Shiseido Americas announces bareMinerals® first brand to launch Customized by MATCHCo technology with the Introduction of the MADE-2-FIT App for iPhone®

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Jun 20, 2017, 13:07 ET

NEW YORK, June 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on its unparalleled makeup expertise and new, cutting-edge digital tools, Shiseido Americas Corporation, a direct subsidiary of Shiseido Company, Limited, the premier global cosmetics company, introduces a new age of foundation customization. Today, the company announces the launch of a game-changing beauty app, exclusively available for iPhone^® designed to meet increasing consumer demand for personalized products. The venture capitalizes on Shiseido's recent acquisition of MATCHCo, a personalization startup bringing artificial intelligence to beauty. The combination of this new, game-changing digital platform with Shiseido's complexion-expert brand, bareMinerals^®, marks a revolution in the beauty category: It uses Customized by MATCHCo technology, created for iPhone^® and currently available on the App Store, to precisely tailor makeup to each unique user, and have it custom-blended and delivered to her doorstep. The first product under this partnership umbrella is the bareMinerals^® MADE-2-FIT App. Leveraging the highly sophisticated iPhone^® camera system and processing power, the App enables precise skin-tone analysis via a set of simple user scans, with the help of a virtual makeup artist with voice guidance.

The MADE-2-FIT technology allows for individually personalized products that are ideally suited to a changing demographic landscape. Each bareMinerals^® MADE-2-FIT Fresh Faced Foundation is tailored to the skin tone of the person who performed the six simple scans with the app to create it. With the new iPhone^® app, available on the App Store, bareMinerals^® offers a groundbreaking innovation in skin-matching technology that allows the company to meet evolving consumer expectations, addressing shifts in demand for a broad range of foundation shades in real time.

Using a complex algorithm, the bareMinerals^® MADE-2-FIT app guides each user through a series of simple steps to analyze each skin tone and derive a precise color match; a customized bareMinerals^® Fresh Faced Foundation is then individually blended and delivered directly to the customer. This development marks a sea change in makeup selection, purchase and consumption.

"Since its founding in 1976, bareMinerals^® has always put customization for its consumers first, investigating and advocating for new technologies to serve them," says Jill Scalamandre, President of the Global Shiseido Make-up Center of Excellence. "Known for creating innovative formulas with pure, nourishing ingredients, the company has been connecting with its customers in meaningful, forward-thinking ways for over 40 years. For that reason, bareMinerals^® is an ideal partner for MATCHCo: Together, they're looking to fundamentally change the way consumers shop and experience cosmetics."

MATCHCo was founded in 2013 by Andy Howell and Dave Gross, two veterans of marketing, consumer behavior and customization technology design who are based in Santa Monica and Palo Alto, California. The company was sold to Shiseido Americas in January 2017. This new venture with Shiseido and bareMinerals^® brings the team's diverse wealth of experience in technology and personalization to a new global stage.

"We're excited to leverage our startup's unique platform technology and digital-insight tools across Shiseido's portfolio," says Andy Howell, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of MATCHCo. "It not only lets us capture a major consumer trend – cosmetics customization – but also offers huge potential for opening up 'A.I. for beauty'."

The bareMinerals^® MADE-2-FIT app will be available for download on the App Store starting Monday June 20^th, 2017; each bespoke bareMinerals^® MADE-2-FIT Fresh Faced Foundation Customized by MATCHCo will retail for $49 for a 30ml bottle. For more information, please visit www.bareminerals.com or your nearest bareMinerals^® store. @bareMinerals #bareMade2fit

bareMinerals is a registered trademark of Bare Escentuals Beauty, Inc.

Apple and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

About Shiseido Americas Corporation

Shiseido Americas Corporation is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Shiseido Company, Limited (TSE:4911), a leading global beauty company. Led by President and CEO Marc Rey, Shiseido Americas' portfolio of prestige beauty brands includes Shiseido, NARS, Clé de Peau Beauté, bareMinerals, and several prestige fragrance brands including Issey Miyake, Narciso Rodriguez, and Dolce & Gabbana. Shiseido Americas is headquartered in New York City and employs more than 5,000 individuals in the United States, Canada, and throughout Latin America. In 2016, Shiseido Americas acquired Laura Mercier Cosmetics and RéVive Skincare brands, further strengthening the company's position as a leading player in the beauty industry. In early 2017, Shiseido Americas acquired MatchCo, a technology company and JWALK, a creative agency.

For more information, please contact Joanne Sulit at [email protected]/212-805-1815

SOURCE bareMinerals