Thanks to the events of 2020 - leading many of us to spending a lot more time at home - online shopping rates have gone up by around 22,958,748%. You know. Roughly. We're guessing. It's not an official stat.
And while beauty etailers are one of the best ways to shop your make-up favourites, the one drawback is that you can't swatch testers before you buy as you would in store.
Few things are worse than splashing out on a brand new foundation or lipstick online, only to find that the shade is a complete mismatch or simply doesn't suit you at all when it arrives. Sound familiar? We've all been there.
At least, this was the case until Google took a few steps to change things.
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Last week the company announced its new AR beauty counter, created with ModiFace and Perfect Corp, which allows us to try on beauty products from the comfort of our own home.
The new virtual beauty counter comes as an addition to the Google Shopping app and allows you to search and try on products from all of your favourite brands, from the best BB creams to lipsticks and eyeshadows.
According to Byrdie, you're also able to get beauty recommendations and tips using Shoploop, which brings you 90-second shoppable videos. Technology these days, hey.
There is one small catch: the Google Shopping app is obviously only available to download from the Google Play store, so for now iPhone users are missing out on the virtual beauty fun.
Let's hope something similar is rolled out across the board soon, because this is going to make online shopping a whole lot easier in 2021.
Cheers, Google!
Lucy is a beauty journalist who has written for titles including Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Women's Health, InStyle and Woman & Home, and regularly contributes to My Imperfect Life. Most recently she was Junior Beauty Editor at Marie Claire. Covering skincare, haircare, make-up and wellbeing, her job involves anything from picking the brains of the world's top dermatologists to swatching the latest and greatest foundations. When she's not got beauty on the brain, you're most likely to find her spending time with dogs (her sister owns one very sassy cockapoo), reading or sleeping. She's also a big fan of RuPaul's Drag Race, rosé and and house plants that stay alive.
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