Top Augmented Reality Beauty Apps
Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the most amazing modern-day technology. It gets even more amazing with you apply it in the beauty and wellness industry. Augmented reality beauty apps are mobile applications that help users visualize themselves with different makeup, hairdos, and accessories. And all this is done virtually without the user actually wearing the makeup, or accessories, or changing their looks. The AR apps let you experience different looks before applying makeup, dying your hair, or buying accessories. Sounds interesting? Let’s get to know these augmented reality beauty apps you need to have on your phone.
A simple explanation of how these apps work is that they use your device’s camera to capture the image of your face or body. After that, they use computer vision technology to superimpose the elements on such images. These elements could be virtual makeup, a new hairstyle, or any fashion accessory. AR apps provide immense value by enabling users to see how they would look before actually applying the changes or buying the products. This saves money, time and effort apart from preventing the frustration of not liking the end result after making the decision.
We are going to review the top 5 apps today and leave you with the names of the rest for you to experiment and decide for yourself. Let’s get on with it
YouCam Makeup AR Beauty app
YouCam Makeup’s augmented reality (AR) technology allows users to try on different makeup looks and hairstyles in real time. They can experiment with their looks by choosing from a wide range of makeup products such as lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner, blush, and more. The app also enables adjustments to the intensity and placement of the makeup. YouCam Makeup also allows users to try on different hairstyles and hair colors. Users can try hairstyles of their choice such as curls, waves, bobs, and more and also adjust the length and color of their hair.
However, the YouCam Makeup app doesn’t leave things at just visualization. The app’s advanced facial recognition technology can analyze the user’s skin to provide personalized skin care tips. The advanced technology makes it possible to identify skin concerns such as dark spots, wrinkles, fine lines, and more, and recommend remedial steps. Additionally, YouCam Makeup makes it fun for users by taking care of their social media needs. The users can add filters, stickers, and animations to their photos and videos in real-time as well as post-capture.
The most distinguishing feature of YouCam is the large Beauty Community they have built over years. In the community, users share their experiences, makeup looks, hairstyles, and beauty tips with each other. Community users can participate in challenges and contests, follow other members, and like and comment on posts. Kim Kardashian and Gigi Hadid have used the YouCam app and shared their virtual makeovers on Instagram with their fans. Not just that, Kardashian Beauty products are available to try on YouCam.
Glamzy 2 Augmented Reality Beauty App
Like other apps, Glamzy 2 also has a virtual try-on feature for users to experiment with different makeup looks without physically applying makeup. A wide range of shades of lipstick, eye shadow, blush, mascara, etc is available for the users to try on. Users can also create their custom makeup looks by defining their preferences for colors, textures, and finishes. The augmented reality app features more than 2,400 products from brands like MAC, Maybelline, CoverGirl, L’Oreal, Revlon, NYX, and many others.
As a user, you can share your looks with friends and family on various social media platforms. Glamzy 2 also offers step-by-step makeup tutorials and personalized makeup suggestions to users. However, unlike YouCam, Glamzy 2 does not offer hairstyle options in AR.
Perfect 365 Augmented Reality Beauty App
Perfect 365 AR beauty app has more than 100M users and it continues to grow. The app has all the usual features of an AR beauty app that you have read above, but it has a lot more to offer. Perfect 365 has a recommendation engine based on the looks that users try on. The e-commerce integration enables the user to order the recommended products within the app in a seamless manner.
The app also offers tips and tutorials for users to get a professional-looking finish. Interestingly, Perfect 365 also organizes makeup challenges where the users from the app’s community can compete against themselves.
Sephora Virtual Artist
Sephora, as a brand, doesn’t need an introduction. The cosmetics brand took a technological leap by launching the AR beauty app – Sephora Virtual Artist. The app creates a great connection with Sephora’s store by allowing users to order products by trying them on virtually.
While you can try on the look you like, Sephora Virtual Artist also provides you with recommendations. The app’s facial recognition tech suggests makeup looks and products that would best suit your unique features and complexion. Although the app was created for existing Sephora users, it has become a conduit for acquiring new consumers as well. Selena Gomez and Kim Kardashian have also used the Sephora Virtual Artist app to share their experimental looks with their fans.
L’Oreal Style My Hair AR app
As the name suggests, L’Oreal Style My Hair is an AR beauty app developed by L’Oreal. Like most other AR apps it allows users to try out different hairstyles and hair colors virtually. Users need to take a selfie and then choose from a variety of options available for hairstyles and hair colors. Users can also adjust the hair length, volume, color, and style to their liking till they get the perfect look. The app also shows a 360-degree view of each hairstyle, so users can visualize their new look as close to the real world as possible.
In addition, L’Oreal Style My Hair AR app includes a consultation feature that suggests hairstyles based on a user’s facial features and hair type. The app also includes a 3D color chart so users can get the same look as in the app. The UI of the app is smooth and user-friendly. In addition to this, users can also save, as well as share their favorite styles and colors with loved ones on social media. Even though its application is limited to hair, it is an app worth keeping on your device.
Modiface
While Modiface isn’t a stand-alone beauty app, they are the leader in augmented reality (AR) technology for the beauty industry. ModiFace was a startup founded in 2006 and later acquired by L’oreal in 2018. It might surprise you that many reputed beauty brands, including L’Oreal, Estée Lauder, MAC and Sephora use Modiface applications. L’Oréal-owned brand Garnier teamed up with Modiface to launch a personalized hair color app – Virtual Shade Selector. Even Google launched its AR-powered cosmetics try-on experience on Google Search with Modiface being their data partner.
In addition to the ones mentioned above, there are many other AR beauty apps that you may try. Some of them are Facecake, Mary Kay MirrorMe, ManiMatch, ShadeScout, Glamscout, Hairstyle Wizard, etc. There are even very niche apps like Inkhunter for tattoos and Wanna Nails for nail color and accessories. You can explore these apps and choose the one that suits your needs the best.
Augmented Reality Beauty apps provide convenience, personalized recommendations, tips and an easy way to buy products that look good on them. If you haven’t tried any AR beauty apps till now then you must try one of these. AR apps can be fun and you can even use them as a tool if you are a beauty professional. Do let us know about your experience in the comments section.
You may also like
How to take care of freckles effectively