Skin food: 3D printed gummies for an ever more personalized beauty routine

By Elsa Olofsson / Unsplash

The future of beauty will increasingly involve personalization, as evidenced by the rise of skin diagnostics, virtual fittings or even customized skincare. But the cosmetics industry seems ready to go even further by offering dietary supplements designed to meet the needs of each individual's skin thanks to 3D printing.

The future of beauty will increasingly involve personalization, as evidenced by the rise of skin diagnostics, virtual fittings or even customized skincare. But the cosmetics industry seems ready to go even further by offering dietary supplements designed to meet the needs of each individual's skin thanks to 3D printing.

Along with many technological innovations, it is at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas -- which officially opens to the public, Thursday, January 5 -- that these new-generation gummies are being presented. This novel offering is the result of a collaboration between cosmetics brand Neutrogena and personalized supplements specialist, Nourished. The two organizations have worked hand in hand to develop gummies tailored to the nutrient needs of each individual's skin, and all of which are 3D printed.

To achieve this, Neutrogena relied on another of its innovations presented a few years ago at CES, the Skin360 mobile app, although the gummies can alternatively be prepared and purchased online via a dedicated platform called SkinStacks, which is also the name of these new supplements. The idea is quite simple, and relies on artificial intelligence, and more specifically on skin diagnosis through a scan and a questionnaire. These allow users to obtain a one-month course of gummies containing the necessary ingredients to pamper their skin.

In detail, all you have to do is visit the website or the mobile application, and then start the diagnosis with a 360-degree scan of your previously cleansed skin. An initial assessment provides information on the current state of the skin, whether in terms of wrinkles or radiance. You are then asked to fill out a questionnaire about your goals, your beauty routine, the problems you encounter on a daily basis, or the level of pollution where you live.

Once you've completed these two steps, all that's left is to obtain the gummies that best suit your skin, with no less than seven layers of ingredients specifically selected according to your needs: vitamins, zinc, selenium, and other nutrients designed to enhance the skin. It's a sort of tailor-made beauty prescription, in short, that should help boost your beauty routine. Once the diagnosis is complete, all you have to do is buy the gummies that will then be 3D printed by Nourished.

Beware, however, as dietary supplements, which have been developing at a rapid pace in the cosmetics industry for several years, are not intended to substitute a healthy lifestyle or your usual beauty routine. It could even be that all the vitamins and nutrients your skin needs could simply be found in the food you eat.

© Agence France-Presse