Cosmetic giant, Neutrogena, announced recently that it will start selling custom printed 3D face masks based on a customer's faces. This is yet another sign of 3D scan-and-print technology spreading beyond niche markets. This is with the use of their new iOS app - MaskiD. Masks will be created from data collected through the the said app. These masks will fit a person's facial features perfectly and Neutrogena believes they can use the tech to 'deliver localized spot treatments'.
The company will offer five main ingredients to start with: stabilized vitamin C, purified hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, feverfew, and N-Acetylglucosamine. Every mask has six zones, including the forehead, eye area, cheeks, nose, chin, and chin-to-cheek lines, and the ingredients in each area can be chosen based on users' concerns. For example, if your cheeks are particularly dull, you might opt to use stabilized vitamin C in that area. The masks are colored for now, to show off the different zones, but that could change before the app and masks are widely released.
People with the Skin360 can also monitor their skin's moisture levels and lines on a deeper level to see if the mask is improving their condition. Neutrogena hasn't announced the masks' price yet, but says they'll go on sale in Q3 of this year.
Generally, it's not surprising to see Neutrogena continue to focus on personalization. It's been a priority for beauty companies, as we saw last year at CES, with products like shampoo and conditioner being made to address a customer's specific hair concerns. Neutrogena sells thousands of products, and the Skin360 was designed to help consumers make sense of the company's massive lineup - which in turn, sells more product. The MaskiD, on the other hand, gives customers a better sense and more control over what they're putting on their faces.
The company eventually wants to use artificial intelligence to detect when skin is changing and make recommendations based on its condition, according to Michael Southall, research director and global lead of beauty tech at Neutrogena. But to do that, Neutrogena will need lots of user data, which it's slowly amassing through apps like Skin360 and MaskiD.
The company says it encrypts users' data and photos, but also harnesses that data to improve its products. The company might not be forcing users into buying and relying on a Skin360, but it would certainly prefer they use one - not only for better recommendations, but also for the data it supplies.
