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On a gloomy November day, I drove from Boston to a large corporate development in Beverly, Massachusetts. I walked down a long, narrow hallway and entered a medium-sized, clinical-feeling white room filled with robot kiosks. I was there to visit SmartSKN Laboratoriesand these robots were going to turn me into a hyper-personalized, entirely AI skincare line called K-AI.
I am always looking for the best and most effective products. I want powerful ingredients and effective delivery systems. I want science, and so does everyone else, based on the oversaturated amount of innovation-based skincare in a $182 billion global market. The demand is off the charts. As expected, this is where AI comes into the chat.
The role of AI in personalized beauty is not new. Skincare brands like Proven and haircare brands like Prose are already using AI algorithms to help consumers optimize their routines. SmartSKN is doing something I have yet to see: leveraging AI for actual, on-demand production, and if it gains traction, it could revolutionize the beauty industry, while improving the health of our skin and reducing our carbon footprint. carbon.
In the Beverly lab, Val Neicu, co-founder of SmartSKN Labs, shared big dreams for the future of robots. First, I wanted to see what they could do.
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The dermascope from SmartSKN laboratories that will develop my skin care products with the help of AI.
Then, in the SmartSKN app, I filled out a short questionnaire about my skin type, concerns, and lifestyle. This helped Smart SKN AI better understand my habits so I could effectively create my personalized skincare line. It is also very spacious; This system has been trained on over 150,000 diverse skin profiles worldwide (all skin types, tones and genders) and is growing every day.
Finally, thanks to the trifecta of dermoscopic photography, bioimpedance measurement, and skin health questionnaire, I had the results of my skin analysis. It measured sensitivity, pigmentation, wrinkles, redness, pore size, oil levels and dryness.
The line is made up of an essence/serum, an ampoule and a lotion. Upon finishing each product at the robotic kiosk, I had the option to add additional ingredients that could amplify benefits like brightening or firming. Then the robot, which looks like a bionic arm, got to work.
He chose the bottle, mixed and poured my unique formula into the bottle and then screwed on the top. All this takes about five minutes. The robot then dropped my unique product into a receptacle for me to pick up, as if I had just won a toy from a claw machine. The robot also printed my labels, which include a QR code with my unique profile, as well as instructions for entering the package.
Skin assessment results in the SmartSKN app.
Where robots come from and where they are going
The AI robots, to which SmartSKN has exclusive rights, are made in Korea and use powerful ingredients popular in Korean skincare brands for each customized formula. For those who don’t know, the K-Beauty industry was valued at 91.9 billion in 2022with a projected compound annual growth rate of 9.3% between 2023 and 2030. Korean skincare’s reputation for using high-quality, effective ingredients is legendary. You can explore SmartSKN’s Rolodex of ingredients here.
The SmartSKN team is very aware of its formulas, Neicu is clear about its place in the industry. “We’re not a skin care company, we’re a technology company,” he said. Robots can also make other products. While they haven’t dipped their toe into hair care yet, it’s not out of the question. Neicu explained to me that SmartSKN’s current offering is to “show people what we can do.” In the next phase, they want to license the technology so that companies can use the Muilli analysis function and the artificial intelligence component for their own ingredients.
“Just as we have developed a catalog of 150 ingredients in this machine to create our skin care lines, (other brands) could use their own proprietary ingredients,” he said. “They could take their line to the next level if they had their own adaptive bases and could formulate based on specific skin types.”
Neicu believes skincare brands would have fewer churn and higher loyalty if they could better personalize each formula. “A product may be great, but not great for me. The actives may work, but the foundation may be too oily or too dry. The foundation is 90% of the experience of a product.” She spoke with passion, and as I listened, I couldn’t help but see the potential not only for smarter skincare, but also for solutions for a more sustainable future.
“We don’t need more products. We need better products”
Don’t get me wrong: I love buy skin care. I collect serums like kids collect Funko Pop toys. But I also recognize that superfluous product collecting (product junkie culture, if you will) is not good for our skin or the planet.
Think about the last time you walked into a beauty supply store, surrounded by walls and walls of products. What happens to the product that is not purchased? Next, consider what a brand needs to do to keep up with the market: make more products, not necessarily because there is a gap in the market, but to survive. Novelty is an incredible drug.
Neicu sees a more sustainable future. “Imagine you walk into a (beauty retailer) and there are no more shelves. Every company has a robot. There is no waste, they streamline their inventory, there is better management of the manufacturing process and they could provide better service to people “
This also made me think about my own time and money. With every new product, I have a wait and see period. Will this work for me? Sometimes I break out, sometimes I don’t. If it doesn’t work, have I wasted my money (again)? What do I do if I can’t return it? When I say the quiet part out loud, it seems almost silly to me that in 2024, we’re just arrogant a product could work for our incredibly unique skin type. We can customize our coffee and our cars, but when it comes to the health of our skin, we’ll just…keep guessing.
Products are formulated on demand based on the assessment of your skin in an effort to reduce waste.
“We’re throwing money at a product because, what? The bottles look pretty?” Neicu said. “Because an influencer told me to buy it? Because this company launched a new product? It has to be better.”
It also points to the possibility of a sensitive skin epidemic. “We obviously know that there are many more products on the market than there were 20 years ago. What is directly proportional to the increase in products is the health of people’s skin. Seventy percent of Americans report having skin sensitivity” . Neicu believes she gave herself acne and sensitive issues by using too many different products over the years.
“People are looking for products, especially with the social media influencer craze. There is a huge lack of education, especially among the younger generations. Plus, it seems like every celebrity has a skincare line. We don’t need more products. We need better products.”
SmartSKN wants to simplify skin care for everyone. Personally, I want a routine that takes at least 5-10 minutes to complete. (That’s “me time,” okay?) Smart SKN optimizes the skincare experience for those who don’t want a 6-12 step nighttime routine. Neicu said his consumers run the gamut, but noted that men, in particular, are drawn to both the innovation of the AI-produced regimen and its simplicity.
A guided interface allows you to weigh in on the product’s weight and other qualities.
Visit the lab or try it at home.
SmartSKN is fairly new, which means they are still figuring out how to present their technology to people. Currently, the only way to experience the robots in person is to drive to Beverly. The company is working on setting up pop-ups in major cities. “People need to see how this is done,” Neicu said.
Your other option is to purchase the Muilli AI dermascope and download the SmartSKN app. It’s not cheap, but an advantage of having a Muilli is that it tracks changes in your skin over time, accommodating seasonal and lifestyle changes. With each scan, your personalized skincare line is tailored to your current skin condition.
Robots know better
Since using my personalized skincare, what I’ve noticed most is that my skin feels perfectly balanced, whereas before it felt a little oily some days and dry others. It’s worth noting that I use gentle cleansers and moisturizers; exfoliate regularly with chemical and physical exfoliants; I use vitamin C daily and often finish my nighttime routine with a light oil to lock in moisture. I was doing all of that before my trip to SmartSKN labs.
Today, my skin looks and feels healthy, clear, and hydrated, and I think I have some robots to thank for that.
The opinions expressed by CNET Voices contributors are their own.
