Estée Lauder brand Too Faced has launched ‘Maison Too Faced’, a 360-degree virtual reality shopping experience. All events inside the virtual store occur in real time and are fully accessible via a link with no apps or downloads required. The experience was created by tech firm BrandLab360, which specializes in creating immersive virtual showrooms, using CGI and 3D rendering streamed from virtual machines.

Shoppers are invited into the Metaverse to experience a fully-branded, gamified world of beauty shopping, complete with interactive gardens filled with hero products, brand mascots to interact with, plus the opportunity to play games to capture discount codes. All the products available mirror their real-life counterparts, and shoppers are encouraged to invite their friends to meet them in the Metaverse and enjoy the experience together. The store can hold thousands of shoppers at any one time. 

Sarah Lynn, Too Faced Brand General Manager UK and Republic of Ireland, said the launch has completely reinvigorated the brand’s eCommerce team’s ambitious plans for the future – removing any limitations or challenges of space, configuration and related costs.

“We are thrilled to have launched a brand-first, interactive, digital platform for our consumers to fully immerse into the world of Too Faced,” she said. “Maison Too Faced will allow consumers to explore our core franchises and new launches, experience virtual services and shop with their friends online. The platform will push boundaries with innovative gamification and entertainment, whilst keeping a user-friendly, seamless and enjoyable purchase journey at the heart of the experience.”

BrandLab360 Co-founder Jennifer Drury said the concept can also be applied to other verticals and that the firm has been approached by brands from the automotive, healthtech, fashion and jewellery sectors. “We can create a fully branded, immersive world for any brand in a matter of days,” she said. “We can update it through the year in just minutes to change the products available, update the branding, develop the style and look – providing brands with the ability to truly connect and converse with customers online all over the world. We can create photo-realistic replicas of existing stores and allow consumers to ‘walk around’ these environments and mimic real life.

“It’s the closest thing to shopping in real life that brands can get – but without physical costs, spatial or staffing challenges with the added bonus of all the possibilities that virtual reality can provide from global accessibility, gamification, customisation and much more.”