Faces for sale

When make-up meets blockchain

Make-up artists, even the famous ones, don’t produce work that increases in value. Yes, the more famous make-up artists and influencers charge a higher rate for their time, but the work itself can’t be traded. Their design is applied onto a face, lives for a day, and disappears again within 24 hours. An Instagram picture captures their work, but that too is not a tradeable asset. We predict that all this will change in the late 2020s, when many developments will converge.

The first trend is the stellar rise of NFTs as an art form. NFTs stand for non-fungible tokens – pieces of digital art that are encoded in blockchain technology. Because they’re encoded, it’s forever possible to identify the original digital version – no matter how many copies are made. This makes digital art collectible, just like offline art. Think of it as lithography. No matter how many prints are made, it’s always possible to identify the original litho. With NFTs it’s the same: no matter how many copies exist, the owner of the original will always be able to claim ownership of the one ‘true’ version of the art piece.

We predict that NFTs as an art form will reach a tipping point and become mainstream long before 2051. The reason for this is simple: they will generate income to rival that of a traditional artist. Therefore, registering digital artwork on a blockchain will become simple, easy and affordable for any artist. Art collectors will flock to NFT marketplaces which will function like art galleries. Art lovers will collect digital works from their favourite artists.

But why would make-up artists go digital? Their work is inherently offline, so who would spend a few thousand euros on a look they can’t even wear? We predict that the algorithms used for funny AR filters on social media will become open-source and platform independent, allowing anyone to build a face filter. As the algorithms improve, they’ll become better and better at mapping human faces, making the filters extremely realistic. The projected ‘face’ will seamlessly cover your every move. Creating these lifelike filters will become super-easy, so it will only be a matter of time before make-up influencers start to create digital looks that anyone can wear. Using blockchain technology to monetise those looks will be a logical next step. Fans will be able to buy a specific look as if they were buying a piece of art, and then show it off at a digital meeting or on their avatars while walking around the metaverse.

In the 2020s, most self-respecting beauty companies are already heavily invested in beauty tech. They will begin to market smart appliances like mirrors and brushes to complement skincare and beauty products. Smartphone apps will scan a person’s skin, analyse the input and create personalised skincare routines. This has already resulted in made-for-you beauty products based on your very own user data. We believe that this trend will continue, with personalised skincare becoming the norm – first for beauty influencers, then for followers. Generic products and one-size-fits-all skincare routines will disappear, replaced by intelligent beauty devices that offer instant, bespoke solutions. This hyper-personal skincare trend will be fuelled by the desire to have a machine-readable face so soft and smooth that any AR filter of choice will fit it perfectly.

There’s another development worth mentioning here. Since the COVID pandemic, people have even less patience than before. When we order online, same-day delivery is non-negotiable. This desire for an instant service will filter down to other aspects of our lives. We’ll also want our beauty products ready the moment our skin starts to feel a bit dry or blotchy. When there is no time for a beauty company to produce and ship a single product to you in an instant, they’ll bring you another solution out of necessity: the make-it-yourself kind.

Beauty tech will invest in hardware that lets you create the exact product you need when your smart device tells you. Using cartridges filled with cosmetic ingredients, you’ll be able to mix products yourself. And, just like computers, the devices that are big and clunky today will be transformed into wearable, pocket-sized devices you can take anywhere. The result? Instant, hyper-personalised skincare to achieve the perfect skin canvas for your digital make-up. But why stop there?

There’s one last trend we believe will add to the rise of the digital make-up artist: printing. Yes, you read that right: printing. Traditional art is hung on a wall and its owners wait for people to visit and admire it in person. But some art is mobile. Think high-end jewellery and watches. They can be shown off anywhere, anytime. Owners of expensive make-up NFTs may want to show off their high-end art the same way. To this end, the printers now used as in-store gimmicks to print nail polish on fingernails or eye shadow on eyelids, will evolve. They will become small home devices that will allow owners to print NFT looks on their own faces for a day and display them for the world to see. If they follow a personalised skincare routine to turn their faces into the perfect canvas, they’ll be guaranteed the most flawless printing result.

