Forget the Climate Change Catastrophe. Forget the Gulf Oil Spill scandal. The BIG news last week was the release of the new iPhone 4! What, you ask, does that have to do with our beauty science blog? Because the iPhone offers unique ways to increase your beauty knowledge and make you a smarter shopper – and that’s what the Beauty Brains are all about. Ok, maybe these Apps won’t really make you any smarter, but they could be a lot of fun anyway. So, without further ado, we present our list of the Top Ten iPhone Beauty Apps!
Top Ten iPhone Beauty Apps
Cosmetifique (Free)
1. Cosmetifique is a searchable database of over 5,000 ingredients in the International Nomenclature for Cosmetic Ingredients format, the official naming convention for cosmetic ingredients. You simply type in the ingredient of choice and the search results show up as red, orange or green to indicate whether the ingredient is great, good, or bad. We love the idea, but were concerned that the information is presented with an unscientific bias toward so-called natural ingredients.
2. Beauty Calls ($0.99)
Not to be confused with “Booty Calls” this App not only provides beauty tips and home recipes, but also digital coupons! You can actually MAKE money with this App.
3. Beauty Product Reviews (Free)
This is a 3 Star freebie that helps you figure out which new beauty product to buy. They claim to have over a quarter of a million of reviews on almost 50,000 different products! All your fave brands like M.A.C. and Clinique are here (and heck it’s free!) so check it out.
4. Beauty Minder ($1.99)
Need an easier way to track your beauty appointments? Then Beauty Minder is THE App for you. It keeps tabs of all your beauty resources like you stylist appointments, favorite nail colors, and the birthday of that guy at the mall who waxes your lip. There’s even a handy mapping function in case you forget how to get to Sephora.
5 OPI (Free)
The eponymous OPI App is a straightforward, but handy, little App that helps you select nail colors. You can browse and search over 200 OPI Nail Lacquer shades right from your iPhone or iPod Touch. You can even virtually try on colors by customizing the screen to match your skin tone. The feature is supposed to more closely represent how any given nail color will look on you. This ability to customize the app to your tastes is certainly an appealing feature, but this kind of “try before you buy” approach is limited by the companies ability to accurately capture YOUR individual skin tone.
6. Are You Hot or Not? ($0.99)
As the name implies, this App is designed to”rate your beauty.” Use at the risk of over (or under) inflating your self esteem. File this one under V for Vanity.
7. iPerfumer (Free)
World renowned fragrance house Givaudan, has created an App that helps you find new fragrances that you love by keeping track of the kind of fragrances that you know you like. When you’re in the mood to buy a new perfume it searches a database of 4,000 fine fragrances for similar scents that fit your taste.
8. Fat Booth ($0.99)
This bizarre “see-what-you’d-look-like-if-you-gain-a-bunch-of-weight App is kind of the the evil twin of “Are You Hot or Not.” This one is included for tongue-in-cheek value only – we don’t want to be responsible for inspiring any eating disorders. (Yes, Sarah Bellum, we’re talking about you!)
9. Beauty 911 ($1.99)
We love the idea of an iPhone App to deal with beauty “emergencies.” We’re just not sure what constitutes a legitimate beauty 911 situation. Still, since it’s endorsed by a former Major National Pagent winner, you just KNOW it’s worth two bucks.
10. Hair Make Over ($1.99)
Our list of beauty Apps wouldn’t be complete without one that let’s you try on virtual hairstyles. Hair Make Over has over 250 different hair styles that you can try on in less than a minute. (I assume that that’s a minute each, not a minute for all 250.) So whip out this bad boy next time you head over to the Hair Cuttery. (That’s where the Left Brain goes for a new “do.”)
Remember, if you buy any Apps through our links you’re helping to support the Beauty Brains!