COTY x Holition x PERCH Unveil Next Generation Magic Mirror

Reinventing the beauty experience through purposeful and personalised innovation.

The merger of beauty and technology is taking off. We have written quite a bit about how technological advancements have been revolutionising and disrupting the beauty industry. Leading the way is one of the world’s largest beauty companies COTY. With an iconic portfolio of brands that includes Clairol, Rimmel, Max Factor, Bourjois and Sally Hansen, we last wrote about COTY teaming up with Amazon to create a new visual skill designed specifically for the Echo Show.

Magic Mirror
Magic Mirror

This week they have unveiled a blended reality beauty Magic Mirror at their newly relaunched Bourjois boutique in Paris. The revolutionary magic mirror was developed by COTY in collaboration with creative innovation studio Holition and PERCH. It is a composite of PERCH Interactive’s technology and Holition’s augmented reality SDK, FACE by Holition.  The technology integrates physical products with digital content.

Introducing The Blended Reality Magic Mirror

The first-of-a-kind augmented reality (AR) makeup try-on experience, the magic mirror works by showing shoppers how their chosen preferred lipstick colour from the Bourjois Rouge Velvet Lipstick collection can ‘magically’ appear on their lips. This is something that will not only eradicate try-on problems like testers not always being available and hygiene concerns with a virtual try-on product, but it will also remove barriers of traditional virtual makeup experiences, where shoppers can only engage with products in a virtual setting.

This is a collaboration that believes that putting the physical product in shoppers’ hands will increase attitudes and purchase intentions of the product, propelling a more seamless path to purchase. According to their press release, 72% of consumers surveyed said they want an in-store beauty experience to be a mixture of both physical and digital elements to make it feel more real and believable. “The next generation of in-store marketing is about blending digital experiences naturally into the shopper journey. The Bourjois Magic Mirror uses computer vision to sense the most important indication of interest in physical retail – when a shopper touches a product- unlocking an experience that encourages natural pathways of discovery, education and engagement,” shared Trevor Sumner, PERCH Interactive CEO.

ALSO READ: Holition x Rimmel: Beauty Technology Meets Human Experience

Tailored to offer both individual products and bespoke beauty combinations, shoppers can complete their digital looks with onscreen eye makeup and blush, matched to each shopper’s skin tone. Elodie Levy, Coty Global Digital Innovation Senior Director, said, “As part of our desire to reinvent the retail experience through purposeful and personalised innovation, the Bourjois Magic Mirror represents the most extensive integration of physical products and digital content in the beauty industry. Most women intuitively prefer to play with a lipstick rather than touch a screen, as there is an inherent sensual aspect in cosmetics packaging that no technology can replace, and our new Magic Mirror provides this desired experience to shoppers.”

Behind the form and function of the mirror is Holition harnessed Perch’s smart camera, which monitors a defined area for activity, as a trigger for the virtual makeup experience. Jonathan Chippindale, Holition CEO, said, “Approaching this collaboration research first, design second and technology third, we’ve partnered with Coty to create the next generation of the Magic Mirror, blending consumer insight and strategic UX to facilitate a bespoke, personalised experience.” Additionally, the Magic Mirror has a selfie function which is equipped with three playful filter effects and provides all the details of the products shoppers try on.

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Founding editor-in-chief of FashNerd.com, Muchaneta is currently one of the leading influencers writing about the merger of fashion with technology and wearable technology. She has also given talks at Premiere Vision, Munich Fabric Start and Pure London, to name a few. Besides working as a fashion innovation consultant for various fashion companies like LVMH Atelier, Muchaneta has also contributed to Vogue Business, is a senior contributor at The Interline and an associate lecturer at London College of Fashion, UAL.