How we turned a “good” skincare preset into a "better" bold brand experience without big budgets.
Summary
I revamped the Routine preset, a skincare-focused Shopify theme, to better showcase the power of Flawless. Through competitive analysis, mood boards, and Pinterest inspiration, I defined a bold brand direction with bright colors and strong typography. Using Sora AI with ChatGPT Plus, I created product mockups and lifestyle visuals quickly and consistently without costly photoshoots. The result is a modern, market-ready Shopify preset that helps merchants stand out with professional branding powered by AI.
✨ See the difference in our live demo → Check Routine Preset
At Ascend Themes, our first version of the Routine preset a skincare-focused Shopify theme didn’t fully capture the creativity, boldness, and brand storytelling power of Flawless, our premium Shopify theme. While the design was functional, it lacked the impact we envisioned.
🤔 Why AI for the Routine Preset?
We chose AI for the Routine preset because it delivered exactly what Shopify merchants need: speed, creative flexibility, and consistent branding. Instead of investing in long, costly photoshoots, AI in eCommerce design allowed us to create bold Shopify product mockups and cohesive brand visuals in minutes making professional Shopify store design accessible to every merchant.
And the numbers prove the impact of AI in branding:
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+23% revenue growth: A Lucidpress study found that consistent brand presentation across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23%.
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90% visual first impressions: Nielsen reports that 90% of first impressions are visual, making consistent Shopify imagery essential.
AI wasn’t just a shortcut it became our creative partner in building a Shopify Routine skincare preset that merchants can rely on to stand out with bold, market-ready branding.
🌱 The Journey Begins: How I Shaped the Final Design
1. Competitive Analysis
Before diving into design, I conducted an in-depth competitive analysis of leading skincare and beauty brands. This research helped us understand product aesthetics, color schemes, typography, and packaging styles that resonate most with customers. These insights laid the groundwork for shaping our Shopify Routine skincare preset that feels both modern and market-ready.
2. Mood board Creation in Figma
To bring clarity to the vision, I curated a mood board in FigJam and spent dedicated hours on Pinterest gathering inspiration. This deep dive into Shopify store design trends revealed how brands balance minimalism, and how subtle design choices define identity.
I added heart stickers for a playful, modern touch to the Routine preset.
3. Defining the Brand Direction for Routine Preset
From this exploration, I shaped a clear brand direction:
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From the start, I knew I wanted to embrace bright, impactful colors for the brand. Our goal with the preset was to stand out, so I leaned into bright tones with minimalism. This direction allows the products to shine more boldly, capturing attention instantly on digital shelves, making the brand more memorable, and creating a stronger emotional connection with customers in an already crowded skincare market.
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Bold labels and strong typography to make the packaging instantly recognizable.
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4. AI-Generated Visuals with Sora AI
Before finalizing Sora AI, I tested multiple AI platforms for eCommerce design, experimenting with mockups and lifestyle imagery. In the end, I chose Sora AI because it was highly user-friendly and bundled with ChatGPT Plus. This gave me a complete creative toolkit: generating AI product mockups, refining prompts, enhancing copy, and supporting research all in one platform.
This is a product mockup & model created for our Routine preset using Sora AI. Check Routine Preset
5. How I Wrote My Prompts
Writing prompts was a creative process in itself. I constantly referred back to my mood board in FigJam and spent hours scrolling through Pinterest to gather as much inspiration as possible. Each image or visual reference gave me a clearer idea of how I wanted the product and model to look the colors, the poses, the tone, and even the overall mood of the shot.
Once I had this mental picture, I carefully noted down the keywords and descriptions that captured those details. For example, I would highlight whether the product should have a bold label, whether the model should be youthful or diverse, or whether the background should feel minimalist or vibrant.
To refine my ideas, I used ChatGPT as a creative partner. I would share my rough descriptions, and then ask it to enhance the language turning my scattered notes into polished, professional-grade prompts. This not only helped me get more accurate outputs in Sora AI, but also saved time by giving me structured prompts that were easy to test and iterate on.
The combination of visual inspiration + AI refinement became a powerful workflow. Instead of struggling to write the perfect prompt from scratch, I let my research guide the direction and used AI to shape it into something precise and effective.
6. Iterative Refinement
The AI results weren’t just “one and done.” I refined multiple variations, experimenting with label colors, background setups, and lighting styles until we achieved a cohesive, polished Shopify preset design that matched our mood board vision.
6. Outcome
The result was a preset that feels bright, modern, and professional ready-made for skincare merchants who want their store to feel bold, fresh, and engaging without investing in multiple photoshoots.
Key Takeaways for Merchants
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AI saves time and cost, creating professional-grade branding in hours.
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Mood boards and inspiration boards help shape a brand’s unique look.
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Consistency in visuals builds trust and boosts revenue.
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Bold design choices colors, typography, layouts make your brand memorable.
✨ Final Thoughts
The Routine preset isn’t just a skincare template it’s a story of how research, creativity, and AI can come together to create a Shopify experience that’s bold, cohesive, and market-ready.
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