Going shopping for lipstick was always a big deal. I could take anything above an hour at the ground level beauty section at a major department store, and women would try on a half dozen shades at the counter for Lancome, and then move on to do the same at counters for Dior, Revlon and Maybelline. As much as this ritual has defined fashion, fitness and fun for generations of women, there is a new hip in town - virtual makeovers online. One of the most popular players in the way this trend was built was DailyMakeover.com, now called Makeover Studio; And they certainly want to put an end to the way women clamor at cosmetics counters at department stores around the country, looking for new you.
Women who head over to MakeoverStudio for their first virtual makeovers online, begin by setting up a free account, and submitting a good quality digital snap, and that is all there is to it. You can start by playing and experimenting with all kinds of beauty products. It isn't just generic lipstick and hair color they offer either; the site offers all the major brand names that you have always gravitated to at the boutiques - over 40 different world-famous brands. And if hairstyles are what you're after, their virtual makeovers offer you celebrity hairstyles from all the recent public appearances celebrities have been sighted at.
As casual and fun as this activity is, there is a lot of impressive math and programming that goes into it. For instance, it needs to be able to read your photograph perfectly, so that it knows where the hair is supposed to fall for a given style and where it is to be pulled back. Unlike many other websites offering virtual makeovers online, this one uses very sophisticated face mapping technology that reads more than 50 points on your face, and the user can often find here the program's understanding of their face too.
The site offers all kinds of tools too; there are makeup options, foundation layers, sprays, glosses, shadows and potions, all lined up before you, to dab and apply. If something doesn't seem quite right, you zoom in and adjust the shade, the degree of thickness, and so forth. Of course, getting virtual makeovers online isn't quite the same as being with a knowledgeable makeup person at the mall. For one thing, you can't sense what anything feels like in texture, perfume or taste.
For young girls who feel that getting virtual makeovers online is more trouble than an onboard application, Mattel's Stylin'Studio is just the thing. The application comes with a pen tablet, and you can right away start drawing on the eyeliner, shading your rouge, adjusting the hang of your clothing, jewelry and hairstyles. And when you're done, what is to stop you from adding the results to your modeling portfolio?
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