JCPenney, Revieve Partner to Offer Virtual Makeup Try-On and Skincare Recommendations

• JCPenney is offering an AI-driven experience as part of its renewed beauty efforts.
• The department store is partnering with Revieve to offer virtual skin care tips and makeup try-on.
• Last year, the retailer announced JCPenney Beauty, which is focused on diversity and inclusion.

JCPenney has announced plans to bring artificial intelligence (AI) tools to its customers, allowing them to virtually try on makeup products and receive personalized skin care tips. 

To launch this effort, the Texas-based retailer is partnering with Revieve, a company founded in 2016 that works with brands to offer AI and augmented reality (AR) services that focus on beauty, health and wellness.

"We want to be the shopping destination of choice, offering a personalized approach that fully celebrates and honors them as unique individuals," said Michelle Wlazlo, chief merchandising officer at JCPenney, in a press release. “Our partnership with Revieve allows us to deliver on our customers' desire for personalization regardless of age, gender, race, skin tone, beauty regimen or budget.”

The new tools will be available to JCPenney’s online shoppers who can upload a selfie and answer a questionnaire. Revieve’s Skin Diagnostics technology then uses 120 different metrics to analyze skin and offer “recommendations and skincare education tailored” to individual customers’ needs, according to a press release. Customers are then shown products and are offered an option to try on makeup products virtually. 

The new virtual services are tied to JCPenney Beauty, the company’s diversity-and-inclusion-focused beauty concept, which it announced in 2021. The company at launch partnered with e-commerce brand Thirteen Lune, which features brands and products created by BIPOC founders. It also partnered with Patrick Herning, the founder of the luxury plus-size fashion label 11 Honore, when it launched the reimagined shopping experience.

The concept first debuted online and at 10 JCPenney locations, and the company said it planned to bring the new beauty experience to more of its stores by 2023, Retail Leader previously reported. JCPenney Beauty features products that span skincare, haircare, styling tools, fragrance, nail care, and bath and body products.

The launch of JCPenney Beauty marked a turning point for the department store’s beauty efforts. It previously partnered with Sephora, which opened in-store shops inside JCPenney locations. The makeup retailer last year ended its deal with JCPenney stores, partnering instead with Kohl’s.