Snap and match: a case study of virtual color cosmetics consultation

In this paper we describe an imaging based virtual color consultation system that automatically recommends cosmetics appropriate for users' skin tone based on user's photograph. This system is intended for commercial use to address the problem of color selection of cosmetic foundation. Based on surveys and semi-structured interviews we have verified that visual selection of color foundation cosmetics by consumers is error prone, and the results of our study indicate that both mobile and kiosk touch points are essential to cover the entire target population (women of all ages) since we identified technical vs. social comfort, accuracy vs. convenience and social vs. individual parameters that play a huge role in the usage and adoption of such personal services for women.