WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.683 Your next makeup counter could be a conversation in ChatGPT. 2 00:00:03.683 --> 00:00:07.149 A manicure company is buying another robotics business. 3 00:00:07.149 --> 00:00:12.926 And beauty technology is moving into both haircare formulas and the answers people get from AI. 4 00:00:12.926 --> 00:00:15.236 Here is what I think matters this week. 5 00:00:18.236 --> 00:00:20.877 I’m Mike, and this is Beauty Tech Weekly. 6 00:00:20.877 --> 00:00:25.071 This week: Maybelline brings virtual makeup try-on to ChatGPT; 7 00:00:25.071 --> 00:00:32.916 10Beauty acquires Nimble; Jennifer Lawrence and Arcaea launch mes; and Coty partners with Brandlight on AI discovery. 8 00:00:32.916 --> 00:00:37.577 Four stories about how beauty gets discovered, delivered, and chosen. 9 00:00:40.577 --> 00:00:44.668 Maybelline is bringing makeup advice and virtual try-on into ChatGPT. 10 00:00:44.668 --> 00:00:50.872 On October twenty-ninth, the brand announced consumer availability of an experience powered by ModiFace. 11 00:00:50.872 --> 00:00:57.418 It brings together product recommendations, virtual try-on using a camera or photo, and help finding a retailer. 12 00:00:57.418 --> 00:01:04.918 There was an earlier pilot, so this week’s news is the move toward consumer access, rather than the first demonstration of the idea. 13 00:01:04.918 --> 00:01:08.244 A person can start with a question about a look they want. 14 00:01:08.244 --> 00:01:13.552 Recommendations help them explore options from the brand’s range in that conversation. 15 00:01:13.552 --> 00:01:17.585 Virtual try-on adds a visual step before they decide what to do next. 16 00:01:17.585 --> 00:01:20.558 These official images illustrate that sequence. 17 00:01:20.558 --> 00:01:25.087 They are brand-provided examples, rather than a session I recorded myself. 18 00:01:25.087 --> 00:01:27.298 I would still keep two limits in mind. 19 00:01:27.298 --> 00:01:31.151 This is a beauty brand’s experience, built around its products. 20 00:01:31.151 --> 00:01:36.216 And a digital preview cannot guarantee how a shade will look in your actual lighting. 21 00:01:36.216 --> 00:01:41.638 The announcement also does not establish a sales uplift or availability in every country. 22 00:01:41.638 --> 00:01:49.103 For a salon, the useful question is much smaller and more practical: what happens after someone asks for advice? 23 00:01:49.103 --> 00:01:53.313 If they explain what they want in one conversation, then have to 24 00:01:53.313 --> 00:01:59.031 repeat everything to find a service or contact your team, that is a point worth fixing. 25 00:01:59.031 --> 00:02:03.637 Start by walking through one real enquiry from question to next step. 26 00:02:03.637 --> 00:02:07.885 A quick update from us: AI Beauty Bot now has a plugin in ChatGPT too. 27 00:02:08.085 --> 00:02:09.951 Search for BeautyOS. 28 00:02:10.151 --> 00:02:14.702 It helps automatically configure the replies of your AI receptionist, 29 00:02:14.702 --> 00:02:19.632 whether you run a beauty salon or work as an independent beauty professional. 30 00:02:19.632 --> 00:02:22.439 A free beauty-specialized CRM is included. 31 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:28.811 That gives you a practical place to start with your own business, using a conversational interface. 32 00:02:28.811 --> 00:02:32.356 I see a useful connection between these developments: the 33 00:02:32.356 --> 00:02:36.987 conversation is becoming a place where people actually get something done. 34 00:02:36.987 --> 00:02:40.026 For a consumer, that might mean exploring makeup. 35 00:02:40.026 --> 00:02:44.511 For a salon owner, it can mean setting up how the business answers clients. 36 00:02:44.511 --> 00:02:49.214 I would judge both by how clearly they help someone reach the next useful step. 37 00:02:52.214 --> 00:02:54.511 Next, a different kind of automation. 38 00:02:54.511 --> 00:02:58.960 On October twenty-ninth, 10Beauty announced its acquisition of Nimble. 39 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:03.194 That brings together two businesses working on automated manicures. 40 00:03:03.194 --> 00:03:10.585 It follows 10Beauty’s earlier acquisition of Clockwork, so there is a consolidation story here as well as a product story. 41 00:03:10.585 --> 00:03:13.755 Keep the machines separate when you look at the footage. 42 00:03:13.755 --> 00:03:19.015 The clips of applying and removing polish come from 10Beauty’s own product demonstrations. 