Technology is nothing new for cosmetic product developers. The ability to create ingredients, test their efficacy in silico, visualize their beauty benefits, optimize formulations containing them, expose those formulas to stability and microbio tests, etc., have been fundamentals of our industry.
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Technology is nothing new for cosmetic product developers. The ability to create ingredients, test their efficacy in silico, visualize their beauty benefits, optimize formulations containing them, expose those formulas to stability and microbio tests, etc., have been fundamentals of our industry.
What is new is how smart digital technology has gotten. Take artificial intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT, for example. It offers perhaps the most accessible intentional experience with AI for consumers. In fact, as an experiment, I used it to write the following introduction to this article about digital tech in beauty.
Per ChatGPT: Technological advancements are revolutionizing cosmetic science, driving innovation in product development and personalization. AI-powered systems are now central to creating customized skincare solutions, analyzing individual skin profiles based on parameters like hydration, texture, and pigmentation. This allows cosmetic scientists to formulate highly targeted, effective products tailored to specific skin needs.
Augmented reality (AR) is also transforming consumer experiences, particularly in color cosmetics. Virtual try-on technology enables users to visualize makeup on their skin in real-time, reducing the need for physical testers and enhancing online shopping experiences.
Meanwhile, biotechnology and 3D printing are advancing ingredient sustainability and packaging design, creating new possibilities for cosmetic innovation. Bioengineered ingredients and wearable skin diagnostic devices are emerging as key trends, enabling more precise, data-driven approaches to beauty.
As these technologies evolve, cosmetic scientists are leading the way in developing personalized, sustainable, and effective solutions that shape the future of the beauty industry.
Interesting; and as you will see later in this article, it aligns with industry experts’ insights.
I also asked ChatGPT to predict future opportunities for AI in beauty. Following were its projections:
- Hyper-personalized formulations
- Real-time skin monitoring and adjustments
- AI-driven ingredient discovery
- Virtual dermatologists and skin therapists
- AI-powered sustainable beauty
It added: These advancements suggest a future where beauty routines are not only highly customized but also smarter, more sustainable, and deeply integrated with ongoing technological progress.
Notably, there is always the matter of feeding good information into the algorithm. As the tech scours the web, the sources of information (and their reliability) are not clear; and garbage in = garbage out.
The output given here about tech in beauty seems fairly solid, but since it is AI “speaking” about itself and other digital technologies, we turned to industry experts to gather their opinions about how digital technology is shaping our industry. Here’s what they said.
Ingredient Discovery, Retail Insights, Clean Beauty and Personalization
Mallika Tiwari, digital services lead in North America for personal care, home care and I&I at BASF Corp., sees it from an ingredient perspective. “Today, customers want to understand what each ingredient in the label means and how it impacts their body. They want to know whether the ingredients are sourced responsibly, if they include parabens or silicones, if they are bio-based or biodegradable, etc.”
Tiwari adds that as this need for ingredient knowledge shapes the consumer end of the personal care space, the other end – scientists – are embracing this as well, with artificial intelligence (AI). “AI is helping them open new doors and find alternative solutions to traditional ingredients with improved performance and sustainability profiles.
“There are so many exciting and disruptive changes in beauty technology,” Tiwari continues. “We’re noticing that AI-driven platforms that enable formulation development have become a big part of an R&D professional’s daily life. Helping them gain deeper insights on retail standards for formulations, overall benchmarking and claim-based research.”
Tiwari highlights, “As a trend, we’re seeing that this transition is helping them reduce time spent on data and insight gathering, especially when it comes to innovative formulation, product differentiation and finding white-space for innovation.”
Looking forward, Tiwari believes the industry will see more beauty brands using AI to develop clean and sustainable beauty solutions, with AI at the core of end-to-end formulation development. In addition, it will enable truly personalized beauty solutions.
“From a consumer point of view, we may see more AI-driven tools that provide personalized product recommendations, analyze individuals' skin conditions and preferences to formulate customized products. This personalization may also have an interesting use case in virtual try-on experiences, where consumers can see how products will look on their skin before purchasing,” Tiwari writes.
