Brief:

• Paramount Pictures is promoting the March 23 release of the animated movie “Sherlock Gnomes” with an augmented reality (AR) beauty experience on mobile devices, per a statement. The AR features are available in Perfect’s YouCam Makeup, YouCam Fun and YouCam Perfect apps.

• YouCam Live star Merry Robertson of MakeupbyMerry created two looks inspired by movie characters Juliet and Nanette. The apps have animated filters that bring the Gnomes to life, and users can decorate selfies with movie-inspired frames and collages to share on social media.

• The apps also let fans shop for curated makeup kits for delivery so they can recreate the looks. YouCam Makeup, YouCam Fun and YouCam Perfect are free to download from Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

Insight:

AR continues to transform the way beauty products and films are marketed on mobile devices. The campaign for “Sherlock Gnomes” is the second time Paramount Pictures has developed an AR beauty experience with Perfect for a movie release. Last year, the companies worked together to create movie-themed looks for “Ghost in the Shell,” the science fiction movie starring Scarlett Johansson in the first collaboration between Perfect and an entertainment company.

Since then, Perfect has been active in the entertainment industry, working with NBC Universal on a "Pitch Perfect 3" promotion that lets people virtually try on makeup looks inspired by eight of the movie's lead characters. Perfect partnered with Estée Lauder and the Broadway show "War Paint" to provide an AR experience featuring looks inspired by Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden.

In a sign of AR's growing importance to the beauty category, L’Oreal this week announced that it was buying Modiface, a Canadian startup that developed AR technology for the cosmetics industry. The Modiface purchase marks the first time that L'Oréal has bought a tech company after years of scooping up other beauty brands like Redken, Kiehl's and Matrix.