Clarins Drives Omnichannel Engagement Through AI—from Makeup VTO to Skincare Personalization

Situation: Supporting Product Discovery in a Competitive Beauty Landscape 

Clarins is a French brand founded by Jacques Courtin-Clarins, born out of a beauty institute and rooted in plant science. Over nearly 70 years, it has become a recognized leader in both skincare and makeup. Driven by continuous innovation and a deep respect for nature, the brand's success is equally built on the close relationships it cultivates with its customers. Clarins continues to grow steadily worldwide, guided by its mission to accompany women through every moment of their lives.

To advance this mission, Clarins sought a way to energize its makeup line and offer consumers a fun, interactive way to discover products through full-look virtual try-ons—while still enabling individual product purchases.

Solution: A Unified Omnichannel Experience Powered by Perfect Corp.'s Virtual Try-On Technology

Clarins first launched Makeup Virtual Try-On (VTO) with Perfect Corp. on its e-commerce platforms in 2020, piloting the solution across 10 countries. Encouraged by strong engagement, the brand expanded to 33 countries online and 22 countries in retail stores, creating a truly omnichannel experience.

Building on this partnership, Clarins worked with Perfect Corp. to further elevate the VTO experience through a more refined, user-centric approach across both online and in-store touchpoints. 

"For the retail team, the goal was to drive engagement and conversion for Clarins' makeup range by offering an exciting new experience," said Juliette Pellet, Global Retail Director. "We also wanted to help customers find the makeup products best suited to their skin tone, whether this was guided by a beauty advisor or by exploring independently."

Jean Giard, E-Commerce Technology Director, added: "For e-commerce, the ambition was to support product discovery and visualization at home—reducing purchase hesitation and increasing conversion for makeup, a category that heavily relies on seeing how products look on the skin."

Clarins and Perfect Corp. collaborated closely to develop a unified yet channel-specific approach. With the VTO technology, customers can virtually try on curated, full-face looks inspired by Clarins' beauty philosophy, explore individual products within a look, and add items to their cart. In-store, customers can also scan product barcodes to launch the VTO experience directly on their personal devices.

Once in the experience, users can:

• Customize their look by layering additional products for a fully personalized style
• Compare their appearance with and without makeup using a side-by-side view
• Capture selfies within the experience to review or share their favorite looks

In March 2025, Clarins Canada introduced an upgraded VTO interface with significant UI/UX improvements, allowing users to not only try on products on individual product pages, but also explore multiple categories from a dedicated services section of the website.

Results: Higher In-Store Engagement

Clarins strategically positioned VTO displays at the entrance of 60 stores, visible from outside, to draw foot traffic. "It fits naturally into our makeup merchandising and creates a complete customer journey," said Pellet. Store teams report stronger customer engagement and positive feedback. The experience acts as a conversation starter with beauty advisors while also encouraging self-service exploration—making product discovery more playful and increasing willingness to try different shades.

Measurable Online Impact: +63% More Try-Ons

Following the UX improvements introduced in March 2025, the Clarins Canada website saw significant performance gains over the following three months (March–May):

• +63% increase in total try-ons vs. the previous period
• +211% growth in the Eyes category
• +123% growth in Foundation
• +36% increase in Lips

"The Makeup VTO plays a pivotal role in driving online conversion by reassuring and engaging customers throughout their purchasing journey," said Giard. "This is reflected in a remarkable +116% increase in virtual try-ons over the past two years."

From Virtual Try-On to AI-Powered Skincare Personalization

Building on the success of its makeup VTO, Clarins expanded its personalization strategy into skincare with the launch of the AI Skin Observer—a digital tool designed to deliver highly personalized skincare routines online.

The AI Skin Observer uses advanced facial analysis to assess eight key skin concerns: puffiness, eye aging, firmness, skin tone, dark circles, wrinkles, hydration and skin density. Based on a selfie and a short guided questionnaire, it determines each user's skin type and delivers tailored product recommendations along with expert application tips.

This evolution moves Clarins beyond virtual product trial toward a more holistic, end-to-end beauty personalization journey—combining 70 years of skincare expertise with cutting-edge AI, powered by the flexibility and robustness of Perfect Corp.'s platform. 

About Perfect Corp.

Perfect Corp. (NYSE: PERF) is a global leader in AI and AR technology, redefining creativity across beauty, fashion, skincare, and digital content creation. Its YouCam suite of apps has been downloaded over 1.1 billion times globally, empowering users to create, edit, and express themselves through photo, video, and generative AI tools. The YouCam platform also includes a powerful web-based editor and a suite of developer APIs, providing creators, brands, and technology partners with seamless access to content creation capabilities across platforms.

For brands and professionals, Perfect Corp. offers an award-winning portfolio of enterprise technologies, including virtual try-on experiences for makeup, hair, jewelry, watches, and fashion accessories, as well as AI-powered skin and hair analysis.

With a brand portfolio that includes YouCam and Skincare Pro, and a network of over 800 global brand partners, Perfect Corp. is transforming the beauty experience through personalized, immersive, and intelligent innovation.

For more information, visit perfectcorp.com and follow @Perfect-Corp.