APP STORE AWARDS

iPad App of the Year

Prêt à Makeup

Makeup illustration & beauty.

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This app is revolutionizing makeup artistry while fostering inclusivity and self‑expression.

—App Store Editors

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

Start by choosing one of the roughly 40 line-drawn faces in the app, which represent a range of races and genders (including gender neutral). These are your blank canvases—a place to challenge conventional beauty standards and highlight features that make you feel confident and comfortable.

To push your creativity, select one of the nonhuman face charts. When you apply metallic makeup, like 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 realize 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 hues that feel true to you.

For each tool, you can also mix and match among preset color palettes. Complement the aubergine lipstick from the Made in the ’80s makeup 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.

Read more about the 2023 winners

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 color options from the various makeup 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 color of 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 filmmakers.

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2023 App Store Award Winners