Decorté is Japan's best-kept beauty secret. Beloved by millions, the brand embodies the best of Japanese beauty, emphasizing superior absorption, sensorial textures and radiant beauty. In 1950, Kozaburo Kobayashi founded Decorté with a vision to create extraordinary products achieved by balancing art and science with tradition and innovation. Decorté Laboratories, a pioneer in cutting-edge dermatological research and skincare technologies incorporating regenerative medicine, partners with world-renown universities and acclaimed scientists to achieve remarkable results. Innovative design is also paramount to the brand and crafted by renowned Dutch interior designer, Marcel Wanders, the brand's art director.
"Decorté is known around the world for cutting-edge dermatological research and groundbreaking skincare technologies," says Sharon del Valle, General Manager, KOSÉ America. "So it was natural for us to want to offer our customers an immersive experience through the use of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR)."
Decorté wanted to deploy two separate, but closely linked, AI and AR experiences. The first was a digital skin analytics application to help customers understand the precise nature of their current skin condition. The second was a virtual try-on experience for customers wanting to explore Decorté cosmetics.
The challenge was finding an AR and AI partner to work with who had the same passion for precision technology as Decorté.
Decorté uses Perfect Corp. YouCam AI Skin Diagnostic to provide precision analysis of skin condition, including the moisture reading that measures hydration.
Decorté chose Perfect Corp. and the Perfect Corp. AR platform. Perfect Corp. combines powerful artificial intelligence (AI) with its industry-leading augmented reality (AR) to provide stunningly lifelike results.
“We had long been aware of Perfect Corp. and its AI/AR technology, and had been planning on integrating this into our website," del Valle says. "When we heard that their YouCam AI Skincare Diagnostic technology had been expanded to measure skin hydration, we knew it was time to deploy. Hydration is a cornerstone of Japanese beauty. When skin is optimally hydrated, it has a healthier look and feel. With Perfect Corp.'s advanced skin diagnostic solution, Decorté can provide an immediate and accurate hydration assessment for all skin types and ethnicities."
Decorté was also eager to offer its customers a virtual try-on experience for its line of carefully crafted cosmetics.
The company has deployed Perfect Corp. technology to meet both of its AI/AR needs:
"We were impressed that Perfect Corp.'s AI Skin Diagnostic Technology was analyzed and verified by dermatologists and skincare experts to ensure users receive accurate, safe, and reliable skincare recommendations, in line with the professional product recommendations they would offer their patients," del Valle says. "We pride ourselves in the research we do for our products, and wanted the same validation behind behind the AI and AR technology we offered to our customers."
The company has found that the technology is a hit with their customers.
"We're really excited about the AI Skin Diagnostic tool because it's accurate, fun, and it's easy," del Valle says. "In 30 seconds or less, the consumer has their skincare analysis, as well as out product recommendation, and then they can go explore and learn more. So it's very empowering to the consumer."
Decorté has enjoyed a number of benefits since deploying the Perfect Corp. AI Skin Diagnostic and virtual try-on technology, including:
Decorté also values its Perfect Corp. solution for helping it provide exceptional realism with virtual try-on, achieve enhanced engagement and sales with customers spending 32% longer on the Decorté website, and an 85% increase in sales for Decorté products through virtual try-on. The company has also found that Perfect Corp. is a great technology partner.
Radiant skin with Decorté.
Decorté values the high-touch, personalized experience that its customers enjoy when using Perfect Corp. technology from the Decorté website to obtain a YouCam AI Skin Diagnostic, or to enjoy YouCam Virtual Try-On. They also value the high trust that customers enjoy because of the precision of Perfect Corp. AI and AR technology, and the ability to see exactly which Decorté products best meet their needs.
“Trust is is a really important word as you're building a brand and in keeping your consumers faithful to you," del Valle says. "When we saw that Perfect Corp. used 70,000 clinical images and validated results with all these dermatologists and skincare experts, we knew we could use this to help our customers achieve the results and the aspirations they have for their skincare and makeup.""The fact that AI Skin Diagnostic gives actual numbers across a range of skin conditions - including hydration - means both the customer and Beauty Advisor can start from the same objective foundation," del Valle says. "It's no longer just the opinion of the Beauty Advisor. The customer sees the objective numbers and can decide which areas they want to work on: hydration, wrinkles, texture, spots, dark circles, or other metrics. There is so much validity and trust when our in-store Beauty Advisors and their customers can work together from the same numbers to help achieve their skin goals."
