Dive Brief:
- Perfect Corp. on April 2 announced its AI tool that can identify a customer’s hair texture, thickness and curl patterns in seconds, according to a press release. With the results, hair care brands and retailers can offer an, “enhanced and customized shopping experience,” per the company.
- The tech can identify up to ten distinct curl patterns and shapes. By scanning with a camera, shoppers learn their hair type and can receive recommendations personalized to address their own hair care needs.
- The AI Hair Type Analysis places a customer in one of nine hair type ranges across ten categories, from straight to coily. The tech can be applied by brands as an e-commerce web module or in-store with consultations, per the company’s site.
Dive Insight:
Perfect Corp. identifies hair as follows: 1 (straight), slight wavy, medium wavy, thick wavy, loose curls, medium curls, tight curls, kinky soft, coily and 4C (extremely coily). For customers with multiple hair textures, the tech company's tool can also accurately detect a curl range for a shopper.
“The innovative AI Hair Type Analysis technology simplifies the purchasing journey, empowering individuals to make confident, well-informed decisions when selecting hair care products,” CEO and founder Alice Chang said in a statement. “We are excited to introduce this cutting-edge solution to the hair care retail industry as it drives satisfaction and loyalty through personalization.”
The technology is meant to streamline interaction between hair care brands and its customers. It will help the “pain point” of customer confidence when purchasing, with the help of insights into a shopper’s own hair characteristics, Perfect Corp said. Perfect Corp on its website said the tool can help brands establish their business as a leader in the hair care industry with tailored recommendations for each customer, boosting sales and customer satisfaction.
Personalized hair care has existed in the industry with brands including Function of Beauty, Prose and now Curology. Typically, these brands offer an online quiz with relevant health questions or can require photos of the area wished to be treated.
Prose offers custom hair care products and branched out into skin care in June 2023 with an AI-powered line offering different formula combinations. Personalized hair care brand Function of Beauty made a similar move in August 2021, acquiring customized skin care company Atolla.
Curology, another personalized beauty brand, recently expanded into hair. Originally offering personalized skin care prescriptions, the company’s Hair Formula RX is a personalized prescription hair growth treatment. Curology’s ingredients could help regrow hair in three months, per the company.
