Image credit: Getty Images
Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the beauty industry, reshaping how consumers discover, test, and purchase products while helping brands unlock unprecedented efficiency and personalisation. Once reliant on in-store consultants and static advertising, beauty has become a data-driven, interactive experience, one that blends science, creativity, and technology.
Two companies stand at the forefront of this transformation: Perfect Corp., a global AI and augmented reality (AR) pioneer powering beauty personalisation worldwide, and Chalhoub Group, the Middle East’s leading luxury retailer, whose FACES brand has recently launched the region’s first generative AI beauty coach, Layla AI. Together, they exemplify how AI is redefining beauty from both a technological and cultural standpoint.
Read more-From AI chef to futuristic menus: Inside the UAE’s restaurant tech revolution
AI has completely transformed the beauty landscape by enabling brands to better understand consumer needs and deliver highly tailored solutions.
Through AI-driven skin diagnostics, shade matching, and personalised product recommendations, companies can now offer experiences that feel bespoke to each individual.
“These technologies not only enhance customer satisfaction but also empower brands to innovate faster and more effectively, bridging the gap between consumer expectations and product offerings,” said Alice Chang, CEO of Perfect Corp.
By turning once-generic retail experiences into individualized journeys, AI has become the beauty industry’s new creative engine, one that personalises at scale while maintaining the emotional connection that beauty consumers seek.
Virtual try-on: The new beauty counter
AI-powered virtual try-on experiences have redefined how consumers engage with beauty products. Whether online or in-store, shoppers can now visualise how a lipstick, foundation, or hair color will look in real time, without any physical application.
“Virtual try-on has transformed beauty shopping into an engaging, interactive process that builds confidence in purchasing decisions,” said Chang. “It reduces hesitation and uncertainty, making the journey seamless, fun, and highly personalised.”
This technology is proving to be more than a novelty, it’s a revenue driver. According to Perfect Corp., brands such as Avon, NARS, e.l.f. Cosmetics, and Clinique have seen dramatic improvements in conversion rates and customer engagement after implementing its AR and AI tools. Avon reported a 320 per cent increase in conversion rates and a 33 per cent rise in average order value, while NARS achieved a 300 per cent boost in conversions. Clinique saw a 2.5 times increase in conversions, a 30 per cent larger basket size, and five times longer dwell time on its site.
“These achievements underscore how deeply transformative immersive AI and AR beauty experiences can be for driving consumer engagement, purchasing confidence, and revenue growth,” Chang added.
Efficiency and sustainability: AI behind the scenes
Beyond the consumer experience, AI is driving measurable operational and environmental benefits for beauty brands. Perfect Corp. has developed solutions that help companies minimise product waste, reduce returns, and streamline production, all key to building more sustainable business models.
One hair color brand replaced all of its plastic hair bundle samples with AR-based virtual try-ons, eliminating 56 tonnes of plastic waste annually. “By integrating AI-driven insights, brands can improve efficiency across the supply chain and reduce their carbon footprint, all while meeting customer needs with higher precision,” said Chang.
AI-driven optimisation not only enhances profitability but also strengthens a brand’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) profile, an increasingly important factor for both consumers and investors.
Next frontier: Smart beauty devices and digital assistants
As AI becomes embedded in every aspect of the beauty ecosystem, the next wave of innovation is pointing toward intelligent, conversational, and adaptive technologies. Chang predicts a future where beauty experiences integrate seamlessly into consumers’ daily routines through digital beauty concierges and smart devices.
Tools like Perfect Corp.’s Perfect Beauty Agent, powered by large language models, offer 24/7 expert-level beauty and skincare advice, AR tutorials, and personalised recommendations through natural conversation. “It’s essentially a bespoke digital beauty concierge that learns and communicates in a brand’s unique voice,” said Chang.
This shift toward AI-driven beauty advisors signals an industry evolution from “try before you buy” to “learn, try, and personalise,” redefining what expertise and connection mean in the digital era.
AgileHand: Bridging physical and digital touch
Perfect Corp.’s latest innovation, AgileHand technology, enhances realism and precision in digital try-on experiences for products like nail polish, watches, and bracelets. By using ultra-precise hand mapping, users can visualise how items appear in real time with natural movement, improving both accuracy and consumer trust.
“With AgileHand, users can virtually try on products across a wide range of categories, from makeup to skincare to accessories, while experiencing lifelike accuracy,” explained Chang.
Perfect Corp.’s platform now supports diagnostics for up to 15 skin concerns, including wrinkles, dark circles, pores, and texture, as well as full virtual try-ons for makeup, hair color, and nails. The company’s growing portfolio illustrates how AI is powering both the artistry and analytics behind the beauty industry’s digital reinvention.
