How To Build a Virtual Makeover like YouCam: SDK or White Label Makeup App

8 min readFeb 24, 2020

This post will guide you on how to develop a virtual makeup try on app like YouCam using virtual makeup SDK or buying white label makeup app. We cover the main features for virtual makeovers and explain the aspects of working with SDK or white label model.

What’s a virtual makeover like YouCam

Virtual Makeover like YouCam is a smart beauty camera app that allows users to try on makeup, hair colors, and accessories via augmented reality. It works with neural networks trained to detect and modify the right part of the face e.g. lips or hair and face tracking technology to provide real-time experience.

With virtual makeovers you can browse companies catalog at the comfort of your home, select the products you like and instantly see how they fit. In seconds, you can visualize makeup or hair colors right on your face and nail your perfect look in real time.

Virtual makeup software can be divided into 2 types

AR beauty camera where the main goal is to engage the audience with face modification, and photo or video editing features. Examples: YouCam Makeup app.
Virtual makeup try ons where you can test real products from cosmetic companies and buy them from mobile or by visiting a website. Examples: Sephora Virtual Artist, L’Oreal Makeup try-on apps, Maybelline makeup app.

Main features of virtual makeovers

If you consider developing an app like YouCam, you need to determine what features it should include and how you can scale them in future. Here is a shortlist of the most significant functionality to consider when building a beauty AR app:

Real-time makeover
Face beautification
Virtual hair color try on
Facial feature modification e.g. slim down cheeks
Photo / video editing
Face filters and AR effects
Beauty community
Social network integration

In case your main goal is to increase makeup sales, advertise products or drive more audience to your store or website, you may consider the following features:

Makeup looks

Given hundreds of makeup options with all varieties of shadows and tone, many women have trouble finding the right look. Predefined makeup looks that combine several products can be extremely helpful and fun to use.

Shade adviser

Makeup recommendations based on the user skin tone, age, hair color or face shape are a great way to engage consumers in a personalized way.

Skin analyzer

YouCam can track your skin conditions estimating its texture and wrinkles allowing users to track their skin health which is a great feature for user retention.

CMS integration

If you opt to sell or advertise makeup products via your app, you need to keep track of engagement stats with specific items, place links to your products on website or give the possibility to buy from the app.

Fast performance and easy UI are fundamental for any mobile app. Face tracking and AI algorithms should function robustly on a broad range of devices and with different skin colors and lighting conditions.

How to develop an app like YouCam: Face Beauty SDK or White Label

Building an app like YouCam can be a timely and costly endeavour. The easiest and fastest way is to use the right Virtual Makeup SDK or purchase White Label Makeup App with similar features like YouCam and customize it per your needs. Here, we explore each way.

Virtual Makeup SDK with features like YouCam

Virtual Makeup SDK is a software development kit that provides developers with code samples, tools and libraries allowing them to integrate makeup try on and face modification features into their apps or to build virtual makeover apps from scratch.

When choose Virtual Makeup SDK

Using Virtual Makeup SDK to develop an app like YouCam is a go-to way for mid-size companies, large enterprises or beauty brands who have internal development resources. Such companies may need a new app with the beauty AR features or want to integrate them into already existing products — mobile or web — to grow and retain the audience.

Consider choosing SDK when:

You have a team of in-house or subcontractor resources to develop your app features. The usage of a Virtual Makeup SDK to develop your beauty AR app still involves some coding efforts along with future app support.
You have design resources to provide the app content i.e. makeup looks or AR effects. Augmented Reality SDK is shipped with Effect Constructor and Viewer tools which allow you to create and test your makeup looks before uploading to your app.
You run an existing mobile app and want to add more features. Virtual Makeup SDKs include a variety of features however, you can use only some of them e.g. hair recolor or video beautification to keep the price down at the start and then scale up adding more as your app grows.
You need a high level of feature customization. You can integrate SDK features into any workflow or use scenario and wrap them in any UI.

