APP STORE AWARDS

iPad App of the Year

Prêt à Makeup

Makeup illustration & beauty.

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This app is revolutionising make-up artistry while fostering inclusivity and self-expression.

– App Store editors

With incredible visual realism, Prêt-à-Makeup makes it easy to experiment with make-up as a form of self-expression. It’s a safe, judgment-free space to explore your creativity, whether you are a professional make-up artist, want to create a face-paint design to cheer on your favourite football team or are just hoping to plan your workday look.

Start by choosing one of the roughly 40 line-drawn faces in the app – known as face charts – which represent a range of races and genders (including gender neutral). These are your blank canvases.

When you apply metallic makeup, such as the silver eye shadow above, the app’s dynamic-lighting effect really shines.

Prêt-à-Makeup’s tools are familiar – eye shadow and eyeliner, lipstick and blush – but the more you experiment, the more you realise the power of those seemingly simple tools. The app starts you off with three skin tones, for example, and by layering powder over foundation, you can create more nuanced hues that feel true to you.

For each tool, you can also mix and match among preset colour palettes. Complement the aubergine lipstick from the Made in the ’80s make-up kit with the earthy lip pencil from the Naturals collection. Went all out with the yellow glitter from Unicorn Dust? Kick that up with the sparkly dark eye shadow from Glitz & Glam.

Applying blush and powder by painting with your finger feels surprisingly natural. For more detailed work, the app supports Apple Pencil – and the level of detail you can achieve is jaw-dropping. Zoom in to see the texture of your models’ lips, the pores in their skin. Thanks to the accelerometer on your iPad, the lighting, shadows and reflections shift as you tilt the screen – a very fun effect.

Among apps for artists, few reach the level of realism Prêt-à-Makeup is able to achieve. For pros and amateurs alike, it’s a fun way to highlight the best parts of yourself.

Quick tip

Hold your Apple Pencil at an angle for a diffuse application; perpendicular to the screen for precision work. Double-tap near the tip of your Apple Pencil to view colour options from the various make-up kits all at once.

Fun fact

In addition to human face charts, the app includes a few aliens and mythical creatures. If someone has three eyes, do you apply the same colour eye shadow to them all? The choice is yours!

Meet the creator

Brazilian founder and CEO Roberta Weiand studied fashion design at her hometown university in Porto Alegre. She released her first app, Prêt-à-Template, in 2014 to help people create and share fashion ideas. Today the team is a mix of engineers, fashion designers, graphic designers, illustrators, 3D artists and film-makers.