephora browsing for a highly bespoke at-home routine, in which smart gadgets scan customers’ body chemistry and make recommendations via algorithms.

Though the marketplace still needs to mature (for instance it will take time for these custom beauty companies to gather enough data to provide products for all skin types), some tech workers are more than happy to invite AI into their grooming routines. Here’s what they’re trying and loving, with a peek into what this all could mean for the products of the future.