For
millions of suddenly marooned workers, there was a little thrill of excitement during early Zoom meetings. But seeing our true selves — badly lit faces as big as pie plates —is radically
undermining our perceptions of how we look. And we don’t like what we see.
It’s hard not to be paranoid: Why are those Flamingo face-waxing ads targeting me? What are you
saying? Huh? Huh?
Revieve, a digital health and beauty company that provides AI and AR for such brands as Samsung and Shiseido, is seeing epic increases in consumers
searching for solutions to problems like dark circles, up 458% in March, compared to the month before; visible pores, up 441%; and dull/tired skin, up 349%.
“Watching
the way people use Revieve provides a glimpse into what’s on people’s minds when they are staring at themselves in endless Zoom meetings,” says Dean DeBiase, chairman of Revieve,
based in Chicago and Helsinki. “But it’s also giving us insight into what healthy skin means to them.”
Overall, he tells Marketing Daily that interest
in skincare is up on the selfie skin-diagnostic platform, which has about 100,000 regular users in 20 countries. And not only is user engagement up, the number of people asking for a
product recommendation and adding at least one product to their cart jumped sharply.
It confirms that even in these times of relentless video closeups, people’s interest in
skincare is far more urgent than interest in makeup. “But it’s also about this trend toward personalization, and using your own device. There are thousands of skincare products for sale at
Walmart,” DeBiase says. “People want ways to narrow the choices down to something manageable, like four.”
He thinks that even as social-distancing restrictions
ease, consumers will remain committed to technology that helps them look better.
Execs at eSalon, the custom-hair color company, agree. A spokesperson says sales of first-time
orders are six times higher.
The company acknowledges that plenty of women (and men) will scamper back to salons just as soon as they can.
Now that many have used the D2C
brand as an option for salon-grade custom color, “some clients will stay with eSalon. In the past, these clients may not have even contemplated at-home color. Once they achieve a good
outcome, it is quite likely they will continue using the eSalon product.”
The big change will be a hybrid consumer, who may prefer salon results but is happy enough to color
at home, either to save time or — in the looming recession — money. “Long term,” the spokesperson says, “we will see growth from this period.