I am one of those people who always have either their iPhone or iPad (or Kindle) hardwired to their hand. Like, it could be surgically attached. While sleeping, my phone sits under my pillow. Yes, that’s not healthy. Yes, I have tried to change. No, I did not succeed.
But there are positive aspects to this kind of living. Especially when you marry it with the beauty sphere. Imagine having a skincare expert at your fingertips or a makeover artist ready to unveil a new you. That’s precisely the promise of the leading apps for beauty that are currently taking the mobile space by storm.
And these beauty apps aren’t one-size-fits-all. They’re dynamic, designed specifically to cater to your face, your hair, your body and your style.
For instance, when I am deliberating a new haircut, Hair Zapp keeps me away from buyer’s remorse by showing exactly what the results would look like. While going shopping, the Think Dirty app keeps me away from harmful ingredients.
So, why are you waiting? Whether you’re a makeup enthusiast, a skincare sage, or someone on the hunt for that statement hairstyle that shouts “you,” here are the best beauty apps you need.
Join the revolution and let your transformation begin — in real time!
Virtual Vanity: Try Before You Buy
Navigating the vast sea of beauty products in stores and online can be downright daunting. Ever felt the pinch of regret after buying a product that wasn’t quite “you” even though it was one of the latest trends? We’ve all been there.
Now, picture this: testing the latest beauty trends without leaving the comfort of your home or even opening your wallet.
That’s right! With a virtual app for beauty, you can dive into various looks, play around, and pinpoint your signature style before spending a dime. No more second-guessing!
1. YouCam Makeup: The Makeup Maestro
Ready to say goodbye to makeup mishaps? Step into the transformative world of YouCam Makeup. With its groundbreaking augmented reality (AR) technology, you can experiment with makeup products and even hunt down that perfect foundation. Gone are the days of guesswork — just a few swipes and taps, and voilà, your new makeup looks are unveiled.
What sets YouCam Makeup apart is its dual role as a virtual beauty counter and a top-tier photo editing powerhouse. Harnessing advanced AI and AR tech, it invites you to indulge in hundreds of virtual makeovers from leading brands.
And it doesn’t stop there. The beauty app takes you on a hairstyling adventure with AI-driven simulations, allowing you to test over 20 hairstyles and a dazzling array of over 100 hair colors. From the sultry shades of ombre to the vibrant two-tone vibes, it’s like stepping into a high-tech salon.
But there’s more to this app than just cosmetics and hair. It’s dedicated to ensuring every photo you take is perfect. Whether you’re looking to smooth out your skin, accentuate your features, create lash extensions, brighten that smile, or give those eyes an extra sparkle, YouCam Makeup has you covered.
And what about skincare? The app transitions seamlessly into your personal skincare advisor. With its AI Skin Diagnostics, you get an instant insight into your skin’s health. Receive tailor-made tips and product recommendations, and easily plan your skincare products and routine.
2. Sephora Virtual Artist: Your Beauty Buddy
Unleash your inner makeup artist with Sephora’s Virtual Artist beauty app right from your pocket. Explore endless shades of lipsticks, eyeshadows, and the lashes you’ve always wanted. Using cutting-edge virtual reality and facial recognition, this app scans your face to perfectly place products on your eyes, lips, and cheeks.
Want to see how the Valentino lipstick compares to the Tom Ford one? Swipe, try, and decide between top brands! Explore different products, colors, textures, and finishes effortlessly.
Need guidance? Jump into expert tutorials by beauty experts to perfect your look. With Sephora’s app, every day is your beauty runway — in the comfort of your own home!
Platform: iOS, Android
3. Perfect365 Makeup Photo Editor: The Perfectionist’s Playground
Known for its wide range of effects, this app for beauty makes editing photos and videos an exciting experience. Utilize the blemish remover to clear skin, the lip plumper for fuller lips, and the teeth whitener for a bright smile, among many other beauty editor tools.
