How AI is Changing Beauty Retail | Milani Cosmetics CMO at eTail Palm Springs
How is AI transforming beauty retail? At eTail Palm Springs, Milani Cosmetics CMO Jeremy Lowenstein joins Omni Talk Retail to discuss how the brand is using AI, social listening, and influencer marketing to create a seamless shopping experience across online and its in-store channels.
🛍 Key Moments:
✅ (2:42) – How Milani’s baked blush is handcrafted in Italy
✅ (5:08) – The role of AI in content creation & personalization
✅ (6:55) – Why influencers are shaping brand perception
✅ (8:54) – How social listening drives product development
✅ (11:12) – The future of AR & virtual try-on in beauty
💡 Stay ahead of beauty retail trends—subscribe to OmniTalk Retail for more expert insights. And special thanks to NetElixir for making all our eTail West coverage possible!
#beauty #retail #etail #etailwest
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Transcript
Welcome back, everybody.
Speaker A:It's day three, our final day of coverage here from E Tail Palm Springs.
Speaker A:I'm Anne Mazinga with Omnitac Retail.
Speaker A:And before we get started, I just want to give a quick thank you to our partners at Net Elixir for making all of our coverage the last three days of E Tail possible.
Speaker A:We really appreciate their support.
Speaker A:You can check them out@netelixir.com all right, now I get to introduce my guest to today, I have the chief marketing officer at Milani Cosmetics, Jeremy Lowenstein.
Speaker A:How are you?
Speaker B:I'm fantastic.
Speaker B:It's day three.
Speaker B:Excited?
Speaker B:It's Palm Springs.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker B:Can't complain about that.
Speaker A:What are you excited about here at E Tail?
Speaker A:I mean, there's a lot that's been going on the last couple of days.
Speaker A:You got in late last night.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:For me it's a time to sort of connect with my tech partners, see other marketers and just keep your ear to the ground of kind of what's happening out there.
Speaker B:How do you get continue to get close to the consumer while also getting staying efficient.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:I think that's a good strategy for this show.
Speaker A:To tackle this show, let's talk a little bit about Milani Cosmetics.
Speaker A:For those who aren't familiar, give them a quick background on the brand.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So Milani cosmetics is a 24 year old mass makeup brand based in Los Angeles, founded in LA by a brother and sister who really saw a two pronged opportunity 24 years ago.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:One was democratizing prestige quality formulas.
Speaker B:Like why do you have to spend $65 on a foundation?
Speaker B:Why do you have to spend that?
Speaker B:Why can't you spend under $15?
Speaker B:Why are you sacrificing performance?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And second was to really speak to the underserved consumer.
Speaker B:So the brand was originally started for black women.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker A:I didn't know that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So we were one of the first brands that really had a truly inclusive palette not only of foundation concealer, but our blushes, because the level of pigment that you have to use to show up on melanin rich skin and then also just what's the breadth of shade offering?
Speaker B:So fast forward 24 years, we're actually the leading multicultural brand in mass color.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:Over 45% of our consumers are.
Speaker B:They say they're non white.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:I had no idea, Jer.
Speaker A:I love the blush is what converted me.
Speaker B:Baked blush.
Speaker B:That's what I did.
Speaker A:The baked blush was the first, it was the first product I felt like, you know, you always see the dupes like get the drugstore dupe for this, you know, high end product.
Speaker B:What's amazing about Milani, it wasn't about duping anyone.
Speaker B:This was how, this is how the brand started.
Speaker B:And little fun fact about our baked blushes, one, I don't know if you know they're like actually handmade.
Speaker B:There are women in Italy who are hand mixing the formula and they are baked on.
Speaker B:That's why they're called baked.
Speaker B:They're baked on a little terracotta tile.
Speaker B:So if you actually use your baked blush all the way and hit pan, you, you will see the little square terracotta tile that it is baked on in an oven in Crema Italy.
Speaker A:Oh my God.
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:I listen now I'm.
Speaker A:The more you know, the more I know.
Speaker A:I mean I've been buying this product for so long.
Speaker A:So it's really cool to like have this backstory behind it.
Speaker A:And thank you for letting us share it.
Speaker B:We actually did a content series at the end of last year called Made in and Made with Matters.
Speaker A:Oh my gosh.
Speaker B:It was really showcasing the really the craftsmanship of Milani cosmetics and what makes us different from everything else you're buying in mass color.
Speaker A:Well, I think that's a good segue, Jeremy, to really start to talk about what you're going to be talking about on stage here because your focus of your Fireside chat today is really sharing with the audience how you're using new technology, AI being one of those technologies to really provide a similar shopping experience for your consumers both online and in person.
