Ulta Beauty and MAC Cosmetics are the first beauty brands to try out Snapchat’s catalog-powered AR Shopping Lenses.

Ulta Beauty and MAC Cosmetics are the first beauty brands to try out Snapchat’s catalog-powered AR Shopping Lenses. This week, Snapchat expanded its augmented reality (AR) and social commerce offerings with catalog-powered Shopping Lenses. Ulta Beauty and MAC Cosmetics are the first to debut an AR shopping filter, allowing Snapchatters to swipe through virtual makeup looks from various brands with products linked directly in the lens. For now, only mascara looks are featured from brands like Maybelline, Too Faced, Benefit Cosmetics, L’Oréal, and Tarte. The idea of the Shopping Lenses is to consult with friends by sending them a Snap with the lens activated, while creating “highly personalized and inclusive experiences” for young shoppers on the platform. Not only is the AR offering an engaging way to shop products on the platform, it allows brands to “build, scale, and optimize their efforts.” According to data from Snap, users engage with its AR features more than 6 billion times a day. Young consumers have told YPulse they’re interested in AR shopping experiences, and launching activations inside Snapchat is one way to reach them. (Glossy, Adweek)