Inside the tech company powering 50 brands’ augmented reality apps

With L’Oréal’s Makeup Genius app, curious drugstore beauty customers can try a bold smoky eye without making a purchase. Through Urban Decay’s Vice Lipstick app, the more adventurous can try on lipstick shades in Jawbreaker (a bright purple), Heroine (a dark blue) and Trick (a metallic gold) before buying. Anyone contemplating a new hair color can download Conair’s Virtual Hairstyle Makeover app to test out shades before hitting the dye bottle. This app’s hairstyle feature can also answer the persistent question, “should I get bangs?”

Augmented reality has infiltrated beauty, with individual brands like L’Oréal and Covergirl and retailers like Sephora and Ulta releasing apps that lay products over faces of customers willing to download and try them out. And while each app claims a unique approach, 46 of these hair, beauty and skincare brands have one thing in common: Their augmented reality experiences are powered by technology company Modiface.