But there’s more! Perfect365 goes beyond basic editing by allowing you to virtually try makeup looks created by professional artists, popular brands, and the innovative Perfect365 Beauty Squad, all from the comfort of your device. This lets you experiment digitally with new colors and styles before deciding on a real-life change.
Skin-Deep Wisdom: Your Skincare Companions
Skincare isn’t just a routine; it’s a sacred ritual. And just as every ritual thrives on dedication and insight, your skincare journey deserves the same devotion. Enter skin analysis apps like MiiSkin and SkinVision — think of them as your on-call digital dermatologists.
They arm you with tailored skincare wisdom, monitor your skin’s evolution, handpick products just for you, and serve as a bridge to connect with skincare mavens. So, why wait? Glowing, radiant skin is merely a tap away with these beauty apps!
4. MiiSkin: Your Personal Skincare Advisor
Miiskin isn’t just another digital tool — it’s your personal guardian for proactively monitoring skin health. With its user-friendly interface, this face app empowers you to keep a vigilant eye on moles and diverse skin conditions.
Snap photos of your skin and seamlessly track changes over time, making early detection of concerns like melanoma a breeze. But that’s not all: if you ever need medications, Miiskin’s got your back, streamlining the process to get you the required prescriptions.
5. SkinVision: The Mole Mapper
SkinVision is a digital medical service designed to help detect skin cancer early, particularly melanoma, by analyzing skin photos. Using a sophisticated AI algorithm, the beauty app examines skin photos to pinpoint high-risk moles and lesions. Users take pictures of any concerning skin areas, and the app evaluates and monitors these spots for changes.
Certified with a European CE marking, the skincare app is supported by a rigorous quality system involving leading dermatologists globally, ensuring users are directed to medical experts if there’s a potential risk of skin cancer.
However, do remember that an app can supplement a professional — in this case, a board certified dermatologist — and not replace one entirely!
6. UVLens: Your Sun Safety Guide
Step up your sun safety game with the UVLens beauty app, which helps provide real-time insights against the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays. With hourly UV index updates in your pocket, you’ll always know the best times to enjoy the outdoors and when to seek shade.
Planning a beach day or a hike? Use these timely forecasts to pick the perfect times with minimal UV exposure, ensuring your skin stays protected against sunburn and related concerns.
And UVLens doesn’t just offer data; it personalizes it. Discover a tailored skin type assessment and learn about your unique sunburn risk. Once you’re clued in on your skin’s needs, you’ll confidently decide how long you can revel in the sunshine and when to rock that hat or reapply sunscreen.
7. Think Dirty: The Ingredient Inspector
The Think Dirty app is designed to demystify the maze of ingredients in cosmetics, personal care products, and household items. What’s lurking in that shampoo bottle or lipstick tube? Simply scan the barcode and, voilà, you’re presented with transparent information and even safer alternatives.
In short, Think Dirty is dedicated to increasing consumer awareness and is a reliable guide for comparing cosmetics and personal care items. It sits on your mobile device and steers you away from potentially toxic ingredients.
And there’s more. Committed to promoting healthier choices, Think Dirty doesn’t just stop at identifying concerns. It actively nudges you towards cleaner alternatives, empowering you to transform your shopping habits. So, why stay in the dark?
Selfie Excellence: Capturing Your Best Side
In today’s digital age, your online image isn’t just a picture — it’s a statement. So, why settle for the average when apps like Facetune and Snapseed can elevate your selfies?
Edit seamlessly with their intuitive tools and showcase the best version of yourself. After all, your social media should reflect the dynamic person you are.
8. Facetune: Your Digital Makeover Expert
Elevate your photo and video game with Facetune, known for its advanced editing capabilities. This app for beauty does everything from refining photos to perfecting videos to enhancing makeup and hair — making for the perfect selfie.
