L’Oréal's Makeup Genius App: The Cosmetics Counter Goes Digital

Aryanna Dudnat, a beauty adviser at a Duane Reade in Midtown Manhattan, was hired to help women find new cosmetics. Instead, she often cleans up after customers. “Every day, I come in and find that people have unwrapped products,” she says. She doesn’t blame them. “We don’t carry testers, and buying makeup without trying it is risky.” The art of purchasing drugstore cosmetics is wildly imperfect, verging on absurd—you’re expected to choose a foundation by comparing the color of the bottle to the color of your arm and to spend $10 on a lipstick after holding it next to your face in front of a tiny mirror.

L’Oréal, the French beauty giant, thinks there’s a better way. In June the company released Makeup Genius, an app that lets you see yourself in real time wearing products that aren’t actually on your face. When you smile, pucker up, or wink, the virtual cosmetics move along with you. If you turn rapidly to the side, the screen lags a second before the digital mask jostles back into place. You can apply, say, a lip liner with a lipstick or choose from full looks such as Evening Smokey and Jennifer’s Nude (as in J. Lo), created with a bundle of products.