ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Marketing Dive acquired Mobile Marketer in early 2017. Some information, such as publication dates, may not have migrated over. Check out the new Marketing Dive site for the latest marketing news.

Glamour brings NYFW beauty looks to mobile via augmented reality

Condé Nast?s Glamour is joining forces with the YouCam Makeup application to bring top beauty trends seen on the runway at New York Fashion Week to consumers? smartphones, enabling them to virtually try on the featured products at home.

Glamour and Perfect Corp.?s YouCam Makeup app are rolling out the 2016 Selfie Runway Series in a bid to offer beauty fans worldwide the ability to virtually experience the latest cosmetics products and trends at Fashion Week and try the high-fashion looks on themselves. Glamour has curated the suite of looks that will be available via YouCam Makeup?s augmented reality platform, which also leverages facial recognition technology.

?[Mobile platforms] enhance the user experience for publications and help connect people from all over the world who are not in attendance [at fashion shows],? said Donna Valle, beauty account supervisor at Alison Brod Public Relations. ?With 200 million downloads, this is a way to reach people from all over the world.

?Our phones are becoming more and more a part of our lives and this is just one of those benefits.?

Storming down the runway
The 2016 Selfie Runway Series features seven different beauty looks, all of which have been hand-selected by Glamour?s beauty editors, makeup artists and New York Fashion Week experts. Each look reflects various spring/summer 2017 trends seen on the runway.

The series, which kicked off yesterday, will release one new beauty look per day through September 14.

Glamour and YouCam Makeup have also joined forces with one of New York Fashion Week?s top designers to roll out an exclusive, real-time runway beauty look.

This look will also enable app users to virtually try it on the moment it hits the runway.

The 2016 Runway Selfie Series can be accessed within the YouCam Makeup app, which is available for iOS and Android devices.

Consumers wanting to download Fashion Week-themed collages and photo frames can do so from the YouCam Perfect app. Meanwhile, the recently released YouCam Fun app is offering users five new high-fashion filters, which can be used to adorn selfies and videos.

Coloring up mobile engagement
YouCam Makeup and Glamour are also incorporating an interactive component into the 2016 Selfie Runway Series. Consumers who virtually try on the beauty looks are invited to snap a selfie and share the photo for the opportunity to win an iPhone case from sponsor LuMee.

To be eligible, users must upload the image via the hashtag #SelfieRunway to Perfect Corp.?s Beauty Circle, an interactive beauty community.

Virtual and augmented reality technologies have been making their debuts in a growing number of beauty apps, suggesting they may take more credit for driving in-app purchases than stationary product imagery.

For example, Paul Mitchell is enabling beauty enthusiasts to test out different hair colors by uploading a photo of themselves into the YouCam Makeup application, showcasing how beauty brands can drive product sales with virtual technology (see story).

Earlier this year, Cargo Cosmetics allowed beauty fans to virtually try on makeup by implementing FaceCake Marketing Technologies? augmented reality platform into its mobile and desktop browsers, eliminating the need to download yet another standalone app (see story).

Ultimately, YouCam Makeup and Glamour?s partnership for New York Fashion Week will likely bestow plenty of fashion enthusiasts with beauty inspiration for fall trends.

?It will definitely be leveraged as inspiration for anyone who wants to recreate runway looks,? Ms. Valle said. ?It will also be a perfect tool for anyone who isn?t sure whether they can recreate these looks on themselves and it can help guide beauty product purchases.?