Some the biggest brands in the beauty industry have recently launched their new products for 2018, not at a glitzy showcase for beauty journalists, however, but at the annual consumer electronics show CES in Las Vegas in January.
Beauty high-tech shown included L’Oreal’s UV Sense, a sticker that tracks UV exposure and Neutrogena’s skin-analysing system, the Skin360 App & SkinScanner Tool.
Meanwhile, international beauty brand Coty has also just launched "Let’s Get Ready" app in the UK market, a new voice-activated software created specifically for Echo Show, Amazon’s first Echo device with a screen. Its "visual skill" tool looks to suit the user’s hair, eye and skin colour according to the occasion they’re preparing for, working from a database of more than 2,000 unique combinations of hair, eye and skin colour, as well as event type. The app offers tips, tutorials and products from Clairol, Rimmel, Max Factor, Bourjois and Sally Hansen – and, of course, adds the products to users' Alexa shopping list. It can even sync with the user's Facebook calendar to suggest looks for specific events in their diary.
“One example of tech that is still in development and not yet at the consumer level is translating the virtual try-on experience from still images to video,” says Sarah Jindal, senior innovation and insights analyst, beauty and personal care at the market research firm Mintel. “This enables the consumer to move around their environment and see what products look like in different lighting conditions, for example."
Smart labelling is another area where there have been advances, she says. “Labels that can let the user know not only when a product was manufactured but how it was transported or at what temperature it was stored. Product packaging could evolve to include sensors that notify the consumer when they are running low and it’s time to reorder.”
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Ms Jindal says that in the future, technology will also allow full customisation of products by recreating the colours tried through AR using scanning devices and 3D printers. “Consumers will be able to create [or print] any shades they want from a simple scan that measures a colour spectrum and accurately recreates it in any make-up format,” she says. “L’Oréal has explored ‘scan and match’ technology that can measure any colour from an object or skin and recreate it in products. Lancôme Le Teint Particulier and French start-up Nail Revolution are the first examples that we've seen in the arena, but we can expect to see more in the near future.”
Meanwhile, Canadian beauty technology pioneer Modiface is also working on "iris tracking".
“With our facial recognition tracking, the points are very accurate so we’re able to lock in where your eyes are, where your eyebrows are, the contour of your face, your lips, your nose and even your iris, to the point that we know which direction you’re looking in,” says Jennifer Tidy, vice president of partnerships at Modiface.
By following the gaze of their customer, brands can learn more about their clientele’s needs to enhance their experience, put promotional messages in a specific location in a store or on screen, or change the layout of the app or website. “It’s just another way of getting to know your consumer and personalising the experience further for them,” says Ms Tidy.
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
How to turn your property into a holiday home
- Ensure decoration and styling – and portal photography – quality is high to achieve maximum rates.
- Research equivalent Airbnb homes in your location to ensure competitiveness.
- Post on all relevant platforms to reach the widest audience; whether you let personally or via an agency know your potential guest profile – aiming for the wrong demographic may leave your property empty.
- Factor in costs when working out if holiday letting is beneficial. The annual DCTM fee runs from Dh370 for a one-bedroom flat to Dh1,200. Tourism tax is Dh10-15 per bedroom, per night.
- Check your management company has a physical office, a valid DTCM licence and is licencing your property and paying tourism taxes. For transparency, regularly view your booking calendar.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