In terms of these enabling technologies, Tiwari points to BASF's AI-powered platform D'lite, with features including:
- Consumer insights and trend tracking – “We’re leveraging AI-optimized algorithms to analyze fast-changing consumer needs from information across the web and social media,” Tiwari explains. “[This allows] for a deeper understanding before product launches.”
- AI-powered formulation – Per Tiwari, this platform includes two AI-driven modules for R&D teams, Emollient Maestro and Surfactant Navigator. “Emollient Maestro helps scientists identify sustainable emollient mixes and mineral oil/silicone oil alternatives. And Surfactant Navigator offers natural and sustainable surfactant replacements to brands that want to replace their current surfactant combinations with natural surfactants, without compromising performance.”
- Sustainability focus – With BASF’s Ingredients Revealed digital lab within D’lite, per Tiwari, the company is empowering R&D teams to leverage sustainable formulation practices. “As a part of this, they can evaluate if their formulation is compliant with industry lists like Sephora, Target, Credo, Amazon and the Dirty Dozen.”
Adoption, Scaling and Automating Social Media Insights
Hannah Melia, product market lead for Citrine Informatics, similarly sees the three main tech trends in beauty as: personalization, insight and productivity. “Brands are trying to create experiences in store that can be used to personalize products using tech. They are using tech to analyze insight from a myriad of social media sources, so as to spot emerging trends. Lastly, they are increasing R&D productivity and getting to market first using AI to reformate products.”
According to Melia, at the moment, AI and other technologies are being implemented “in pockets here and there” in large organizations. She believes this will change.
“In the future, these will all join up so that insights from social media automatically inform R&D formulation, which will automatically inform supply chain optimization, etc.,” she writes. “AI and data management will enable this to happen. The key at the moment is adoption and scaling.”
Melia continues, “The technology is proven. [N]ow what makes a difference is how usable and scalable a software platform is and whether it is backed up with an experienced team [that understands] change management. Citrine Informatics’ AI software platform is an excellent example of this.”
Digital Collaboration, Accelerating Innovation and Sustainability Driven
From an R&D perspective, Cecile Guyot, communication manager at Coptis, looks to the lab. “Cosmetic R&D labs are evolving into smart laboratories, adopting holistic, digitally optimized strategies not only to accelerate the innovation process, but also to enable data-driven formulations,” she explains.
“Today, formulation strategies must be sustainability-focused while simultaneously responding swiftly to the demands of hyper-personalized consumer expectations. With ambitious sustainability targets and tight timelines, every decision must be strategic to effectively accelerate the formulation process.”
Per Guyot, data centralization and digital collaboration tools are now essential for R&D labs, facilitating real-time [interactions] and securing the sharing of data, formulations and research insights across teams worldwide.
A data-driven approach unlocks new potential by automating tasks, enabling more informed decision-making and enhancing process efficiency and precision,” she writes. “This approach not only improves agility and responsiveness, but also allows R&D teams to leverage AI and machine learning more effectively, analyzing vast datasets for patterns and insights to accelerate innovation.”
As an example, Guyot points to Coptis PLM software. Powered by AI and designed specifically for cosmetic R&D and compliance, the technology is designed to offer valuable insights into the stability test outcomes of formulations, enabling faster and more informed decision-making throughout the product development process.
“By minimizing trial-and-error cycles, it promotes creativity and experimentation, ultimately accelerating the path to discovering optimal and sustainable formulations. This streamlined approach reduces development time and allows brands to respond more swiftly to the rising consumer demand for eco-friendly products,” Guyot concludes.
In-home Devices, Data Gathering and Visualizing Efficacy
“The beauty industry is constantly evolving and so [is] the consumer's quest for knowledge,” Brian Grady, Sr., marketing specialist at DSM-Firmenich writes. “Brands are constantly striving to create messaging to educate consumers on the benefits of ingredients and to explain the science behind how these ingredients work.
“Consumers are savvy and they now actively search for products that are scientifically backed and clinically proven to address their key needs in beauty,” Grady continues. “This has led innovators in the beauty industry to develop technologies that demonstrate product efficacy in a visual format.”
According to Grady, the use of devices has become more prominent in the beauty industry. “This is especially the case in skin care. Consumers can now use devices that can measure skin conditions (e.g. dry skin, wrinkles, UV damage, clogged pores). By using these devices, consumers are now able to evaluate the condition of their skin to choose the ideal products for their skin care routine.”
