It’s official: the Industrial Age is over. Welcome to the world of Mass Customization. Is your brand ready?

Consumers want brands that cater to them. It’s time to shift away from one-size-fits-all services and create unique products that give that “made-for-me” feeling. With a touch of tech innovation, like AI, beauty brands can tune into what their customers really want and craft personalized products that cater to various preferences. While it can be challenging to revamp existing systems, the focus is shifting from serving everyone the same way to tailoring outcomes for individuals (KPMG). This could look like online quizzes for personalized haircare formulas or facial scans for skincare product recommendations. Customization can even take shape in your components, like innovative cartridge bottles that let customers mix their ideal ingredients.

It’s a skincare emergency! These first-aid kits for your face will come to the rescue. Skincare aficionados know that the state of your skin is always changing. Whether it be lifestyle, hormones, emotions, or external aggressors, the skin’s needs are fluctuating and require products that can adapt. Enter: first-aid skincare. Filled with fast-acting rescue serums and adaptable formulas, sensitive skin rescue kits are the answer to reactive complexions. The buzzword to keep in mind is “hormones”. Consumers are turning to brands that offer solutions that rebalance skin and hair health through hormonal changes—think equilibrium-restoring beauty supplements and skin concentrates that calm inflammation flare-ups at the source (WGSN).

AI isn’t just a buzzword; it’s reshaping the beauty industry.

Picture this: virtual try-ons using a combo of AI and AR, allowing customers to test-drive makeup, nail polish, and hairstyles. Even better? Customers are willing to pay for this digital glam session. US tech start-up Bolt’s stats say 75% of US shoppers would happily splurge for a customized online beauty experience. And that’s only the beginning. AI is curating bespoke routines through personalized recommendations online. Some brands are combining AI-powered facial imaging with personal data metrics in questionnaire form to help customers select the products that are right for them. Other technologies like geolocation, DNA data, lifestyle, and optional blood testing can help create a highly personalization experience. In short, brands should adopt AI to amp up customer experiences, pairing it with human expertise for trust. The outcome: customization, efficiency, and happy customers (WGSN).

Technology is taking beauty customization to thrilling new heights. Is your brand on board? The key to mass customization in beauty: next-level tech. Savvy tech-forward brands are paving the way for a new gen of cosmetics that fuse technology and custom-made formulas to adapt to the individual beauty routines of their customers. From 3D-printing face masks from a selfie, diagnostic apps that produce customized patches based on the skin’s pH, and electronic device that can detect hyperpigmentation and recommend specific treatments, the sky’s the limit when it comes to technology and personalized beauty experiences.  Even B2B models are being overhauled—a machine can now deliver personalized custom-made cosmetics to a customer’s home in mere minutes thanks to an app that prescribes a personalized formula in capsule form (Peclers Paris).

Wondering what your next breakthrough beauty product will be? Ask your customers. Consumers are clamoring around brands that offer a sense of community—they want to have a say in the products they buy. Through initiatives like crowdfunding, co-creating products, and tapping into social networks for inspiration, shoppers become the core of the product development process. So, what does community-driven beauty look like? It could be asking your customers to vote on new packaging in an Instagram poll or sending out test samples of a new formula. In this revamped consumer-centric business model, research, development, and promotion are all fueled by your brand’s followers, unlocking fresh innovation, long-term loyalty, and growth (BEAUTYSTREAMS).