Speaker A:So let's dive into that a little bit.
Speaker A:What are some of the topics that you plan to cover in that?
Speaker B:Yeah, I think what's unique about Milani is we are truly omnichannel.
Speaker B:You know, we're sold in over 25,000 retail locations in the US 40 different countries.
Speaker B:But we also have an Amazon presence in our own D2C.
Speaker B:Okay, that's unique for a mass color.
Speaker A:Quite a few channels.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I think with the sort of the disruption of AI, everyone's favorite topic.
Speaker B:But what does AI really mean?
Speaker B:It's just a nice buzzword, but for me it's about how do you drive efficiency within your marketing channels?
Speaker B:How do you continue to drive personalization for the consumer but at the same time, how do you stay close to the consumer and maintain the integrity of the humanity?
Speaker B:Because marketers, our job is to anticipate the needs and wants but also develop those relationships and have a two way conversation.
Speaker B:Two way conversations can't Just happen through a bot or through any AI tool.
Speaker B:So how do you, by using AI, how do you use that for efficiency purposes, for the work you're doing in the back office, to allow the freedom for your marketers and the rest of my team, the creative team, to get in store, have those like one on one interactions to build the relationship.
Speaker A:So was that the place that you would say that AI is most prevalent in your business?
Speaker A:Jeremy is really going through and trying to free up your team to.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:It's about data analysis, conversation, sentiment analysis.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Understanding trends in the marketplace.
Speaker B:And then it allows my team to be a little bit more hands on in crafting the relationship and the conversations and the content that will most resonate with the consumer.
Speaker A:And how do you look at content creation now?
Speaker A:Like, how are you speaking to the consumer?
Speaker A:You have all of these touch points.
Speaker A:One, how, what are the like the most prolific, I guess content channels right now for you?
Speaker A:And then how are you making sure that your messaging is consistent across those.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think the first and foremost you have to be where the consumer is and serve the right content up, depending on where they are in their journey.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:So because content for me isn't just about the digital content that you see in on TikTok or you know, is it the imagery you see on a pdp?
Speaker B:It goes all the way down to what, what are you seeing in store?
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:So that is content.
Speaker B:It's printed content.
Speaker B:That whole thing that you like actually put through a printing box, but displays in store graphics.
Speaker B:So where are they in that discovery journey and purchase journey of your product and brand?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And making sure it's meaningful.
Speaker B:That can be both brand led content, but then also creator led content.
Speaker B:And I think a lot of people forget creators are consumers.
Speaker B:That's how this started.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:They become brand evangelists.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:They cannot build your brand for you.
Speaker B:They can help amplify your brand message or your product message or the reasons they love it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So to me it's about that synergy between brand content and creator content that really creates a better ecosystem that consumers can engage with and learn about the brand.
Speaker A:So I just.
Speaker A:You made me think of something that I just saw posted on LinkedIn recently and this individual was talking about how they really see influencers as the new end caps, like these content creators.
Speaker B:Interesting.
Speaker A:How do you.
Speaker B:That's a very interesting analysis.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't know if I think of them as the new end caps.
Speaker B:I think of creators and influencers as part of the proof points.
Speaker B:Like they are the reasons to believe in the brand and the product because they are sort of discovering whether it's through us or on their own.
Speaker B:You know, you have a lot of creators who are going out and buying product themselves, posting content, and then it really will start to trend.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, I think that in store experience is still important because again, you walk into whether it's an Ulta.
Speaker B:So like we're in Ulta.
Speaker B:Target, Walmart, Walgreens, etc.
Speaker B:Can be bombarded with brands.
Speaker B:How displays and end caps really help bring the brand to life.
Speaker B:A little bit off shelf, kind of stop you in your tracks.
Speaker B:And I also, again, makeup is one of those things.
Speaker B:It's not always a planned purchase.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:There are certain segments within it.
Speaker B:So I'm out of foundation.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker B:I need to go buy this.
Speaker B:So let me go restock.
Speaker B:But you want to be sort of top of mind with them and stop them in their track.
Speaker B:Like, oh, I didn't know Milani came out with this new product, this new shade.
Speaker B:The end cap helps do that.
Speaker B:But creators, again, are another reason to push them back into store.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:Interesting.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's fascinating to get your, your perspective on that.
Speaker A:Okay, I want to close out with this.
Speaker A:We're at Etail.
Speaker A:Lots of technology being talked about, especially in how you're, again, how you're bringing what someone is finding or discovering online and providing that same experience for them online that they might get if they're talking to a beauty advisor in one of the stores at Ulta or if they're, you know, they're hearing about it from their favorite champion creator online.
