FACES Beauty, the omnichannel beauty retailer in the Middle East, has become the first in the region to launch a Generative AI-powered beauty advisor – Layla AI – delivering a new level of personalisation and intelligence to the beauty retail experience. The launch comes as AI adoption accelerates across the retail industry.
Recent regional reports show that 76% of Middle East retailers already use AI tools to enhance customer experience and procurement, with more than half planning to expand their use in the coming year. In the UAE alone, 70% of consumers say they now rely on AI to support their shopping decisions, marking a 44% increase over 2024. This rapid shift is positioning the region as one of the world’s fastest-growing markets for retail innovation.
Within the beauty sector, AI is moving beyond static recommendation engines to create dynamic, conversational experiences. Designed to replicate the warmth and trust of an in-store consultant, Layla AI engages customers in natural conversations – including Arabic dialects and Arabizi – to understand their individual preferences, routines, and goals, before delivering tailored product recommendations across skincare, makeup, and fragrance.
Unlike generic chatbots, Layla learns and evolves with every conversation, capturing changing needs, seasonal trends, and customer sentiment to create experiences that feel human and culturally attuned. By merging the personal connection of physical retail with the convenience of digital shopping, Layla reflects a new chapter in how technology is reshaping beauty retail across the region.
By combining decades of beauty expertise with innovative technology, FACES is the first beauty retailer in the Middle East to introduce a fully integrated AI beauty advisor delivering a shopping experience that feels as personal and insightful as visiting one of their in-store experts. Whether perfecting a skincare ritual, finding the right makeup look or discovering a new fragrance, Layla is there to guide, educate, and inspire. Unlike chatbots, which feel unnatural, customers can simply tell Layla what notes or moods they love and receive curated scent suggestions, from single fragrances to signature layering combinations – helping them shop confidently in a traditionally “try-before-you-buy” category.
By creating tailored customer journeys Layla delivers:
- Tailored Beauty Journeys – from signature fragrance layering to personalised skincare routines designed around each customer’s skin type, goals, and concerns.
- Always-On Guidance – available anytime to answer questions, explain product use, and offer expert beauty tips.
- Personalised Recommendations – from curated gift ideas for any recipient or occasion, to makeup shades and products selected to complement each customer’s unique features – all exclusively from the FACES catalogue.
Nicole Nitschke, the Managing Director at FACES said, “As a personal beauty coach, Layla AI provides guidance and curated recommendations, ensuring every customer feels supported omnichannel. Layla AI embodies our vision of the future of beauty: smarter, more human, and deeply personal. By combining Faces’ customer intimacy with Chalhoub Group’s AI strategy, we are creating experiences that educate, inspire, and empower. This is more than a technological innovation, it’s a new way of building lasting trust and connection with every beauty lover in the Middle East.”
“This project proves that advanced AI innovation can originate from the Middle East at scale,” said Nick Vinckier, VP of Corporate Innovation at Chalhoub Group. “Layla AI marks the start of an exciting roadmap to embed AI across the entire retail value chain.”
Michael Chalhoub, CEO of Chalhoub Group said “We are proud that FACES is introducing Layla AI as the first Generative AI-powered beauty coach at scale. This is not only a step forward in technology, but also in how we continue to place our customers at the centre of everything we do. Layla reflects our ambition to create seamless omni experiences, bridging in-store warmth with digital convenience, while staying true to our heritage of beauty expertise. It is also a cornerstone of our ambition to shape the future of luxury retail through data and intelligence, enhancing the customer journey while providing new strategic insights to guide brand, product, and merchandising decisions.”
Layla is now live on the FACES app across the Middle East, available in both English and Arabic. Download the app to meet Layla, your personal AI beauty advisor today.
