In a world where skincare choices are endless, it can be overwhelming trying to select the perfect product for your exact skin type.
Thankfully, that's where askbella, Australia's first beauty bot, comes in. askbella provides users with a free, detailed skin analysis, and recommends a tailored skincare routine, offering you the option to purchase a step-by-step beauty routine, or individual products with ingredients that will benefit your skin.
BD recently sat down with askbella founder, Elaine Yang, who told us everything we need to know about this new revolutionary platform.
Congratulations on the launch of askbella! Can you tell us a bit more about how this platform works?
askbella is an online beauty destination that only shows you beauty and skincare products that are the perfect fit for your unique skin. You start by doing a skin quiz, and the askbella Beauty Bot uses AI technology to provide you with a free skin analysis, and product recommendations for a step-by-step skincare routine. askbella only shows you products that will benefit your skin, making it easier to choose. You can then purchase one product, or a whole step-by-step routine based on askbella’s recommendation.
How did the concept come about?
I’ve always known the value of good skincare, which meant I tried a whole bunch of different skincare and beauty products to find the perfect fit for my skin. But what I really struggled with was how to research products and match them to my skin. Once I did finally find a product that worked, I found it difficult to create a skincare routine without lots of trial and error to get the right mix of products – I felt like I was wasting my money. I decided to do some research into how other women felt, and it turned out that 74% of Australian beauty customers are overwhelmed by too many product choices and are struggling to find the right products. So it wasn’t just me! This is where I got the initial idea for askbella, and the rest happened from there.
What can users expect to gain from using askbella?
askbella will take away the confusion and overwhelm that can come with purchasing beauty products. It will help beauty shoppers get their purchase right the first time, saving them time, money and breakouts in the long run.
Do you have a target demographic or is it suited to everyone?
It's suited to everyone, no matter what age or gender you are. Skin changes constantly due to environmental factors like climate, stress level, hormones and lifestyle, so our technology takes all of these factors into consideration when recommending products as well. The products we stock have the needs of every different skin type covered.
Is this technology backed up by science or research?
Both! askbella’s intelligence has been developed through a dermatologist. I worked closely with the dermatologist to determine all the different skin profiles, like oily/dry/combination, sensitive/resistant, pigmented/non-pigmented, acne, redness, ageing and sun damage. The dermatologist then matched all the different products on the askbella website to the different skin profiles, based on ingredients.
Based on this intelligence, when customers do the askbella skin quiz, the AI-powered Beauty Bot will share a skin analysis identifying the ingredients that will benefit their skin profile. Customers are shown three different products in each skincare step that are a good match from their skin, and from there they can select based on their preferred product price or brand.
How does askbella compare to similar technology on the market?
I'm very proud to say that we're the only Australian-owned and made company so far who have integrated AI and beauty, to provide real-time product recommendations.
Are you currently working with any beauty brands?
askbella currently stocks brands like COSRX, Klairs, MAKE P:REM, Dr. Jart and more.
Do you have any plans for the future you can reveal?
Not at this stage, but we have plenty of exciting new brands and partners to announce in the near future – stay tuned!