Speaker A:How.
Speaker A: oing to research more into in: Speaker B:You know, I think a lot of social listening.
Speaker B:What are people searching for?
Speaker B:Okay, what are they talking about?
Speaker B:That helps inform some of our sort of call quick go to market activations.
Speaker B:You know, it's interesting on the product side of beauty, real cosmetics development takes 12 to 18 months, sometimes 24.
Speaker B:So which I don't think a lot of consumers realize.
Speaker A:It's not fast cosmetics.
Speaker B:It is not fast cosmetics, you know, and there is a lot of brands who will try to quickly replicate what they see out there.
Speaker B:But I think what makes Milani unique is we are looking at trends.
Speaker B:What are the technologies in Ingredient Stories in, you know, molecule development, shade development that we can lean into.
Speaker B:But part of those insights will come from what are we hearing from the consumer.
Speaker B:Like what are the biggest challenges?
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:You know, where can we help them?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:It may take us a minute to get there.
Speaker B:But I think this conversation especially around like the skinification of makeup.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's not normal new.
Speaker B:It's been talked about for the past five years or so.
Speaker B:It's how does it keep sort of iterating on itself.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:And that's where we're starting to lean into what are those skin challenges?
Speaker B:So learning more about their skin diagnostics, how do we lean into that?
Speaker B:Where are the consumers in their own personal life journey?
Speaker B:And we can also then brief our, our formula developers and saying this is what we're looking for.
Speaker B:How do we build that into our complexion range?
Speaker A:And I imagine the messaging when you're going out to consumers or writing brief.
Speaker B:Creators back to the consumer language.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker B:Again.
Speaker B:And this is that two way conversation P.
Speaker B:So listen to what they're saying, have that conversation back with them, let that sort of impact the brief, whether it's a creative brief or a product brief and just talk in their language but also make sure it's ownable to the brand because otherwise you end up in a sea of sameness.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So social listening, what else?
Speaker A:Any other things that any technology that you're exploring, looking at how to again.
Speaker B:How do we talk to as many consumers as possible online?
Speaker B:Like today, a lot of our community management is done by people.
Speaker B:So where is their opportunity with either adding more humans but also adding some AI technology that allows us again to touch as many consumers as possible while remaining personal and then also taking back those learnings.
Speaker B:So that's really important for us.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:One thing I didn't hear you say that I'm especially curious about is like the archive.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Which is not new.
Speaker B:You know, it is important and you know, makeup brands have been doing this for 10 years at this point.
Speaker B:I think the technology has gotten better.
Speaker B:I always think the challenge with virtual try on of makeup is does the shade actually look accurate when you put it on?
Speaker B:And I think where VR and sort of that integration of AI has helped mass color is you go into a mass retailer, so be it Walmart, Target, we don't have testers.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So it does allow you to have sort of touch that product, touch that product virtually and try it on.
Speaker B:Whereas if you go into a Sephora and there are testers, you can.
Speaker B:It's a playground, you get to touch and feel the product.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I think that's what VR has helped the makeup space, especially in the mass side of the world.
Speaker A:Okay, interesting.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's not new.
Speaker B:It just for us.
Speaker B:It's just we've been doing it for a while right now.
Speaker B:We actually also get to take those learnings and sort of implement them into something else.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So it's more actually about the data collection side of it for you.
Speaker B:Correct.
Speaker B:And what do we do with it?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And how you like, look at.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:This shade or formula is something that people are interested in tapping into.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:For us, again, it's about aggregation.
Speaker B:It's not about, hey, I know you personally.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because again, we want to protect and maintain, like, that integrity of everyone's personal identity.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:But who's doing the searches?
Speaker B:How are they using the tool?
Speaker B:And then what's either missing for us and how do we continue to enhance that?
Speaker A:Excellent.
Speaker A:Jeremy, I could sit and talk to you about makeup for hours, but I.
Speaker A:I know you have to get to your session, so thank you again so much.
Speaker A:Where can we find Milani cosmet once more?
Speaker B:So you can either find it on our website, Milaniccosmetics.com if you want to learn more, and then all of our retail partners.
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker A:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:That wraps up our coverage of E Tail Palm Springs.
Speaker A:Thanks so much to all of you at home for following along with Omnitock Retail as we bring you the stories of the people, the and the technologies that are shaping the future of retail here at the E Tail conference.
Speaker A:Thank you again to Net Elixir for your support of our coverage.
Speaker A:And until next time, be careful out there.
