Tried and tested: FQ’s editor in chief Sarah Murray builds her skincare regime using Lancôme’s AI technology

4 September 2023

By Fashion Quarterly

Three women, three skin types and a chance to experience a cutting-edge screening process to discover what lies beneath and what to do about it.

We live in a world in which artificial intelligence and machine learning is everywhere. At times, it can be unnerving, but it can also be used to our advantage. Take your skin, for example. So much of what we know about it is based on how we feel and what we see, but what about beneath the surface?

Lancôme’s skin-analysis tool Skin Screen helps to answer that question by harnessing cutting-edge technology into a revolutionary beauty-counter experience. Using AI, tri-polar light technology and computer vision algorithms, it measures eight key clinical skin parameters, including texture, redness, brown spots, visible and clogged pores, wrinkles and fine lines, firmness, hydration and UV effects, as well as three related to the eye area. Combining scientific authority and technological expertise, it allows you to see a version of your skin you don’t see in the mirror. And it happens just like that. All you need to do is position your chin and forehead in the right place, close your eyes — and you’re done. Minutes after the machine has analysed your images and your questionnaire data to detect and visualise your skin concerns, you’ll be presented with a personalised routine.

This dynamic machine has been a long time in the making. The algorithm has been trained on thousands of diagnostic images from data gathered from 20-plus years of research and innovation by Lancôme’s parent company L’Oréal. Armed with this extensive knowledge, the Lancôme Skin Screen can measure and score your skin accurately. Coupled with precision cosmetics, it gives you a deeper understanding of your needs and an ultra-customised skincare routine you can follow at home to help you reveal your skin’s full potential. We sent three women to try it out.

Sarah Murray, 39, FQ’s editor in chief

Ageing has been my major skin concern lately. Although I’m fine with getting older, I want to keep my skin in the best shape I can. That said, as a mum with a demanding job, I don’t have the time or inclination to spend hours on skincare, so I want a fuss-free routine and to know the products I’m using work.

I had a pretty good idea of what the Lancôme Skin Screen would see. I thought my main issues would be dehydration, pigmentation and wrinkles and fine lines — and I was right. The machine took some photos, then the results were presented on an iPad that showed nine concerns ranked from the most concerning (for me, that was hydration) to the least concerning (clogged pores).

The recommendations came next. Once the machine had analysed my skin, it offered me my routine, a succinct five-product regimen that I can confidently say I’ll be able to follow. I’m most excited about using the Lancôme Advanced Génifique Concentrate, because I welcome it improving my skin’s elasticity and hydration — major culprits behind those fine lines and wrinkles — and it’s such a luxe serum that instantly feels like it’s working when I apply it.

I found being able to zoom in on trouble areas extremely helpful. Once the photos were taken and uploaded to the iPad, I was able to use my finger to pinpoint parts of my face I wanted to take a closer look at. My pigmentation was a whole lot worse than I’d thought it was, but this has given me the motivation I needed to target it and make more of an effort with my skin overall.