Ulta Beauty taps NVIDIA StyleGAN2 gen AI model for virtual hair style and colour try-on experience

A new Ulta Beauty AI app uses selfies to show near instant, realistic previews of desired hairstyles.

GLAMlab Hair Try On lets users take a photo, upload a headshot or use a model’s picture to experiment with different hair colours and styles. The experience is powered by the NVIDIA StyleGAN2 generative AI model.

The hair colour try-ons feature links to Ulta Beauty products so shoppers can achieve the look in real life. Ulta Beauty, which has more than 1,400 stores across the US, has found that people who use the virtual tool are more likely to purchase a product than those who don’t.

“Shoppers need to try out hair and makeup styles before they purchase,” says Juan Cardelino, Director of the Computer Vision and Digital Innovation Department at Ulta Beauty. “As one of the first cosmetics companies to integrate makeup testers in stores, offering try-ons is part of Ulta Beauty’s DNA - whether in physical or digital retail environments.”

GLAMlab is Ulta Beauty’s first generative AI application, developed by its digital innovation team.

To build its AI pipeline, the team turned to StyleGAN2, a style-based neural network architecture for generative adversarial networks, aka GANs. StyleGAN2, developed by NVIDIA Research, uses transfer learning to generate infinite images in a variety of styles.

“StyleGAN2 is one of the most well regarded models in the tech community, and, since the source code was available for experimentation, it was the right choice for our application,” Cardelino says. “For our hairstyle try-on use case, we had to license the model for commercial use, retrain it and put guardrails around it to ensure the AI was only modifying pixels related to hair - not distorting any feature of the user’s face.”

Available on the Ulta Beauty website and mobile app, the hair style and colour try-ons rely on NVIDIA Tesnor Core GPUs in the cloud to run AI inference, which takes around five seconds to compute the first style and about a second each for subsequent styles.

The company next plans to incorporate virtual trials for additional hair categories like wigs and is exploring how the virtual hairstyle try-ons could be connected to in-store styling services.

“Stylists could use the tool to show our guests how certain hairstyles will look on them, giving them more confidence to try new looks,” Cardelino says. “Hair and makeup are playful categories. Virtual try-ons are a way to explore options that may be out of a customer’s comfort zone without needing to commit to a physical change.”

RTIH AI in Retail Awards

RTIH, organiser of the industry leading RTIH Innovation Awards, proudly brings you the first edition of the RTIH AI in Retail Awards, which is now open for entries. 

As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.

As AI sees increasing adoption in the retail space, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees.

Our 2025 winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.

Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 3rd July. This will kick off with a drinks reception in the stunning Conservatory, followed by a three course meal, and awards ceremony in the Garden Room.

Please email our Editor, Scott Thompson, if you have any questions or need further information: scott.thompson@retailtechinnovationhub.com

FAQs

Is there a fee to enter the awards?: No, it is free of charge.

Can I enter across multiple categories: Yes.

Do I need to complete all the sections in the entry form? No, but the more information you provide, the better chance you have of producing a successful submission.

Is there a certain timeframe for nominated projects, initiatives etc? Yes, nominated projects, initiatives etc should have been completed (or substantially completed) during the last 12 months.

Who has visibility of our completed entry form and what information will be public should we win or be shortlisted? Only our Editor, Scott Thompson, and judging panel will view submissions. The information provided in the summary section of the entry form will be made public.

Do you only accept entries from UK-based companies? No, we accept entries from all parts of the world.

What is the shortlists process? Shortlists will be announced in April 2025, then shortlisted entries will be sent to our independent judging panel who will decide upon the winners and highly commended submissions. Shortlisted companies will be invited to attend an awards ceremony at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 3rd July 2o25.

Do winners and highly commended companies receive post-event coverage? Yes, post-event coverage includes articles on our website and also an in-depth awards review in our printed magazine. There is also the opportunity for a company profile type piece to be published on our site and within our magazine.

When is the deadline for 2025 submissions? Friday, 23rd May 2025.

When will the 2025 winners be revealed? Winners will be announced at an event at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 3rd July. This will kick off with a drinks reception, followed by a three course meal, awards ceremony, and after party featuring DJ until midnight.

Who will be judging submissions? Details of our 2025 judging panel will be announced in the near future.