Robot produces personalized skincare products at newly opened Boston lab

In today’s age of countless skincare products and procedures, one innovative company, with a Massachusetts location, is pushing consumers to make their own choices with the help of AI.

Customers who step into SmartSKN’s Boston K-Beauty AI Lab, which opened on Aug. 1, are greeted by either CEO Val Neicu or one of her associates. However, there’s one employee who is the true star of the show: BALI.

BALI is one of SmartSKN’s five advanced robots that are found at the company’s labs across the U.S. There’s one in Los Angeles, Minnesota, Boston and two in Beverly.

The Korean-made robots, resembling bionic arms, mix ingredients based on the personalized formula gathered from a skincare analysis.

The robots then dispense the ingredients into bottles and, within five minutes, customers have their own product that is specifically catered to their skin.

“The data we gather from over 150,000 diverse skin profiles worldwide allows us to create highly customized skin care formulas,” Neicu said. “We are bringing the power of AI to production, enabling us to formulate products in real-time based on specific skin conditions, sensitivities and goals.”

SmartSKN’s skincare analysis is done with the use of a Muilli AI Dermascope. The device takes 60-times magnified pictures of the skin, measures the moisture oil levels and sends all that information to an app where customers fill out a skin health questionnaire. This was where customers answer questions regarding oiliness, dryness, hyperpigmentation, dark spots, tightness and wrinkles.

Results from the questionnaire then reveal what kind of skin customers have and which products might work best for them. From there, they can choose which of SmartSKN’s three products they’d like the robot to make: a serum, ampoule or lotion.

The serum sells for $85, the ampoule for $95 and the lotion is $75.

Each product can also be enhanced with several boosters, from brightening and moisturizing to elastin, lifting, or calming. Boosters normally cost $14.99 each, but in honor of the Boston lab’s recent opening, SmartSKN is offering them for free for a special time.

Once the final products are chosen, they are made by the robot, in this case, BALI. The products are entirely made from ingredients that have all been tested through clinical trials and approved for use in commercial products.

“It’s perfectly safe and perfectly compliant with every law,” Neicu said. “You have to test this for stability. So, it’s a bit of a biochemistry behind it, but perfectly safe to use.”

That said, customers should be aware of their skin and any potential adverse reactions to unknown products. To help with this, SmartSKN’s analysis includes a complete list of ingredients that are used in every product. Customers can access this list after their analysis or after their appointment by scanning the QR code on the product label that brings them to their SmartSKN profile.

However, if someone does have a reaction to their skincare product, they must contact SmartSKN immediately so the brand can report it to the FDA. Neicu also noted that the robots are capable of making 25,000 formulas, which is a testament to their ingenuity.

“As far as I know … there’s nothing like this in the market. Absolutely nothing that can create a hyper personalized product based on an analysis in a few minutes in a setting like [this] one,” she said. “I think if there was, we would hear about it speedy.”

Neicu continued, “I think this is the future of manufacturing and creating products. I think a lot of products will be made on demand with robotic and AI technology, with precision and new ways. But this is just the beginning, and as of today, this technology is very, very exclusive.”

Not only does Neicu believe SmartSKN represents a breakthrough in professional skincare delivery, she also sees her company as a key player in the personalization trend that has been seen in the cosmetic and skincare industries.

“People want products that are made for them. This is not a news flash. They’ve always wanted that, but today they want that with the science backing it,” she said. “Consumers have changed the way they perceive brands, the way they perceive products. It became very saturated, almost like a bubble. And I personally feel like right today the consumer is pulling away from that.”

In addition to providing more personalized skincare products, SmartSKN helps to cut down on mass production of cosmetics by reducing waste and eliminating excess packaging.

“The fact that we can make it speedy, that’s amazing,” Neicu said.

“When we make products on demand, just when they’re needed, we don’t have a mass-produced warehouse with millions of bottles that we have to sell,” she added. “This really optimizes the process of creating a product.”

Ultimately, people who care about their skin want a product that is going to work best for them and not have to waste time finding one that does. Neicu believes SmartSKN is capable of meeting both these needs in a more efficient manner.

“We don’t need more products; we need better products,” Neicu emphasized. “By using AI to create personalized formulations and minimizing waste, we’re not just changing the way people care for their skin, we’re changing the way we think about beauty as a whole.”

Skincare assessment appointments can be made by going to SmartSKN’s website. SmartSKN’s Boston K-Beauty AI Lab is located at 3 Center Plaza, across from City Hall and Government Center and inside the Sola Salon Studios.