Clinique Puts Its Best Face Forward

Past the neon-lit food court, between the escalators, at what looks like a college computer laboratory ringed by plastic palms, Stephanie Cass, 16, has had a revelation.

She needs skin care.

The Clinique beauty consultant, whose motives even a girl with braces might suspect, has not implied this, no. At Clinique’s “Face the Future” promotion here--the first of several planned for malls around the country--the computers confer the exfoliation tips.

At one of four terminals hooked up to Clinique’s site on the World Wide Web, (https://www.clinique.com) Stephanie clicks on the pastel-colored answers to multiple choice questions such as “tendency to break out” and “pore size.”

Upon completion, she is decreed a “skin type II,” requiring “gentle yet effective cleansing.” If the computer says so, it must be true. Helpfully, it also supplies a list of Clinique products best suited to her, ah, needs. Over 400 women lined up for such authoritative “cyber consultations,” between Friday and Sunday, billed as a combination make over-Internet workshop.

Few made it beyond the Clinique site before being whisked to one of 15 other stations where samples are applied in accordance with the recommendations of the company’s “cyberface” software.

(Are your eyes almond or round? Is your face heart-shaped or square? Do you have cupid lips? Prefer tawny hues or fuchsias? A few clicks of the mouse and the face on the screen morphs to become “you.”)

Sales of the Clinique line quadrupled at the Robinson-May counter here during the three days, with 60% of the consultees making a purchase. In comparison, make overs without the high-tech tools usually generate double the normal sales volume and persuade 30% to buy products, according to Clinique executives.

Angela Kapp, who heads the digital media efforts of the Clinique line--distributed by cosmetics giant Estee Lauder--insists the event is more than just a new way to hawk eye shadow.

“Clinique wants to be proactive in getting women online,” Kapp says, noting that only about one-third of Internet users are women. “I always say, computer usage is not related to the Y chromosome.”

Online feminists who have touted the Internet’s potential for liberating women from undue concern over appearance might wince at Clinique’s approach. Aside from health-related material, for instance, clinique.com’s links to sites of interest for women are limited to fashion sites such as the Louis Vuitton home page.

But if there is irony in trying to empower women with digital age skills while selling them plum raisin lip pencils and seven-day scrub cream, it was lost on many of the women who said they were drawn simply by the chance to use the Internet for free--in the mall.

“My fiancee and my son know a lot more about this than I do,” said Elaine Austria, 39. “And I was going to do some shopping anyway.”

“Knowledge is beautiful,” said Julie Freeman, 41, inspecting a new lip gloss. “I really came here to try out the Internet. I just haven’t gotten to it yet.”

Amy Harmon covers technology and cyberspace for the Times. Her e-mail address is amy.harmon@latimes.com.