43 00:03:19.015 --> 00:03:22.522 The image of Nimble shows the acquired company’s home device. 44 00:03:22.522 --> 00:03:29.064 The acquisition connects the businesses; it does not mean that every machine has suddenly become the same product. 45 00:03:29.064 --> 00:03:34.388 The company reports retail deployments and commitments for roughly eight hundred and fifty machines. 46 00:03:34.388 --> 00:03:39.589 Commitments are not the same as eight hundred and fifty installed machines serving customers today. 47 00:03:39.589 --> 00:03:45.341 And the announcement does not give us enough information to calculate profitability or the acquisition price. 48 00:03:45.341 --> 00:03:50.297 Those are important limits when a robotics story starts sounding like a finished business case. 49 00:03:50.297 --> 00:03:53.096 My interest is in the service around the machine. 50 00:03:53.296 --> 00:03:55.229 Who prepares the client? 51 00:03:55.629 --> 00:03:57.631 Who handles an exception? 52 00:03:57.831 --> 00:04:02.404 How are supplies replenished, and what happens when the system is unavailable? 53 00:04:02.404 --> 00:04:04.861 A demonstration can show one task working. 54 00:04:04.861 --> 00:04:11.550 A salon needs the whole appointment to work reliably, including everything immediately before and after that task. 55 00:04:11.550 --> 00:04:15.740 Before considering equipment like this, I would put one service on a 56 00:04:15.740 --> 00:04:23.459 simple worksheet: staff time, consumables, actual appointments completed, downtime, and responsibility for the result. 57 00:04:23.659 --> 00:04:26.071 Use your own observed numbers. 58 00:04:26.271 --> 00:04:34.284 A device that saves time on one step can still create work elsewhere, while a modest improvement on a frequent task can be valuable. 59 00:04:34.284 --> 00:04:38.390 So I would watch this acquisition as a test of operational scale. 60 00:04:38.390 --> 00:04:40.976 Combining technology is one milestone. 61 00:04:40.976 --> 00:04:45.919 Making installation, support, and everyday service dependable is the next. 62 00:04:45.919 --> 00:04:53.447 That is the part I want to understand before drawing conclusions about what robotics will mean for a particular salon. 63 00:04:56.447 --> 00:04:59.469 Our third story moves from machines to formulas. 64 00:04:59.469 --> 00:05:05.290 On October twenty-seventh, Jennifer Lawrence and Arcaea launched the first mes collection. 65 00:05:05.290 --> 00:05:10.817 The opening range has three products: a repair mask, a restyling serum, and a volume mist. 66 00:05:10.817 --> 00:05:14.502 The brand describes the approach as biodesigned haircare. 67 00:05:14.502 --> 00:05:20.471 The collaboration had been introduced earlier; the product launch is this week’s development. 68 00:05:20.471 --> 00:05:26.147 The repair mask addresses conditioning and repair, a different job from refreshing a style. 69 00:05:26.147 --> 00:05:30.367 The restyling serum is intended for that between-wash styling task. 70 00:05:30.367 --> 00:05:33.205 The volume mist is designed for adding volume. 71 00:05:33.205 --> 00:05:37.279 Arcaea brings a biotechnology perspective to their development. 72 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:43.900 The brand’s explanations discuss hair lipids, the scalp environment, and how hair behaves between washes. 73 00:05:43.900 --> 00:05:51.177 Those explanations describe the product approach; they do not, by themselves, prove a better result for every person. 74 00:05:51.177 --> 00:05:56.715 For me, this is a useful reminder that beauty technology includes what goes into the bottle. 75 00:05:56.715 --> 00:06:00.599 A new formula can be as relevant to a client’s routine as a new app. 76 00:06:00.599 --> 00:06:04.770 But I would separate three things when evaluating it: the method used 77 00:06:04.770 --> 00:06:10.452 to develop the product, the problem it is designed to address, and the evidence for the result. 78 00:06:10.452 --> 00:06:13.438 A scientific term is a starting point for questions. 79 00:06:13.638 --> 00:06:15.088 What was tested? 80 00:06:15.488 --> 00:06:17.481 Against what comparison? 81 00:06:17.681 --> 00:06:21.480 On which hair types, over what period, and under which conditions? 82 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:26.705 The brand publishes performance claims, but those claims have specific testing contexts. 83 00:06:26.705 --> 00:06:31.251 I would not turn them into a promise that everyone will get the same improvement. 