In June, the debut of Metaverse Beauty Week reached a broad audience with a global press reach of 1.8 billion. Since then, beauty brands have kept up their pace when it comes to pushing new activations in the space. From hot air balloons at L'Occitane to orgasm-Inspired NFTs at NARS, BeautyMatter explores the recent virtual ventures in beauty:
Fenty: Rihanna's beauty brands Fenty Skin and Fenty Beauty debuted on Roblox, offering access to their first-ever virtual world during four weeks in June and July. The activation allowed beauty fans to grow closer to both brands through interactive tasks that gave an educational perspective on the ingredients used in best-selling products.
Users were invited to navigate a land decorated with Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin products and encouraged to collect free-standing ingredients. Visitors could also explore the Fenty Eau de Parfum Maze, decorated with gamified versions of the brand's much-loved fragrance. Gamers then moved on to the Fenty Beauty Lab, where they could create their own customized Fenty Beauty lip product using their sourced ingredients, as well as choose the bottle, lid, and applicator they wished to accompany their formula. Once these customized products were complete, attendees were instructed to name their shade after which their creation was sent to the "Sephora Experience," a virtual retail space that displayed other players' designs and gave everyone a chance to view them and vote for their favorite. After the votes were tallied, Rhianna was given a shortlisted selection of finalists from which to choose the winner. The winning shade will inspire the next Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb drop in 2024.
L'Occitane: The beauty and well-being brand partnered with virtual reality platform Emperia to create a 3D store that took customers on a virtual trip to Provence's lavender-scented hills via a branded hot air balloon. The store took the form of a small dome tent decorated with the classic glorious gold often associated with L'Occitane. The brand's most popular product scents—including almond, immortelle, and lavender—made up different dedicated sections of the store, which allowed visitors to explore the brand's core products and learn more about their formulations through videos and fact-filled displays in each area. The store also offered scent-dedicated experiences, including a drive to the almond orchids in Provence, a hot air balloon trip to the immortelle fields of Corsica, bicycle rides through lavender fields, and a private jet ride to the shea parklands of Burkina Faso. "We strive to be pioneers in the beauty industry, constantly pushing boundaries to create products that inspire and transform. By embracing innovation, we aim to turn our customers' dreams into reality, offering them a truly remarkable and unforgettable experience," Mariana Rodrigues, Marketing Director of L'Occitane Middle East, said of the virtual experience.
L'Oréal Professionnel: Accompanied by its metaverse agency OK C'EST COOL, L'Oréal Professionnel launched the Odyssea drop, a collection of five new metaverse hairstyles created to "transcend the constraints of reality and immerse the brand and its community into a new creative universe inspired by the underwater world." The collection—which is available for avatars on Roblox, Ready Player Me, and ZEPETO—was designed by hair designer Charlie Le Mindu and created by 3D artist Evan Rochette. The looks are inspired by marine ecosystems and range from a candy floss, pink shell-inspired up-do to seaweed green, free-flowing locs that grow so long they wrap around the character's body. The collection comes after L'Oréal debuted in the Metaverse through avatar platform Ready Player Me, providing makeup looks from Maybelline New York and hairstyles from L'Oréal Professionnel that avatars can wear across the metaverse, allowing for more diversity in terms of race and gender. "Gaming and Web3 offer new opportunities for CGI artists, consumers, and hairstyles, but the subject of hair inclusivity is still a challenge to tackle in these virtual worlds. As the historical leader, it is our responsibility to offer limitless hair look opportunities on these platforms," says Anne Machet, L'Oréal Professionnel International Brand Manager.
NARS: In celebration of National Orgasm Day on July 31, NARS released a collection of NFTs inspired by their popular Orgasm shade. The NFTs were created by five female-identifying artists: Dr. Alex Box, Serwah Attafuah, Nina "Ninocence" Hawkins, Clara Bacou, and Damara Inglês . They ranged from digital images of an augmented reality (AR) woman decorated with flowers to a creation of an open mouth with the ocean inside; all were heavily decorated with hues of pink to signify the popular shade. Each of the artist's works were made available for auction as single edition Ethereum artworks through the SuperRare platform, and all proceeds and royalties went to the creators to help fund their career growth. Those who purchased the NFTs not only received the digital artwork but were also given an Infinite Objects frame (a physical frame allowing the art to be displayed on a real wall), the complete NARS Orgasm collection, and a 45-minute, one-on-one consultation with NARS Global Makeup Artist Jenny Smith. "The emergence of Web3 and digital collectibles has ushered in a new era of artistic creation and self-expression," said Gabrielle Archambault, Executive Director of Global Digital Innovation and Media at NARS. "We're excited to leverage our platform to amplify the work of these next-generation creators."