Navigating Facetune is easy, enabling even novices to achieve great results. The app offers features such as smooth editing, dynamic lighting effects, and sharp focus.
Delve deeper into Facetune’s offerings, and you’ll find teeth-whitening options, skin enhancements, virtual makeup features, and hair transformations that allow experimentation without commitment. This app also supports video, offering frame-by-frame editing reminiscent of what professional studios provide.
9. Snapseed: The Photo Precisionist
With an impressive array of 29 distinct tools and filters, ranging from Healing and Brush to HDR and Perspective, Snapseed is one of the top beauty apps designed for all users.
Additionally, Snapseed’s support for JPG and RAW formats and the ability to save custom styles ensures consistency in your creative projects. Its user-friendly design makes transforming any photo into a work of art easy.
But Snapseed isn’t limited to basic edits. Its advanced filters and effects have garnered praise from professional photographers. In a world where many apps charge for premium features, Snapseed offers expert-level tools at no additional cost.
10. Prisma: The Digital Artist
Elevate your selfies with Prisma, the app that effortlessly turns your photos into masterpieces reminiscent of renowned artists like Picasso and Munch. Dive into over 500 unique styles and watch your images transform into captivating digital art, each echoing iconic art and portrait styles.
Beyond its vast style collection, Prisma packs a punch with its pro editing tools, allowing you to fine-tune your photos’ foreground and background separately.
Want to change things up? Swap out your photo’s background for vibrant templates and frame your images with exquisite borders. With Prisma, crafting the perfect artistic picture is just a tap away.
11. A Color Story: The Vibrancy Virtuoso
Enhance your photos with A Color Story, the best app to amplify the vibrancy of your images. Catering to both novices and experts, it offers an array of customizable filters and effects.
With over 100 filters, 30 effects, and a vast collection of 400 specialized filters and 120 adjustable effects, the creative possibilities seem limitless. Tools like the HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness) feature allow even more fine-tuning.
But what truly sets A Color Story apart from the crowd? Its unwavering commitment to vibrant colors — think bright, sparkling whites and colors that dazzle. While many apps fade into muted tones, A Color Story celebrates the bold and the brilliant.
Instagram enthusiasts, in particular, can’t get enough of its vibrant edge. So, if you’re ready to make your photos pop and not just blend in, A Color Story is your go-to beauty app!
12. VSCO: The Refined Editor
Whether you’re using mobile or desktop, VSCO is the perfect platform for those looking to enhance their visuals, including selfies. It’s packed with professional presets and high-quality editing tools, enabling you to create outstanding content.
The highlight is VSCO’s user-friendly interface. You can take and edit photos within the same app. With a wide range of preset filters and easy-to-use tools, bringing your creative ideas to life is just a tap away.
13. Camera+: The Detail Devotee
Camera+ is a standout in photo capture and editing, notable for its comprehensive features. What distinguishes this particular app? It’s manual controls. Adjust focus, shutter speed, exposure, and white balance with precision — ideal for those seeking more than the default iPhone camera offers.
What sets Camera+ apart as an app for beauty? It has manual control options. Users can precisely adjust focus, shutter speed, exposure, and white balance — features especially appealing to those wanting more than the default iPhone camera provides.
Innovatively, Camera+ uses Magic ML to enhance photos through machine learning. It also boasts an UltraRes feature, which employs AI to smartly upscale images. These advanced tools ensure that users can capture every moment with perfection.
Need fine-tuning? Camera+ has you covered with tools to adjust exposure, amplify shadows, and refine sharpness. Its RAW image editing allows for detailed edits, giving users total command over their photos.
For many, Camera+ isn’t just a beauty app — it’s an upgrade to the standard iOS camera, making it an essential tool for iPhone photography enthusiasts.
Platform: iOS
Hair Adventures: Exploring New Styles
Ever pondered a new hair color or cut? Beauty apps like Hair Color Booth and Hair App allow for hairstyle exploration without the commitment. They’re your digital playground for hair, helping identify styles that resonate with your persona.