84 00:06:31.251 --> 00:06:35.158 The practical application for a professional is in the recommendation. 85 00:06:35.158 --> 00:06:41.818 Start with what the client finds difficult between appointments, then explain why a particular type of product might help. 86 00:06:41.818 --> 00:06:48.286 Someone trying to refresh yesterday’s styling has a different need from someone looking for a conditioning treatment. 87 00:06:48.286 --> 00:06:52.705 That distinction is more useful than adding another impressive word to the shelf. 88 00:06:52.705 --> 00:06:58.069 I would follow whether mes can make that explanation convincing in everyday use. 89 00:06:58.069 --> 00:07:01.146 Celebrity attention can introduce a product. 90 00:07:01.146 --> 00:07:07.300 Clear use cases and credible evidence are what make the technology story worth returning to. 91 00:07:10.300 --> 00:07:14.508 Finally, Coty and Brandlight announced a partnership on October 92 00:07:14.508 --> 00:07:20.935 twenty-seventh to strengthen the visibility of Coty’s brands in AI-powered search and discovery. 93 00:07:20.935 --> 00:07:26.138 The work includes measurement, insights, training, and content optimisation. 94 00:07:26.138 --> 00:07:30.423 You may hear this described as generative engine optimisation, or 95 00:07:30.423 --> 00:07:36.162 GEO: working on how a business and its products are represented in AI-generated answers. 96 00:07:36.162 --> 00:07:44.562 Coty says early pilot work indicates that improving product pages and other brand content can strengthen visibility in AI recommendations. 97 00:07:44.562 --> 00:07:48.162 The announcement does not provide a numerical sales result. 98 00:07:48.162 --> 00:07:52.680 And the Brandlight interface images we are showing illustrate its product. 99 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:59.952 They are not a dashboard of Coty’s performance, so the example figures should not be read as results from this partnership. 100 00:07:59.952 --> 00:08:02.472 The interesting shift is the starting point. 101 00:08:02.472 --> 00:08:06.054 A person may ask for help with a need before mentioning any brand. 102 00:08:06.054 --> 00:08:11.892 If the answer introduces a business, that business has become part of discovery earlier in the decision. 103 00:08:11.892 --> 00:08:16.800 That makes the quality of the information available about it worth paying attention to. 104 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:21.133 For a salon or an independent professional, I would start with the 105 00:08:21.133 --> 00:08:25.781 facts a potential client needs: which services you provide, where you 106 00:08:25.781 --> 00:08:31.138 work, who they are suitable for, how pricing is explained, and how to get in touch. 107 00:08:31.138 --> 00:08:37.125 Make those facts clear on your own pages, and keep them consistent when something changes. 108 00:08:37.125 --> 00:08:40.118 Useful answers need useful source material. 109 00:08:40.118 --> 00:08:44.996 Then test a few questions that resemble how your clients actually ask for help. 110 00:08:44.996 --> 00:08:49.873 Record what appears, what is missing, and whether the information is correct. 111 00:08:49.873 --> 00:08:52.682 Treat that as an observation to investigate. 112 00:08:52.682 --> 00:09:00.442 One answer is not a reliable ranking, and no content change guarantees a recommendation from ChatGPT or any other assistant. 113 00:09:00.442 --> 00:09:04.103 I would measure visibility separately from business outcomes. 114 00:09:04.103 --> 00:09:09.390 Being mentioned, receiving a relevant enquiry, and getting a booking are different events. 115 00:09:09.390 --> 00:09:14.475 The partnership is a sign that large beauty companies are taking this channel seriously. 116 00:09:14.475 --> 00:09:21.186 Smaller businesses can begin with accurate information and a clear way for an interested person to take the next step. 117 00:09:21.186 --> 00:09:23.110 Those are this week’s four stories. 118 00:09:23.110 --> 00:09:26.251 My takeaway is to test one useful change at a time: a clearer 119 00:09:26.251 --> 00:09:29.970 customer journey, a better understood service cost, a more specific 120 00:09:29.970 --> 00:09:34.137 product recommendation, or more accurate information about your business. 121 00:09:34.337 --> 00:09:35.350 I’m Mike. 122 00:09:35.750 --> 00:09:38.045 This has been Beauty Tech Weekly. 123 00:09:38.445 --> 00:09:39.907 See you next week.