The beauty world loves a bit of augmented reality. In fact, in recent years, so many beauty brands have utilised its powers to enable customers to try on their products without, well, actually trying on their products. Revolutionary in theory, but the problem is, so many of these apps simply suck. Virtual lipstick sits a bit skew-whiff, fake false lashes struggle to find your real-life lash line and digitalised eyeshadow shades end up no match to their physical counterparts.

But finally, I’ve found a beauty AR app that’s genuinely brilliant. So much so that I’ve already spent well over an hour experimenting with its services. 

What is it? The new Chanel Lipscanner app. Launching this week, the clever technology allows you to find a lipstick shade that will match pretty much any item of inspiration. It’s a bit like the Dulux paint colour match service; take a picture of anything you love, and it will hunt through the kaleidoscope of Chanel lipsticks to find the shade that corresponds the closest.

Take that red jumper you absolutely love, for instance. All you have to do is take a picture of it, use the paint dropper tool to select the colour, and the app will suggest a lipstick in the very same shade. And it works for pictures that already exist in your camera roll too, meaning you can reminisce over past holidays by finding lipstick shades inspired by your favourite travel photos.

Even cleverer still, the app will also (virtually) apply the lipstick shade to your lips. Considering beauty stores remain closed for the time being, swatching and trialing shades before buying is pretty much impossible, so the app offers the perfect way to figure out if you even like the colour before making room in your make-up bag. And don’t worry, the tech is so slick that the AR application is impressively precise. No wonky lipstick here.

For my first test of the app, I sought inspiration in my breakfast and took a picture of my morning grapefruit. The lipstick match? A subdued pinky red shade in a matte finish. It’s a hue I wouldn’t normally pick for myself had I simply seen it in the bullet, but I actually really love it. 

Senior beauty writer Hanna also used the app to end her life-long search of the ideal orange lipstick. 

“I’ve always wanted to be more adventurous with orange-toned lipstick and whenever I think of my perfect shade, I come back to this terracotta skirt” she said. “It’s the perfect rich, burnt orange but a colour that’s so hard to find in beauty products. Which is why I was so impressed when a quick picture brought up an exact match in seconds. The search is finally over!”

There is only one downside to the app. It’s no real biggie, but as the shade encyclopaedia covers only Chanel’s lip products – all 400 of them – you won’t find every imaginable colour on there. But let’s face it, only so many occasions call for neon green lipstick anyway… 

Images: courtesy of Chanel.