Renude: the start-up using algorithms and computer vision for affordable personalised skincare

The beauty industry has been undergoing something of a revolution over the past few years. Consumers who were once willing to fork out hundreds of pounds on expensive products have shifted their focus to hardworking and affordable skincare.

A few top innovators can be thanked for helping to change the game — The Ordinary, Beauty Pie and Glossier, we're looking at you — but where do you go for bank balance-friendly expert advice for a new toner, or how to deal with stubborn maskne?

Renude is a new online skincare start-up that wants to democratise access to specialist, personalised recommendations for your skin. Started last year by skincare scientists Pippa Harman and data scientist Catherine Nisson, the company uses a mixture of computer vision and expert aestheticians to help create the best routine for you, and the products that will help you achieve the skin you want.

Harman had been working in the skincare industry for around 10 years, with stints in Boots’ skincare R&D department working on No.7, as well as being one of the earliest employees at Beauty Pie. Given this expertise, she found that friends and family were often asking her for recommendations on what they should use. In her spare time, Harman started making personalised skincare plans for friends and soon found she couldn’t keep up with the demand. “I was making plans for people I’d never met, but they were getting really good results,” she tells the Standard. “I wanted to find a solution that would be tech-enabled to make this much more realistic to scale to a wider audience.”

A chance meeting at a Google for Startups event led Harman and Nisson to connect. Nisson had been working on a similar proposition using her data background and had recently been accepted to the Founders Factory programme. Harman says it was a “no brainer” to team up with Nisson officially. “It’s already quite an imposter syndrome-based thing to do, to launch a business, and it can be quite mentally challenging. Being in the Factory and having experts in really anything you could need is just amazing.”

Renude works like this: sign up to the platform and fill in a questionnaire about your skin, the types of products you currently use, and what you’re hoping to improve, including any conditions or medication you might be taking. Then, snap three pictures of your face and the Renude algorithms will whir into action to recommend the products you should use.

For those who have medical conditions such as psoriasis, eczema or acne, the platform will suggest you do a video call with one of its aestheticians, who will go through your specific needs in more detail, before suggesting some products and how to formulate your routine. As someone with psoriasis and eczema, I’ve always been cautious about skincare because one rogue product can set me off for weeks. For those with similar complaints, the advice from Renude’s clinical specialists can be invaluable: a video call costs £20 and is comparable to the advice you’d receive in a clinic, which could set you back up to £150.

The aestheticians are crucial to Renude, not only to help customers, but every recommendation goes back into the data which is training Renude’s algorithms. At the same time, the platform has offered a lifeline to those whose work has been hampered by the pandemic. Renude went live in March, just before everything closed down, and has seen just over 10,000 customers so far. “With the industry kind of closed for a few months, I’m really glad that we had a team we could also support in this time when they weren’t able to work in their other roles.”

Choosing which products to offer also takes up a lot of the team’s time. “I wanted to make sure we had the best kind of skincare on the market, across the best kind of brands within the dermocosmetic space,” says Harman. At the moment, Renude offers 200 products from 25 different brands and will suggest specific products for you whilst taking into account things such as budget, whether or not you’re vegan, or if you have any allergies.

The average value order is about £58, however, the start-up is looking to offer a trial kit, which would see customers sent mini versions of the products so they can try them out before fully committing to something. This will help to plug some of the buying gaps between purchasing in-store and purchasing online that have been changed because of coronavirus. “Traditionally, buyers have been going into stores to try something, using testers to feel the texture. We’re not sure what the appetite is going to be for that moving forward.”

There is a lot in the pipeline for Renude. One recent feature will allow customers to browse alternatives to the products they are recommended, that may be cheaper or more expensive, so they can see the options. But really, Harman hopes the platform can become a “skincare playground” for beauty fans, where they can explore products, connect with the community, and interact with one another.

“We have people that join us that haven’t tried skincare before and they see the results, do some research and then come back. It really does become a hobby and a passion for people.”

When it comes to her own routine, Harman uses a lot of Beauty Pie products and is a big fan of the Harbourist’s cleanser. Her ultimate skincare tip is to wear SPF and swears by Heliocare. “My mum was really hot on [SPF] when I was a teenager and I wish I had paid more attention.”

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