Americans have a history of obsession with beauty technology. In the early 1900s, the curling iron burst onto the scene in mass, eliminating curl by flame or hot coal (yes, we used to do that). The lipstick tube also became available via mass production… just a few years later, around the 1920s, we’d slip a new thing called the eyeliner pencil inside our bags along our sleek lipstick tubes.

In the 1930s, we figured out how to bring the sun indoors with the first ever tanning beds. In the 40s, the hairdryer would take up space next to our curling irons. The 50s brought us the Wonderbra long before reality tv normalized plastic surgery… we would go on to add spray-in hair bleach in the 1950 and hot rollers and acrylic nails in the 60s and 70s. Each time beauty tech antes up, we get excited.

Maybe we just love beauty in general. This year, beauty sales in the United States are expected to hit $93 billion, up from $89 billion in 2022. It seems the boom in online shopping has been good for this space, with online sales estimated to reach 36.6% in 2023 (that figure was 33.5% last year). But it’s not just online shopping, folks are discovering an admiration for natural and organic products… and they want to try them all.

Couple this will a strong drive toward self-care in all generations, but especially millennials and Gen Z, and you have a space where folks are looking to explore… and do it with the help of exciting new technologies in their hands. Beauty and tech platform Oddity Tech (ODD) is getting a chunk of this action through a recent better-than-expected IPO. The SoHo-based firm is having a good year, their hope to translate that into a successful offering did not disappoint.

Oddity allows consumers to get their beauty loot shipped directly to them, which is proving to be popular. They’ve figured out a special sauce of influencers and engagement that helps shoppers zero in on exactly which of their products would work best for them… then, they deliver each with no hassle. Income is up, revenue is projected to continue to rise, and their valuation is targeted into the billions.

Full disclosure: I love it. Subscribers to my IPO Edge are already making money on this stock.

For plenty of Americans, beauty is not just about self-care or looking great… beauty is a social bonding ritual. Folks form relationships with their barbers, hairdressers, manicurists, and eyebrow threaders the same way they do tattoo artists and interior decorators. Now that we have the technology for robots that can “do nails”, what impact will that have on the social bonding experience that is a manicure?

We specifically wanted to touch on this because (as usual) we see lots of scary stuff published about our societal fabric being ripped to shreds via robot… and that includes manicurist robots. We happen to think it’s silly, and so does the owner of San Francisco-based startup Clockwork, Renuka Apte. With a background in computer science, Renuka cut her leadership teeth at places like Dropbox and Nvidia, and she has a vision.

The vision isn’t a robot takeover, it’s accessibility through automation. The idea isn’t to replace your nail tech… it’s to give you a quick option when you need it in a crunch. Imagine… it’s late and you’re at the gym, your nails look awful. Then, surprise! An unexpected invitation to dinner. With Renuka’s machines, you grab a quick robot manicure like you grab a coffee and you’re off. Basically, the equivalent of root touch-up spray between colorings.

So we can listen to influencers, take quizzes, get robot manicures, and do all number of things when it comes to our skin, hair, and body… but, what if we could get more scientific when it comes to getting our beauty recommendations? Say… through AI. Cetaphil wants to bring that vision to fruition and has launched an AI skin analysis tool along with beauty tech company Perfect Corp.

We already have advanced cameras in our phones, it makes sense to use them for this. The tool analyses the face and looks at dark spots, skin conditions, hydration, redness, and other factors to recommend items based on this personalized skin assessment. If you’ve ever visited a skin-care professional, you know those things can cost a pretty penny in-office.

This kind of tool puts the power in the hands of the consumer… and saves them from an office visit that could be costly or emotionally difficult. In-person isn’t always ideal for everyone, this helps. And, to go along with all this beauty tech and online beauty madness, we’ll need more online booking folks in the ring to help us manage it all. That’s being covered as well, through platforms like GlossGenius.

GlossGenius handles bookings and payments for salons and spas, and they recently raised $28 million in Series C funding. The startup, which already powers billions in transactions, bills itself as a “critical gateway” for underserved business owners. The women behind the business built prodded by their own pain-points in makeup artistry management, and we love to see it… come back next week, we’ll have more from the IPO space.