AI Chose My Makeup For A Week And The Results Were Actually Pretty Great

AI may struggle with fingers and teeth, but the makeup was on point.

By
Deshawn Thomas
by Deshawn Thomas

BuzzFeed Contributor

I’m a visual artist. Nearly every aspect of my life is driven by a desire to create, no matter the medium — from DIY projects to cosplay and elaborate face makeup, I’m constantly making something new. I’m always keen to experiment with new techniques, tools, and technology, so naturally I'm fascinated by artificial intelligence art generators. While I’m aware of the ongoing discourse surrounding AI art, including the lawsuits and ethical debates, my curiosity is a lot stronger than my apprehension about it.

So that’s why I decided to let AI choose my makeup over the course of five days. For the sake of consistency, I used the Dream by Wombo app to create all of the looks featured below. (I also chose this app because there’s a limit of 200 characters per prompt, and I liked the challenge of shorter prompts.) While I did my best to faithfully re-create the looks in the AI images, I took human liberties based on the supplies I had at hand and my own whims. Here’s what I created with the help of a machine.

Day 1: Sorta Cyberpunk

Deshawn Thomas

Prompt: Portrait of a futuristic cyberpunk makeup look on a beautiful African American woman, pastel colors, graphic eyeliner, glitter, shimmery eyeshadow, Harajuku, rhinestones, kawaii, trending on Instagram

I’m fascinated with the cyberpunk aesthetic, so this prompt felt like the place to start. I was sure to specify “pastel colors,” but I didn’t get them. In fact, the result was more reminiscent of Euphoria-style makeup than the “pastel cyberpunk” look I was hoping for. (Not that there’s anything wrong with the Euphoria aesthetic; Donni Davy, who does makeup for the show, is a genius!) I’ve since learned that a lot of AI art generators tend to interpret “cyberpunk” as supersaturated colors and bold neons, so it makes sense that simply adding “pastel colors” to the prompt wasn’t enough. Still, in the end, I thought this was a gorgeous look.

Day 2: Cottagecore Fairy

Deshawn Thomas

Prompt: Cottagecore makeup look on a beautiful African American woman, brown skin, freckles, whimsical, iridescent, floral, glitter, unique, fairies, colorful, ethereal, digital painting, colorful mascara, MUA

For Day 2, I wanted to have more control over the final results. In order to guide the AI in terms of color and basic composition, I used the graphics software Procreate to make this very crude input image:

Deshawn Thomas

I uploaded the image to the Dream app to accompany my text prompt, resulting in a trippy floral makeup design. When it came time to re-create this look IRL, I thought it would come out horribly. In fact, I wanted to quit midway through applying my makeup, but I decided to trust the process. I’m glad I did, because the results were so colorful, sparkly, and ornate. It turned out to be my favorite look of the week.

Day 3: Cute and Quick

Deshawn Thomas

Prompt: Pink and white makeup look on a beautiful African American woman, brown skin, freckles, glitter, Harajuku, Sanrio, colorful, pink, Animal Crossing, whimsical, detailed, kawaii, trending on TikTok

On Day 3, I attended a local nerd culture convention called StingrayCon, where I sold some of my own art and creations (everything from colorful keychains to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners fan art). Since I was pressed for time, I prompted the AI to generate a cute and simple makeup look that would match the outfit I’d put together: a pink dress, white leggings and platform shoes, a headband with white and pink cow ears, and a curly pink wig. I felt like the AI gave me exactly what I asked for. As a bonus, I got several compliments from people stopping by my table at the convention.

Day 4: Uzumaki

Deshawn Thomas

Prompt: Junji Ito–inspired makeup look on a stunning African American woman, brown skin, swirls, black, white, red, graphic liner, makeup artist, detailed, colorful, digital painting, editorial, Uzumaki

My fiancé and I had been watching Junji Ito Maniac on Netflix, an anime adaptation of Japanese horror manga artist Junji Ito’s macabre tales. I wanted this look to be a nod to Ito’s Uzumaki series, which is about a small town suffering from a curse involving spirals. The color palette and overall aesthetic were a stark contrast to the “rainbows and glitter” makeup I usually go for, so I was surprised by how much I liked the end result.

Day 5: Trendiest Makeup Look of 2023

Deshawn Thomas

Prompt: Close-up portrait of a stunning Black woman in whimsical makeup, metallic eyeshadow, bold lipstick, heavy blush, rhinestones scattered across her face, long sharp eyeliner, colorful, Afrofuturism

For the final day of my experiment, I based my prompt on a December 2022 Vogue article predicting “The 5 Biggest Makeup Trends of 2023.” I tweaked the keywords as needed to make sure the AI could actually decode what I meant to say. “Bold lip” and “bold lipstick” can mean very different things to an AI, for instance. The result was my second-favorite look: The eye makeup was avant-garde and over the top, while the unconventional two-toned lipstick combo screamed “glamorous Christmas.” It was different. It was weird. It was awesome.

Despite all the controversy surrounding AI art, I just can’t help feeling excited about the endless possibilities it offers to creators who aren’t afraid to have fun with it. Maybe I’ll let it choose my hairstyle next!

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