The cost of Virtual Makeup SDK is generally licenced on an annual basis with different pricing models, e.g. monthly, quarterly or annual payment and depends on a specific set of features and use cases (number of apps, platforms, support package, etc). Please, get in touch with us to discuss your use case and pricing if you’re interested in Beauty AR SDK.

White Label AR beauty solution

The white label makeup app allows companies to make use of the functionality which has already been developed and released in other provider apps. The white-label solution allows you to to boost sales and increase consumer outreach through personalized makeup try on experience. You configure your beauty products, makeup looks or beautification parameters the way it matches with your audience and brand.

How White Label model works

To explain better how you can get an virtual makeover app similar to YouCam, we take our Easy Snap app for iOS, Android as an example which we offer as a white label solution for cosmetic brands, beauty shops or AR app development companies.

Easy Snap is a beauty selfie camera that features all Banuba Beauty AR technologies. The prime target audience is female, 18–40 age, vloggers, beauty enthusiasts.

We discuss custom UI branding. You can customize UI elements, positioning, makeup looks, colors and features.
Customization. We build a custom version of our beauty AR app ‘EasySnap’
Content adjustment. We configure portrait and makeup tools, design custom assets and upload in your app.
Launch. We help with publishing in the App Store and Google Play.
Support. We further support your app updating it with our technology improvements.

The price of white label makeup app is licensed on an annual basis the same as SDK and is calculated based on the platforms, the level of customization and the support hours. If you’re interested to learn how much it will cost to create a white label makeup solution for your brand, please test our Easy Snap app for iOS or Android and submit your requirements via a website form.

Reasons to choose white label makeup app:

Fast and easy launch. You can launch your app within a month.
Proven user retention strategies. We share and apply our best practices for user retention in your while label makeup app, which we’ve gained for our app. This way you maximize the efficiency of your budget for user acquisition.
No development and support costs. You don’t need to hire a technical team to launch and support your app, it is done at our side.
Cost-effective research. You can research the market demand, launch campaigns and generate value with a white label makeup app at a relatively lower budget rather than you’d spent it on developing an app from scratch.
Lower risks. With the white label model, you get an already tested and proven tool to engage with your target audience, which means lower risks for your business.
Dedicated PM. You communicate all requirements with a dedicated specialist who keeps you updated on the process.
Cross promotion. We can help you amplify your project by advertising it in our apps, social networks, beauty influencers and face filter communities.

When purchase White Label Makeup App

The white label makeup app model is a best-fit for businesses that don’t have enough development resources or are pressed of time and look to jump into the beauty makeover market quickly. Besides, developing an app like YouCam requires both technical expertise, knowledge of the market and the mobile consumer mindset. Consider the white label model if:

You want to launch quickly or explore the market interest
You don’t have internal development or design resources
You want to engage millennials with beauty AR experiences but don’t have resources or time to develop an app from scratch.
You’re a beauty brand or cosmetic store looking to explore new channel of client acquisition

How brands increase ROI with virtual makeover software

78% of millennial and Gen Z women surveyed say they would be more likely to purchase makeup products if they could try them on virtually

Over recent years, many leading cosmetic brands have been adopting augmented reality technology to enable virtual makeup try on service for their products. The most significant use cases that brought a significant ROI increase:

L’Oreal released its first virtual cosmetics try on app Makeup Genius in 2014. The app has been downloaded over 35 mln times and has become the №1 lifestyle app in 47 countries. It got about 260m virtual product trials that led to conversions increase.
Olay, the skincare brand, has doubled its sales conversions, reduced its bounce rate for online visitors by 1/3 and increased average basket size due to the AI Skin Advisor platform released back in 2016, according to VentureBeat’s report.
MAC Cosmetics has launched the virtual try-on mirrors in its physical stores across the country. The company expects a 31% sales increase due to AR-powered in-store experience.
Macy’s, an American department store chain, will expand its mobile virtual try on letting consumers try on over a thousand makeup items from major brands. The expansion follows a successful test of lip products with a small number of users. Jill Ramsey, Chief Digital Officer at Macy’s, said 2/3 of online traffic and half of digital sales come from mobile devices, making its app users the “most loyal customer,” per Adweek.