ModiFace has established themselves as the leader in augmented reality beauty apps, allowing you to try nail polish, hairstyles, and cosmetics on virtually before paying or getting a disastrous haircut. But, it was FaceCake that really got the augmented reality retail party started back in 2013, when they introduced Swivel. Swivel was an early AR app that let you try on clothes and accessories virtually, giving you a dressing room right in your own home. Years later, and we come full circle — FaceCake has introduced CAKE, their own sales platform for trying on cosmetics.
The market is where the similarities end. While ModiFace has been churning out app after app, FaceCake is looking to go one level deeper. They’ve created CAKE, a platform sellers can use to take advantage of FaceCake’s augmented reality technology. The idea is to create a seamless experience for the shopper — instead of using separate apps and hoping they have partnerships with the brands they’re interested in, they can try on cosmetics virtually straight from individual storefronts. Brands can use the CAKE platform to include that kind of augmented reality try-before-you-buy functionality into their websites. It makes sense — AR is the future of trying things on, especially for online shopping. Anything that smooths out the user experience is going to be welcome.
But, that’s the end goal. For now, FaceCake is just as beholden to corporate partnerships as anyone else. At the outset, their only partner is Cargo Cosmetics. If you head over to their site, you’ll be able to try on different shades of cosmetics right from the web browser, no downloads necessary. Users can see what those shades would look like when worn, in addition to any brightening or plumping effects there might be. It’s pretty cool, so we’re looking forward to FaceCake expanding to other brands. We’ll see who else starts eating CAKE in the months to come.