A wealth of carefully crafted beauty products.
Decorté YouCam AI Skin Diagnostic to bring clarity, understanding, and a sense of fun, to demonstrate to their customers the fundamental role that hydration plays in overall skincare.
“While in many ways it is poorly understood by individuals, hydration is the. number one fundamental concern of beauty consumers, and that's proven through industry research," del Valle says. "Hydration is the fundamental element you need to focus on to achieve skin health. The great benefit of having well-hydrated skin, apart from just being healthy, radiant, and smooth, is that it helps diminish many of the other concerns consumers have. If you're well-hydrated, you're going to feel less oily, because your skin-water balance is going to be correct. Facial redness becomes diminished because having the proper hydration levels help to calm your skin. Even your makeup is going to look better, because with optimal hydration the texture of the skin is smoother, and more even in tone."
This is why del Valle values the skin score provided by Perfect Corp. technology. "With YouCam AI Skin Diagnostic, it is easy for customers to see their hydration score - and the process is fast and fun.Decorté - Embracing your true beauty.
Defining Hydration Rituals & Science
When speaking of skincare practice in Japan, del Valle speaks in terms of both rituals and science.
"The Japanese approach and ritual to skincare is to begin with a double cleansing," del Valle says. "It's very critical that your skin is well-cleansed - but gently so. When I was younger, I used to use very hot water and scrub really hard because I wanted to get my skin super clean. The Japanese believe you must respect your skin. They believe you should cleanse your skin gently but efficiently."
A second element of the skincare ritual is applying multiple light layers of hydration.“Typically, in the United States, people use just one layer of hydration," del Valle says. "In the Japanese approach, multiple light layers of hydration are applied."
Decorté products can be used across the entire process, from double cleansing, to layering hydration, and more. "We use the YouCa AI Skin Diagnostic skin score to determine which products will most precisely meet each customer's needs, in a manner that is respectful to the skin," del Valle says.
The Realism of Virtual Try-On: "We Were Like Kids Again, Trying Everything On"
Before deciding to use YouCam Virtual Try-On, Decorté employees tried it out for themselves. They only wanted to offer their customers a virtual try-on experience that was amazingly real.“We were all immediately impressed by YouCam Virtual Try-On," del Valle says. "We had a lot of fun with it. We tried on all our products - eyes, lips, all our shades - something you simply can't do within minutes in real life. We were like kids again. The realism was amazing. We were like kids in a candy store, so we knew that our customers would love this experience."
Virtual try-on led to a 155% increase in market penetration
for Decorté Rouge Lipstick in High Gloss.
Enhanced Engagement and Sales with Customers Spending 32% Longer on the Decorté Website
The sense of fun and discovery of virtual try-on - along with the precision analytic scores from the AI Skin Diagnostic, translates into more time spent on site by customers.“We have definitely seen an increase in on-page dwell time for both skin scoring and virtual try-on," del Valle says. "We've seen the time spent on this area increase by 32%. The realism of the virtual try-on provides a great customer experience, which means they are spending more time on our site, trying out different products. We see the same for our AI Skin Diagnostic."
The tailored product recommendations also keep customers engaged. "In addition to hydration, our customers can choose to focus on any other areas identified by the skin score," del Valle says. "If the customer wants to focus on hydration, we give them a curated view into our hydration products. If they want to focus on dark circles or wrinkles or spots, or something else, we provide a curated product selection for each. This flexibility provides a lot of empowerment to the consumer. They can choose what they want to address and how deep into product exploration they want to go."
Such online customer engagement pays off, with del Valle noting: "We have also seen that time spent on site translates into increased sales."
Decorté has seen increased dwell time for its site.
85% Increase in Sales for Decorté Products through Virtual Try-On
Decorté measured an average market penetration increase of 85% when analyzing sales for four of its products offered on its site through YouCam Virtual Try-On.The company was impressed when Perfect Corp. announced additional metrics to be measured by its AI Skin Diagnostic. "They already had five different skin conditions, and so when they brought on additional conditions to measure - including hydration, it was also a signal that said they are always innovating. We feel confident they will continue to evolve and bring new things to the front."
All of this benefits consumers. "One of the great things about our partnership with Perfect Corp. is that both of us are equally excited about technologies that empower consumers to experience beauty, skincare, and makeup, on their own terms," del Valle says. "Our consumers can come into a store and play with virtual try-on and AI Skin Diagnostic. They can play with it at home. They can explore and discover our products from wherever they want."
About Perfect Corp.