The Middle East leads a new AI beauty wave
While global giants like Perfect Corp. push the boundaries of beauty tech, the Middle East is emerging as one of the most exciting frontiers for AI-powered retail. Chalhoub Group, the region’s leading luxury retailer, recently unveiled Layla AI, a generative AI-powered beauty coach developed in partnership with FACES, the Middle East’s most established beauty retailer.
By combining Chalhoub’s seven decades of retail experience with FACES’ 30-year legacy in beauty, Layla AI delivers hyper-personalised recommendations across skincare, makeup, fragrance, and haircare.
Unlike standard chatbots, Layla AI learns and adapts with every interaction, understanding evolving preferences, seasonal needs, and beauty trends. Crucially, it is fluent in multiple Arabic dialects, including Arabizi, ensuring cultural relevance and linguistic accuracy, critical factors in customer engagement across the Middle East.
Since its launch, Layla AI has already made a measurable impact on customer engagement, delivering 2.5 times higher conversion rates than non-AI sessions. Users spend an average of 7.4 minutes longer per browsing session and explore 27 per cent more products.
The AI assistant’s ability to converse naturally in Arabic has also proven instrumental in adoption: 79 per cent of all interactions occur in Arabic, and 85 per cent of KSA users engage regularly with the platform.
Beyond enhancing customer experiences, Layla AI acts as a business intelligence engine, generating real-time insights into evolving preferences and unmet needs. This data empowers Chalhoub Group to refine its product assortment, pricing, and marketing strategies in real time, turning AI from a customer tool into a strategic growth driver.
“Layla AI embodies our vision of the future of beauty, smarter, more human, and deeply personal,” said Nicole Nitschke, Managing Director at FACES. “By combining Faces’ customer intimacy with Chalhoub Group’s AI strategy, we’re creating experiences that educate, inspire, and empower.”
AI Innovation from the Middle East
Chalhoub Group executives view Layla AI as a defining milestone in the region’s digital transformation.
“This project proves that advanced AI innovation can originate from the Middle East at scale,” said Nick Vinckier, VP of Corporate Innovation at Chalhoub Group. “Layla AI marks the start of an exciting roadmap to embed AI across the entire retail value chain.”
Echoing this sentiment, Michael Chalhoub, CEO of Chalhoub Group, described Layla AI as “not only a step forward in technology but also in how we continue to place our customers at the center of everything we do.”
The launch of Layla AI is part of Chalhoub Group’s broader AI strategy, announced earlier this year, to reimagine retail through data-driven intelligence and personalisation.
“As shopper expectations evolve, we see conversational commerce as the next step in creating seamless, personalised omnichannel experiences,” said Jeremy Denisty, director of AI at Chalhoub Group. “With Layla AI already driving incremental revenue from day one, this milestone underscores our commitment to shaping the future of commerce through innovation.”
Looking ahead, Chalhoub Group plans to expand Layla AI’s capabilities to include skin diagnostics, virtual try-ons, gamification, and full omnichannel integration, blending the warmth of in-store service with the convenience of digital discovery.
As the region’s leading omnichannel beauty retailer, FACES aims to use Layla AI to empower, educate, and inspire beauty consumers while supporting Chalhoub Group’s Vision 2033, a strategy designed to future-proof retail through technology, education, and customer-centric innovation.
Beauty tech market on the rise
The rise of AI-powered beauty solutions comes amid strong market growth in the beauty tech segment across the Middle East.
- In 2025, revenue in the Beauty Tech market in the UAE is projected to reach $20.66m.
- The market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 49 per cent (CAGR 2025–2030).
- The United States remains the largest global market, with projected revenues of $1bn in 2025.
- In per-capita terms, the UAE’s beauty tech revenue is estimated at $2.14 per person in 2025.
- Demand for beauty tech devices and services in the UAE is surging, driven by the country’s focus on innovation and luxury.
As AI technologies evolve, the boundary between beauty and technology continues to blur. From Perfect Corp.’s pioneering work in AR-powered personalisation to Chalhoub Group’s culturally attuned generative AI assistant, the industry is witnessing a fundamental transformation, one that blends human creativity with machine intelligence.
AI is no longer a futuristic concept in beauty, it is the new foundation of how products are created, recommended, and experienced. Whether through virtual mirrors, intelligent diagnostics, or personalised digital advisors, beauty’s next chapter is not just more connected and efficient, it’s profoundly more human.