A bit far-fetched? The world begs to differ

If you too want to be served by a waiterbot like our dear protagonist Fatimah, you could visit the Royal Palace in Renessee, Netherlands, where two lovely robots in waiter outfits will do their best to make your visit a memorable one. It won’t be long until we invite these bots into our own homes.

Print-on make-up? Highly probable. You might be a bit hesitant about printing something on an irregular surface like the human face, but there are printers that have already conquered this challenge. PrinCube, the world’s smallest mobile colour printer, transfers ink onto almost any surface. Its creators vouch for skin as one of these surfaces and claim that their tiny printer is perfectly suitable for safe, temporary tattoos on skin.

Though there are some smart mirrors on the market, people are increasingly making them themselves by combining two-way mirrors, LED TV screens and Raspberry Pi computers, and transforming them with the help of the MagicMirror open-source, modular smart mirror platform. It’s only a matter of time before smart mirrors start dispensing personalised skincare and make-up guides.

An example of a dispensing device that could easily be integrated is the L’Oréal Perso. It contains cartridges with make-up and skincare which are mixed according to users’ skin needs and look preferences. The analysis itself is done by a camera and sensor on the user’s smartphone, which is then sent via an app to the Perso. Who knows if physical make-up will continue to be superior to digital make-up? It’s likely that the two will co-exist and complement each other. Who hasn’t been tempted by Zoom Studio Effect filters during Covid lockdown? Digital make-up filters could become more popular than you think. For example, dermatologists could recommend them to let skin rest and breathe after certain procedures.

Your digital or virtual presence will eventually matter just as much as your physical one. Some people are already ready for the transition to a virtual world, as they continue to buy pieces of earth on the Earth2.io metaverse. The next logical step is to start customising their lives in their digital world. Here, it doesn’t matter that you have acne scars, rosacea or a nose that’s a bit too big.

Printed make-up looks could become social status symbols too. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, especially if we think back to games like Stardoll. This game has been in existence since 2004 and caters to an often-overlooked audience in the gaming industry – teenage girls and young women. It allows users to customise their dolls, buy them designer clothes and make-up. They use these things to show off and enhance their status. Clothing and make-up trends would go out of stock and change, just like in real life. On some highly regarded user profiles, you might come across vintage DKNY pieces that Stardoll released back in 2007.

The last thing that ties all the predictions together are NFTs. Their future might seem uncertain currently, but looks more promising when seen through a long-term lens. Users can already purchase 3D printer templates of clothing that they can print themselves once they purchase the NFT. Perhaps NFT make-up is not that crazy an idea.

The only concern with NFTs are the unsustainable miner fees and the ways in which mining is conducted. However, the Proof-of-Work consensus on which most cryptocurrencies operate will soon be replaced by the Proof-of-Stake, which is meant to drastically decrease the energy consumption needed for mining, making NFTs a much more sustainable endeavour. Ethereum has already committed to adopting this consensus.

There are already so many technologies supporting the futuristic concepts of digital and physical make-up. Art is becoming more valuable than ever before, and artists are very adamant about not letting what they do be dismissed as any less of an art piece. The world of NFTs has opened so many doors for them, giving them an opportunity to authenticate and trace the origins of their creations.

On top of that, artists will soon be able to detect whether their NFT is being copied and sold by someone else using duplicate detection by DeviantArt, the social network art community founded in 2000.

Though this appreciation for different types of art, especially digital, is quite new and refreshing, the cosmetics industry has been around forever. It has consistently grown, with only the pandemic having temporarily dented its results. Make-up and cosmetics are still very much connected to point-of-sales, because users like to see and test textures and colours. The industry will certainly bounce back post-Covid, and will start wowing us with all these new inventions.

Beauty lovers will always check themselves out in store window reflections. In 2051, Fatimah will notice something completely different. As she passes her favourite drugstore, the window will come to life with her enhanced reflection – augmenting the latest make-up looks available onto her face. Whichever version she prefers – digital or print-on – it will be available right there on her own high street.