Device assesses skin tone to create personalized facial foundations

Many people have left home thinking their makeup was perfect, only to realize upon arriving at their destination that it didn’t match their skin tone. Or worse: they spent money on a product that looked ideal in the store but looked artificial at home. This drama may soon be a thing of the past thanks to a 100% Brazilian technological innovation.

ColoriZe, a spin-off of the technology company Autaza, supported by FAPESP’s Innovative Research in Small Businesses Program (PIPE), has created a device that uses artificial intelligence to accurately assess skin tone and create personalized color recipes for beauty products. The system will soon be used in partnership with a major Brazilian cosmetics company and aims to transform the cosmetics shopping experience. “Consumers will find foundation in the portfolio in a more coherent way,” explains Leonardo Marangon, director of technology and operations at Autaza-ColoriZe.

The equipment operates similarly to the paint machines found in hardware stores that mix pigments into white paint to produce the colors shown in the catalog. “However, there’s a difference in precision and technological sophistication,” says Marangon. “Our equipment is significantly more accurate: paint machines have a much higher margin of error than the ColoriZe system, which guarantees us much greater repeatability and reproducibility,” he compares.

And that’s not all. While conventional systems use the RGB standard, which combines red, green, and blue, ColoriZe’s technology uses the CIELAB system, which offers a wider range of color tones. “With it, it’s possible to capture nuances that other systems can’t detect,” he explains.

From concept to reality

Although ColoriZe is now focused on the beauty market, the company started far from this segment. Autaza, ColoriZe’s parent company, develops quality inspection systems using artificial intelligence, primarily for the automotive industry. The original system detects defects in car paintwork using deflectometry, a technique in which images are projected onto surfaces to identify variations that may indicate problems (read more at agencia.fapesp.br/29140).

Marangon points out that in the automotive industry, different parts of a vehicle are assembled on separate production lines. “Then they’re put together in the same car, and the color tones have to be the same.” Thus, the company improved its colorimetric analysis expertise based on the need for color matching between different car parts on the assembly line.

The technology was then applied in other sectors. The company worked in the paint manufacturing industry, in the aeronautics sector, and even explored applications in the healthcare field, including solutions for cosmetic dentistry. “We even created shades for dental veneers, but we encountered regulatory barriers because the equipment must be approved by the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency [ANVISA].”

This proximity to healthcare and cosmetic applications naturally led the team to the beauty market. “The transition made perfect sense because both sectors deal with cosmetic corrections and product customization.”

Strategic partnership

The choice of ColoriZe’s first major partner in the beauty sector was no accident. Marangon points out that the company is open to technological innovation. “It was important to us as a Brazilian example, but it already operates worldwide: Europe, Mexico, North America, and others. This opens doors for us to global markets.”

In practice, the process is surprisingly simple for the end user. First, the equipment identifies the user’s skin tone using sensors and artificial intelligence. It then recommends the most suitable product from the company’s portfolio for that specific tone.

Another revolutionary way to use the system is to create a personalized recipe produced specifically for the customer. “It’ll be like going to a compounding pharmacy. After detecting the skin tone, the customer can pick up the personalized product in a few hours,” Marangon explains. Additionally, the information is stored, so the product can be ordered at any store in the chain, even in different parts of the country.

Specific shades

ColoriZe is a Brazilian innovation, but the challenge of producing foundation shades is a global issue. “In the beauty market, skin tone is a serious challenge, especially darker shades, which are more difficult to reproduce.” This issue worsens when lighting variations are considered: a foundation that looks perfect under the lighting of a beauty salon, for example, can appear artificial under the lighting of an event. “Our system can create color recipes that account for these lighting variations.”

This is why the company initially focuses on facial foundations, which are considered a central part of makeup and the biggest source of consumer complaints. Despite this, the company’s plans are ambitious. They intend to expand to other products, such as eye shadows and lipsticks, to create possibilities for harmonization between different items. “Why not match the shade of lipstick to the dress? Or the shade of eye shadow to the lipstick? These arrangements are also interesting possibilities for the future,” Marangon projects.

Although the technology is sophisticated, the company does not want to restrict access to it. The goal is for the equipment to be accessible to resellers and beauty consultants. “They’re the brands’ largest audience and can have ColoriZe equipment on hand to detect customers’ skin tones,” Marangon argues. This strategy will enable ColoriZe to increase production and reduce costs by expanding the user base of the technology in a virtuous cycle of accessibility.

New paradigm

Historically, it has been common in the beauty industry for consumers to buy multiple products until they find the ideal shade. However, with the precision of artificial intelligence, the segment can become more efficient and satisfying. “ColoriZe’s technology can go beyond convenience and represent self-esteem and well-being for those who depend on makeup to feel confident.”

Marangon highlights the speed of the technology’s development, noting that the entire project, from conception to commercialization, took just over a year and a half. “It was very fast, very dynamic,” he points out. The company is optimistic about the future and plans to significantly expand by 2027. “We’re beginning to prepare mainly to advance globally and increase our portfolio in the beauty market,” he anticipates.

The team of young technicians working on the project is led by co-founders Enivaldo Amaral, the company’s technical director, and Renan Padovani, the CEO. “Because of all this dynamism and focus on innovation, we say that Autaza is a technology company, but it still has the soul of a startup.”