AI has been cropping up everywhere lately from impacts in medicine to real estate and even music, and of course wedding planning. . . . Hello, that’s kinda what we do! But all that aside, we’re most impressed with the way artificial intelligence is working in the beauty industry these days.
So what exactly is artificial intelligence (or “AI”)? It’s computer or robot controlled tasks that apply human intelligence to get the job done without a human. Sounds neat, right? Or terrifying, but guess that depends on your perspective.
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Now we’ve seen a slow go of AI in beauty for a while. Remember when you first were able to virtually try on makeup? Or shade matching? Those were some of the most exciting things at the time. Since we’ve seen AI-driven products and augmented reality apps. Told ya, it’s becoming a real thing! But in bigger ways than you might even imagine — let’s just say you can now get your lashes and nails done with a beautiful interplay between AI and robots.
Let’s talk lashes for five seconds: It’s a little thing called Luum Precision Lash and their Lash Lab is exclusive to Oakland, California. You go in with your natural lashes, a lash artist gets you comfy and sets you up with the right lash, and the robot does the rest, letting you leave with lush lashes like no other. Pretty cool, right?
Now what if we told you getting your nails done was even easier?! Enter Clockwork’s MiNiCURES, the first next-gen, full autonomous nail painting robot. Oh, yeah, we said it — nail painting robot! It’s fully self-service, so while you lose the personal touch and great gossip time with your nail artist and manicurist, you can do it on the go, and really what’s better than express beauty sometimes?
Because this was something we simply had to know more about — nail beauty is everything, after all — we actually connected with Clockwork for a bit about their inspiration and process. Here’s what they had to say about how it all got started: “Inspired by a customer's remark, ‘time is my luxury,’ and personally experiencing massive time constraints as a mom to a young toddler, Clockwork co-founder and CEO Renuka Apte understood the desire to spend more time doing things you love and less on the mundane. Renuka recognized that beauty is an essential aspect of self-care, but the traditional salon approach is [not always accessible]. With this in mind, we set out to develop an unconventional solution that leverages AI to enhance people's lives and developed the world's first fully autonomous nail-painting robot.
“After two years of development, testing, and consumer feedback, a remarkable solution was born: a quick, yet high-quality polish change that grants customers the luxury of self-care without any slowdown. Clockwork’s robot manicures, called MiNiCURES, are done in about 10 minutes. Clockwork enhances people's lives through AI-driven beauty services and has the potential to further revolutionize the industry through additional express beauty offerings.”
So you go in, give ten minutes, and usually ten-dollars and voilà, you get your nails polished, or even possibly nail polish removed (whether via their automated system or a pot of polish remover to take home with you). And a word about drying: we’re told that the nails to the touch in just minutes thanks to quick dry drops at the end of the service. Say it with me: express beauty rocks! Now you can stop by after work and attend your bachelorette party with fabulous looking nails, no stress, and more time for the good stuff like wine. Oops, did we just say wine, we meant time with your besties, of course!
They offer a wide variety of non-toxic, fun and stylish color choices from renowned nail polish brands, such as O.P.I., Essie, Zoya, and L’Oreal. And just for the record, when they say non-toxic, they mean it, as Clockwork told us their polishes are at least 9-free. Need more? Here’s a bit of inside scoop just for you from the brand: “Our robot dispenses nail color evenly and applies color extremely consistently so a top coat isn't necessary but we have heard from consumers that they'd like top coat to extend the life of their MiNiCURE so we are launching an option to add top coat to your service soon!”
So where can you go for a MiNiCURE? Definitely New York and California, as well as select stores, malls, and airports across the country. And if you try it, let us know how you liked it, meanwhile we’ll be out finding one in our next of the woods.