White makeup artists may want to test the YouCam app for brown girl makeovers
BlackTechLogy: For brown-skinned and dark-skinned women, mobile apps like these help us test new hair colors, makeup shades and more
“I lost my eyebrow razor,” I told my mother, looking around the room. “I’ll probably find it when I put on mascara.”
My mother looked at me quizzically. “You don’t wear mascara!”
I laughed at her tone, which was the kind of reaction I’d expect if I told her I got a Brazilian butt lift.
“Yes, I do,” I shot back. “Clear mascara. Almost every day. It keeps my eyelashes from curling the wrong way onto my contact lenses, especially during hay fever season.”
My mother paused, narrowed her eyes at me and went, “Hunh.”
Learn something new every day, I suppose.
I couldn’t blame her for her reaction. Although I definitely have worn more makeup in my 42 years than she has her entire life, neither one of us would lose any sleep over a missing caboodle. While I can be very prissy when it comes to always-polished toenails and am never without a collection of perfumes, I can take or leave the makeup.
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In college, I went through a phase where I would always wear eye shadow and lipstick, along with my trusty CoverGirl clear mascara. In high school, I had a favorite Iman lip gloss and occasionally tested a Fashion Fair lip color. As an adult, Rihanna is onto something with her Hot Chocolit Lip Luminizer. But one thing remained consistent. From my teen years working at a radio research firm until now, all of my makeup choices are going to give you autumn vibes.
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The makeover no one asked for
My social circle knows I’m all about an autumn look, which is why I rolled my eyes when a college friend wanted to do my makeup before we left for a party. I already had the shades I wanted to use, but she was in cosmetology school and really wanted to work on different skin complexions. Her makeup always looked good, from the A-symmetrical blonde haircut to the just-enough shades of pink and blue on her white skin tone.
But after she pulled out her makeup bag, with a huge grin on her face and ready to treat me like a Barbie doll, I asked her if she’d ever done makeup on someone who was brown-skinned. Although she insisted she’d applied makeup to a black woman before, these women looked more like Aaliyah than Missy. I raised an eyebrow, wondering what in the world she’d come up with.
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I patiently waited for her to be done with my makeover. When I looked in the mirror, the first thing I did was look at her and back to the mirror, waiting for her to laugh. She did not. And that’s when I realized she truly thought this was a great “look” for my face. Meanwhile, I was thinking about my new career lining kids up to throw little balls into buckets.
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Why the YouCam Makeup app is onto something for diverse pigmentation
One of the biggest perks in technology for the beauty community is mobile apps. Without wasting a bunch of money on loads of makeup, cosmetology students can test out the looks they have in their heads on their smartphones — with their actual photos and that of others. They can get a sense of what their clients may like versus what they “think” their clients will like.
I heard about the app and was curious what it offered. So I downloaded YouCam Makeup app, snapped a selfie while walking my dog (no filter, just a lovely Chicago park in the background) and tested out a little of everything. I must admit that I really enjoyed using this app, especially the hair color and eye bag removal features. Here were some of the looks.
Original photo (no filters) on YouCam Makeup
Removing eye wrinkles on YouCam Makeup
Choosing an eye shadow (part 1 of 2) on YouCam Makeup
Choosing an eye shadow (part 2 of 2) on YouCam Makeup
Changing my hair color (part 1 of 3) on YouCam Makeup
Changing my hair color (part 2 of 3) on YouCam Makeup
Changing my hair color (part 3 of 3) on YouCam Makeup
Trying on accessories (sunglasses) on YouCam Makeup
Trying on accessories (earrings) on YouCam Makeup
Trying on accessories (hats) on YouCam Makeup
The only flaw in YouCam Makeup goes right back to brown girl features
This was a fun cosmetic app to use not only for cosmetology students, but it was also enjoyable for me to test out a few looks to see if I’d want to do them later. I’ve tested other apps like this before, and they’re usually awkward to navigate. The only weakness in YouCam Makeup is that it doesn’t quite understand how to color in naturally full lips.
The app has an option to make lips plump, whiten teeth and other mouth improvements. But when it comes to applying lipstick (and the app is full of fun colors), it’s fairly clear that the app is used to thinner lips and smaller mouths unlike my own naturally full lips. It kept putting the lipstick on the outside or inside of my mouth. If the lipstick option was similar to applying a hat or sunglasses, I could’ve used the arrow angles to show where my lips began and ended.
Either way, overall, I’d give this app a 4.5 out of 5 stars — and now I wish I was still friends with that girl from college to see if it ever worked out for her makeovers with brown girls.
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “BlackTechLogy,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “One Black Woman’s Vote” and “Window Shopping” too. Subscribe to this newsletter for the weekly posts every Wednesday.
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