Japanese beauty behemoth Shiseido is raising the stakes in skincare technology with the launch of a new pay-monthly app and skincare system named Optune, which promises consumers picture-perfect skin — for 10,000 yen (about $92) a month.

Shiseido Launches Full-Scale IoT*1 Skincare Service Brand ’Optune’ (Photo: © Courtesy of Shiseido)

Offering as many as 80,000 combinations, the product’s software — available as an iPhone app — works by taking photos of the user’s face in order to detect skin conditions. The data is then analyzed together with sleep rhythms and menstrual cycles taken into consideration, as well as external factors such as weather and air pollution, in order to concoct the right mix of serums which are then delivered via the accompanying cylindrical device, dispensed as a personalized formula twice a day.

According to the company, the Optune dispenser can create 1,000 "patterns of serum and moisturizer combinations" best suited for the skin in question, offering consumers a fresh approach which breaks barriers in the realm of personalized skincare.

Launched last week in Japan after a year of beta testing, Optune aims to offer a solution to busy women who struggle to find the time to source the correct formula for their skin, with the system to first be available only in Japan, with a possible international rollout should it be successful.

Shiseido - Optune (Photo: © Shiseido)

The move follows similar investments into artificial intelligence, digital and AR/VR, by beauty giants such as L’Oréal which last year teamed up with Apple on a wearable UV sensor via its La Roche-Posay brand, that communicates with iPhones in real time, detecting sun exposure; and also released a smart hairbrush in 2017 in collaboration with Withings via its Kerastase brand.