French cosmetics group L’Oreal has acquired the Canadian beauty tech company ModiFace to roll out more digital services such as virtual make-up tests.
Since ModiFace was founded in 2006, its Augmented Reality technology has been in helping to the cosmetics makers that help power the mobile apps of Estee Lauder and LVMH’s Sephora. The Toronto-based firm has more than 70 engineers, researchers, and scientists who have submitted more than 200 scientific publications.
This is the first time the L’Oreal Company has added a tech company to its roster. ModiFace allows users to modify and transform their looks in a real-time experiment combining blushes and eyeshadow, turning smartphone cameras into mirrors to predict how products will look on your skin. Earlier this year, L’Oreal rolled out a “Style My Hair” application developed with ModiFace allowing people to upload a picture, try out various colors and hair-dos, and search for salons and the latest hair trends.
L’Oreal has been racing to keep up with the rapid shift to eCommerce in key growth markets like China. It made around 8 percent of its sales online in 2017, which count to 2 billion Euros of its products. The company spends 38% of its budget on digital campaigns and thus hopes that ModiFace will strengthen L’Oreal’s “cutting-edge position in digital,”
