The Oakland, California-based beauty technology company said the updated system is designed to significantly reduce service time while maintaining precision and safety, positioning the technology for broader commercial scale in retail and in-salon environments.
‘A leap forward for the entire beauty industry’
The new system can apply lash extensions to both eyes at the same time, reducing a full-set appointment to approximately 33 minutes, according to the company’s press statement.
“This next-gen launch is more than an engineering feat – it’s a leap forward for the entire beauty industry,” said Jo Lawson, CEO of LUUM, in a press release. “By reducing service time and improving consistency, LUUM empowers lash artists and reduces their work-related injuries while also elevating the client experience.”
Lawson told CosmeticsDesign that the shift to simultaneous application was enabled by years of operational data gathered after early prototypes.
“The biggest advancement in our next-gen robot is its ability to apply lashes to both eyes at the same time, dramatically reducing overall service time,” Lawson said. “Our next-gen robot benefits from years of real-world data and thousands of live client sessions.”
The system coordinates 44 motors across 34 robotic axes operating concurrently, which she described as a significant engineering and AI challenge. “Orchestrating that level of complexity – while ensuring speed, comfort, and extreme precision – is a major engineering and AI achievement,” she said.
Safety design from bottom to top
Safety considerations remain central to both hardware and software design. “From a hardware standpoint, the robot itself can never reach the client—only flexible, feather-light applicator wands interact with the lashes,” Lawson explained. “Safety is also built directly into the software.”
She added that the system is designed to pause automatically if a client moves and resume once the client is still again.
Operational safeguards have also been informed by in-studio use. “We’ve incorporated insights from how lash artists interact with the robot in real studio environments,” Lawson said. “This has led to added safeguards such as locking the robot door during operation, preventing accidental interruptions, and controlling access when the system is unattended.”
Automation: not a threat, but a tool
Lawson further emphasized that the technology is not meant to replace lash artists, but rather serve as a carefully designed tool to improve services. The robot “takes on the repetitive, meticulous, and physically demanding aspects of lash application – doing so quickly, consistently, and safely – while leaving consultation, personalization, artistry, and client care firmly in human hands," she said.
She added that LUUM’s long-term goal is to increase creative control for estheticians. “We envision estheticians designing highly personalized lash styles for each client,” Lawson said. “With LUUM’s technology, those designs can be reliably reproduced across visits and locations.”
Expansion and commercial scale-up
LUUM plans to install its next-generation robot in six additional retail locations by early 2026, including Nordstrom stores in California and New York and Ulta Beauty stores in Texas. “Building on the success of its San Francisco Bay Area studios, LUUM will roll out commercial shop-in-shop studios within additional Ulta Beauty and Nordstrom locations in the coming months,” the company stated in the press release.
Lawson said the selected markets align with existing consumer demand and retail discovery patterns.
“Our partnerships with Nordstrom and Ulta Beauty are very important and strategic,” she said. “Lash services are deeply embedded in daily beauty routines in these cities, and clients are already accustomed to discovering and adopting new beauty innovations.”
As LUUM expands, Lawson said operational planning includes manufacturing, training and sourcing considerations. “Delivering a consistently exceptional LUUM client experience at scale requires dedicated attention and planning across all operations,” she said.
She also noted potential implications for suppliers. “As LUUM grows, we will quickly become one of the largest consumers of artificial eyelashes globally,” Lawson said. “This will have an interesting impact on lash suppliers.”
Looking ahead, she added, “the core technology behind Beauty Experience Automation has the potential to extend into many other beauty services.”
