Makeup Artist Jillian Dempsey Launched an App to Help You Get Really Good at Makeup in Quarantine
When it's necessary to stay inside as much as you can, you end up having a lot more free time — and, in turn, plenty more boredom with a side of frustration about our current reality. For those of us who are passionate about beauty, playing with makeup at home can become a coping mechanism and a way to maintain a sense of normalcy. That's how makeup artist Jillian Dempsey is seeing things, anyway.
This month, Dempsey launched a makeup-education app she's been working to develop for three years called Fyfe Beauty. The membership-based app is divided into two primary features, the first of which is called Shade Arcade. There, you can use your front-facing phone camera to try on a plethora of specific makeup products virtually, thanks to the help of facial-recognition technology. Right now the app can show you various lipsticks, eye shadows, eyeliners, blushes, and full makeup looks, but Dempsey says she plans to expand both the range of product types and brands featured in this section.
"You'll notice a lot of these [products] are the Jillian Dempsey brand; I hope to expand that into other lands with other beauty brands that want to get on this platform," she explains. "I want to work together with other brands that see this as being a cool way to virtually shop, and I think that the virtual world now is necessary."
The second half of the app, however, is where makeup artistry itself comes into play. This portion, as of the app's launch, features 67 different video tutorials across seven categories with tips on makeup basics like how to prep skin for base products, how to apply cream highlighter, and how to tightline eyes with pencil liner. You might be thinking that there are other places on the Internet where you can learn this kind of stuff, but as Dempsey says, her quick video bites cut out the time and chit-chat some people don't want in their beauty how-tos.
"If you're going on an app, why would you want to have to go through listening to, 'Oh, what's going on with me and my hair and here's my joke for the day'?" Dempsey explains. "You want to get on an app, and you want to see how this is going to provide a service for you," Not only does the platform cut down on time and guesswork with close-up shots and simple instructions, it will also provide one curated space where other professional makeup artists can share their own signature looks and tips.
"Right now, as I am kickstarting this journey, you're only going to see me," Dempsey says. "And either I'm the right makeup artist for you or I'm not." But just like the Shade Arcade, she has big plans to expand the education content portion of the app to feature plenty more tips from herself and other makeup artists. Before social distancing became recommended, Dempsey shot tons of content she plans to roll out over the following months.
"I have at least three months of content," Dempsey says. "I shot over 200 videos showing how to do everything from glitter application to — well, everything." She also filmed tutorials with two other makeup artists but has yet to record their voice-overs. Kate Lee and Molly R. Stern are both makeup artists that Dempsey casually name-drops — who knows? Maybe you'll be seeing content from them on Fyfe in the future.
But whether Dempsey's personal style of makeup is up your alley or not, there's still plenty to be learned from her right now while you have the time to educate (or re-educate) yourself on makeup basics. "If you have the downtime, now might be the time to perfect your flick or master a couple of little things on your face that maybe you've never thought of before," she says. Batch one of the videos, Dempsey adds, covers more beginner- and intermediate-level tips as a starting point; there will be more tutorials on advanced techniques and looks down the line.
Dempsey certainly wasn't planning to launch this app during a global pandemic, by the way, but the circumstances didn't stop her, either. Though some people might think of makeup routines as superfluous right now, Dempsey points out that they can serve as much-needed creative outlets during this strange and very upsetting time.
"If you're bored and you are creative, this is a perfect thing to do," she says. "You're stuck at home and you might be in your sweatpants every single day, but there is something [to beauty] — I like beauty because it's creative and it's colorful, and I like change." If you agree with Dempsey, consider Fyfe your source for makeup techniques you've never been able to learn, or maybe even a reintroduction to the classic looks you already love.
Fyfe Beauty is available to download on iOS now. A monthly membership costs $6.
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Originally Appeared on Allure
