Bespoke beauty: is the technology advanced enough yet?
This is the second part of our exclusive interview with Raya Khanin, Co-Founder at LifeNome, a company that provides personalised wellness reports based on DNA. Find the first part of the interview here.
Khanin will discuss ‘Personalisation using your Biology: Genomics + AI = The ultimate in bespoke beauty’ at the in-cosmetics Formulation Summit 2018, running 24th-25th October 2018 at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel.
Registration for the event is available here.
Are technologies advanced enough yet to offer meaningful services for beauty companies and consumers? What more do we need to see in terms of innovation?
The short answer is definitely yes: the technologies are already advanced enough to offer meaningful services. But it is just the beginning.
The DNA technologies have made dramatic progress in the last few years, accompanied by the continuous falling costs of sequencing.
Direct to-consumer companies now charge around $100 for genotyping of hundreds of thousands of common genetic variations (SNPs).
In the USA, there are over 15 million people who already have DNA data from various ancestry providers (such as 23andme, ancestry.com and FamilyTreeDNA).
The same trend happens in Europe and Asia, as more people seek answers on how to personalise their lifestyle choices using their own DNA.
According to many estimates, at least 100 million genomes will be sequenced by 2025.
The interest in DNA-based weight-loss diets, supplements, as well as beauty and skincare, is continuously growing in parallel to more people having access to their DNA data.
Innovation in the beauty industry requires large-scale data collection, and AI analysis, while ensuring data security.
Forward-looking companies should roll out personalised new programmes by offering their customers at home DNA-testing kits (and reusing the pool of customers with existing DNA data) with personalised skincare products and treatments.
Integration of customer feedback and lifestyle data with DNA analysis will enable the development of personalised next generation products.
What next? Do you have any predictions for how these technologies and trend of personalisation might evolve in the coming period?
There is no doubt that the future of beauty is personalised, and the beauty industry is on the brink of a revolution driven by AI-enabled technologies such as imaging, AR/VR, sensors.
But there is nothing more personal and unique than our biology.
Our DNA determines up to 60% of our ageing, while the lifestyle and environment dynamically affect our skin, changing skin microbiota, RNA and epigenetic biomarkers.
We cannot yet change our DNA, but it is in our power to optimise our lifestyle, diet and skincare products.
Next generation of hyper-personalised on-demand personal care products will be based on individual’s DNA, RNA, epigenetics, microbiota as well as lifestyle factors, powered by data from 3D imaging devices and sensors.
This will enable truly holistic personalisation of customer products, services, and experiences.
I strongly believe that personalisation is not a “du-jour” trend, but it is rather a critical part of how skincare, nutrition and lifestyle in general, will be approached in the near future.
To make the leap from “one-size-fits-all” to hyper-personalisation and to stay ahead of the curve, forward-thinking beauty companies need to form new partnerships with AI and genomics data startups.