Grady believes the beauty industry will see an influx of brands launching these types of devices that incorporate AI technology to collect data to recommend a more personalized approach to skin care.
“DSM-Firmenich has developed an innovative in-house, highly customizable color mapping technology that is used to depict levels of hydration, sebum levels and the microbiome in the skin and scalp,” Grady explains. “Using hydration as an example, hydration levels of the skin are visualized with color scales based on Corneometer or Scicon readings. This helps identify the areas of the skin or scalp that need moisturization.”
Per Grady, DSM-Firmenich uses this technology, for example, to demonstrate the efficacy of its 100% natural moisturizer, Pentavitin (INCI: Saccharide Isomerate (and) Water (Aqua) (and) Citric Acid (and) Sodium Citrate). Derived from maize kernels, the ingredient demonstrates strong moisturization efficacy.
Uncovering Early Market Trends, Enabling Fast-follower Products
Karen Ho, co-founder and CEO of Gravel AI, sees tech enabling the identification of early market trends and creating dupes (i.e., fast-follower or me-too products) in the beauty market.
“Identifying opportunities for dupes has become easier,” Ho writes. “Validating early market trends has become much easier with AI technology. Established brands will be able to launch new products that capture precise emerging opportunities by utilizing AI-powered market intelligence tools.”
She continues, “Manufacturing dupes has become easier. AI-powered industry intelligence tools can be used to uncover relationships between beauty brands and [original equipment manufacturers] (OEMs). It’s now easier than ever to find a target beauty brand or product, uncover OEMs they used, and ask the OEMs to create similar products.”
Ho believes this trend will impact both leaders and fast-follower beauty brands. “Leaders can capture emerging opportunities faster than ever before. Fast-follower brands can jump on an early trend faster than ever before.”
Per Ho, Gravel AI’s OEM Intelligence Tool uncovers OEMs used by fast-growing brands. “Gravel AI’s INCI List Scanner, Ingredient Trends and Product Name Keyword Tools validate commercial success of early trends,” she explains.
Molecular Design, Personalized Peptides and Eco Innovation
Lun Yu, chief technology officer of Metanovas Biotech, sees a major opportunity for digital tech to direct ingredient discovery and molecular design. “The beauty industry increasingly uses artificial intelligence to revolutionize ingredient discovery and formulation,” Yu writes. “AI-powered machine learning models analyze extensive datasets of chemical compounds and biological interactions, accelerating the identification of novel active ingredients.”
Yu continues, “For example, Oddity recently acquired Revela, a biotech startup specializing in AI-driven ingredient design, highlighting the industry's shift toward integrating AI for more efficient research and development. These advancements are driven by consumer demand for personalized and effective products and brands' desire to offer innovative, AI-driven products that appeal to tech-savvy customers.”
But, per Yu, the opportunity goes much deeper. “One promising direction is AI-assisted de novo molecule design, where AI generates new molecules with specific skin care properties,” Yu explains. “This breakthrough could lead to advancements in areas such as anti-aging, skin inflammation and skin repair by creating more effective and targeted ingredients.”
According to Yu, Metanovas’ primary focus is on designing innovative peptides. “By utilizing AI models, we can design peptides that target different skin conditions.”
Furthermore, Yu adds that sustainability and ethical ingredient design are crucial. “AI can help create eco-friendly innovations like biodegradable molecules and alternative sourcing methods, reducing environmental impact. AI can also identify valuable compounds in agricultural or industrial waste, promoting sustainability by repurposing materials.”
A key driver behind Metanovas’ advances is its novel MetaPep molecule design platform. “MetaPep combines high-throughput experiments with generative AI and deep learning to design new, targeted ingredients for skin care,” Yu details.
“By integrating these technologies, MetaPep speeds up the development of innovative skin care ingredients and promotes sustainability by reducing unnecessary experiments. This kind of platform enables the beauty industry to create more effective and tailored products faster than ever before.”
Conclusions
Digital technologies have enabled innovation beyond our imagination and without limits. To advance beauty product development, it’s just a matter of configuring the steps along the way for an eagerly awaiting consumer.