Are we prepared to entrust our self-care rituals to robots? AI-powered contraptions are behind two of the latest innovative wellness and beauty services in Los Angeles, promising on-demand massages or a full set of fluttering eyelashes in less than an hour.
Kristen Bell and TikTok star Chris Olsen are among fans of Aescape, which offers robot-powered massages ($60 for 30 minutes) at wellness haven Pause in Studio City and at Equinox gyms in New York. A two-armed robot bed scans your body and delivers a personalized massage for up to an hour, while a built-in screen lets clients adjust the pressure, move on to a different muscle or stay on a knotted spot. “Our table has been really popular with people in the entertainment industry,” says founder and CEO Eric Litman. The NYC-based company’s Equinox partnership “will grow substantially this year,” and it just scored another $83 million in strategic funding from Valor Equity Partners (an early investor in SpaceX, Tesla, Slack and Grubhub), bringing its total backing to $128 million. It also has deals with Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons and Marriott hotels, as well as luxe wellness club Remedy Place. By the end of the year, Litman expects at least three more locations in L.A. and around two in most states.
Aescape’s robotic massage bed.
Courtesy of Subject
Meanwhile, Oakland-headquartered Luum Precision Lash is betting that people will allow AI-enabled robots near their eyes to do their lash extensions. Having gone viral on TikTok, the machines are slated to arrive at a half-dozen L.A.-area Nordstrom or Ulta stores by this summer, president Jo Lawson tells THR.
At Nordstrom in San Jose or at Luum’s office, a full set of lashes cost $170 (refills are $80) and take about 45 minutes; there was previously a pilot pop-up at a nearby Ulta. The beauty tech startup is working with those existing retail partners to finalize L.A. outposts for its new machines, cheekily named Jaclyn, Farrah, Kate and Drew (after actresses who have starred in Charlie’s Angels). The company raised $30 million in its Series A round last November with investors including former Drybar CEO John Heffner, former Rodan + Fields CEO Lori Bush and skin-care brand Philosophy’s former CEO David Watson.
Luum Precision Lash’s AI-enabled eyelash-extension machines scan a barcode afflixed to an eyelid to guide a robotic arm.
Courtesy of LUUM Precision Lash
Both treatments still have a human touch, the CEOs rush to explain. “People have concerns about where automation fits into society and how it impacts people’s lives,” Litman says. Aescape still relies on human massage therapists to help develop treatment programs — and someone to provide a warm welcome at the front desk.
Luum’s Lawson, for her part, argues that the robots help solve the chronic pain that afflicts lash artists (largely by replacing them). Many such workers, she notes, suffer carpal tunnel syndrome, eye strain and back pain from the repetitive motions and hours spent hunching over clients’ faces. The company hires “about two and half lash artists” for every robot and also works with the beauty pros to inform the tech’s software and hardware, so there’s still “a little bit of artistry” — say, to add strands of color to a client’s look. “They still get to have this relationship with the client, but they don’t have to do the back-breaking work,” adds Lawson.
A version of this story appeared in the March 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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