14. Hair Color Booth: Your Virtual Hair Stylist
Looking for the ideal hairstyle? Try a virtual makeover first. Hair Color Booth lets you try countless hair colors and styles without any real-life commitment. At its core, the app offers a digital hair dyeing feature.
From punk styles to classic shades like blonde and brunette, you can easily see a realistic transformation of your digital self. It’s all about making your hair color dreams come to life in a fun, believable way.
Using the app is a breeze. It boasts a broad color palette paired with a simple sliding tab for adjustments. This means limitless color combinations at your fingertips! For precision, users can zoom in and adjust the color intensity, translucency, and evenness to achieve a natural appearance.
And if you’re hesitant about a full-color change, you can opt to color just specific sections of your hair. Ever wondered how you’d look with colored streaks? Now’s your chance!
After crafting your digital looks at-home, you can easily share your fresh look on social media. It’s not just about self-expression; it’s about fun and sharing the excitement with friends!
Platform: iOS
15. Hair Zapp: The Style Selector
Initially designed for hairdressers, Hair Zapp has evolved into an easy-to-use tool for anyone curious about new hairstyles without the scissors’ commitment. With countless hairstyles, cuts, and colors, it’s a playground for your hair imagination.
The brilliance of Hair Zapp is its high-resolution imaging technology. Using a good-quality photo, the beauty app delivers lifelike hairstyle renditions, offering a convincing glimpse into potential new looks. This accuracy gives you a clear idea of what to expect before a haircut.
But it’s more than just personal exploration. Hair Zapp fosters a community where users can anonymously share and receive feedback on chosen styles. The social side shines further as users can compare hairstyles and discuss choices with friends or their stylists, adding a communal touch to the virtual hair adventure.
Platform: iOS, Android
16. Fabby Look: The Dynamic Dye Detector
The Fabby Look is one of the most popular apps that brings the world of real-time hair color experimentation to your screen. Think of it as a live hair color playground, allowing users to see how various shades look on them instantly, eliminating the guesswork from changing hair colors.
From trendy hues like blue, purple, and magenta to classic blondes and brunettes, this hair color changer app offers several styles to find the perfect fit for your personality.
But it’s not just about colors; it’s about choice. Whether you lean towards natural tones or bold shades like green and pink, Fabby Look has something for everyone’s taste.
Taking the experience up a notch, users can also record videos flaunting their virtual hair color. Share your new look on social platforms or with friends, adding a sprinkle of social fun to your hair exploration journey.
In short, Fabby Look is the ideal beauty app for hair color testing, providing a fun, risk-free way to envision new shades.
Platform: iOS
17. Pinterest: The Inspiration Inventory
While not a virtual try-on app, Pinterest is a treasure trove of hairstyle inspiration. Create boards, pin your favorite looks, and create a visual inventory of hairstyles that catch your fancy. It’s about gathering inspiration and envisioning your next hairdo.
Platform: iOS, Android
Your smartphone, laden with the right beauty apps, transforms into a powerful tool in your beauty arsenal. Embrace the digital age and let these mobile apps guide you on a transformative beauty expedition!
Do you use any app for beauty? Which one?
Anubha Charan is a powerhouse in the luxury beauty industry, with over 15 years of expertise shaping the global beauty narrative. As the former Beauty Director at Marie Claire, she worked with the magazine's French headquarters to craft cutting-edge beauty content for international audiences.
Anubha's bylines grace some of the world’s most prestigious publications, including Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Travel + Leisure, WebMD, and Architectural Digest. She is also the co-author of Paris Bath & Beauty, a Simon & Schuster book on French beauty rituals.
Anubha combines insider knowledge with a talent for breaking down complex beauty concepts, delivering bold, actionable advice that empowers individuals to elevate their beauty routines and embrace their best selves.
Leave a Reply