beauty apps on the ‘droid

How has everyone’s weekend been going so far? Good I hope!

We’ve been lucky to have some nice weather lately in Adelaide but unfortunately the yucky (rainy) weather has returned just in time for the weekend… d’oh! It’s also too bad for many in Australia wanting to fly anywhere as one of our biggest airlines, Qantas, is shutting down for an indefinite period due to union related issues!!!!!! You can read more and watch news clips on this via this link –> http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8367129/qantas-will-lock-out-employees

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On a happier note, you may have noticed the new tab near the top of the blog’s page – Articles. As you can read there I have been writing some articles for MIKA Music & Lifestyle Magazine, which is available for *FREE* online (visit http://world.mikamagazine.com/). The contributors to the magazine are from all over the world and articles are on a wide variety of topics.

In the latest issue (3 – October – to be released soon) I’ve reviewed five free beauty apps available for Android (I have an HTC Desire and ❤ it!). In this blog entry I’ll only talk about two – one that I thought was the best, and one that I thought was the funniest! 🙂

(Sorry to iPhone users! If you are miffed about me not including iPhone apps, take comfort in the fact that currently O.P.I.’s app is only available for iPhone! ;-))

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The best app that I found when writing my article was My Beauty Adviser.

This app has been designed by Procter and Gamble, a US based cosmetics brand that owns Cover Girl, Pantene and more. It is a very professional looking app with a sleek design, and has 4 different sections you can explore – Mag, Beauty Bag, Explore and Profile. Of these my favourite was Mag, which is a magazine within the app updated approximately monthly. I liked this a lot as this part contained interesting beauty articles as well as video tutorials.

Beauty Bag is a section in which you can drag and drop different Procter and Gamble owned products that you have to make note of things such as their expiry date (it calculates this for you) – so you can later be reminded to buy more when needed! The Explore section gives you the opportunity to browse and gain more information on products by name, by scanning the barcode of a product you already have (or are looking at if shopping), or by voice. The Profile section appears to allow you to write reviews on products and undertake “consultations” which are basically quizzes about different aspects of beauty – at the end of the quiz particular products are recommended to you based on your needs.

This app is user friendly, packed with features, and well designed. However, the downside is that it only features Procter and Gamble owned brands, which is a bit limiting. I wouldn’t mind using the product expiry reminder feature for all of my makeup (of many different brands)!

Another beauty app that I found very fun to use (and could while away quite a bit of time with – hahahaha!)  was Hair Change.

This Korean app – which has the main menu items in English so non Korean speakers won’t get stuck – is a lot of fun. It is designed to help you find the right hairstyle for you, in a similar way to popular hair websites such as thehairstyler.com, and has a section for both women and men. You first take your picture on your phone via the app and then can choose from many different hair styles (short, medium and long), change the colours, and even play around with your outfit! Once you are done you can save the picture (e.g. to show your hairdresser) or share it online with friends.

All of the help information is in Korean, but you shouldn’t need it. This app is well designed and user friendly.

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What are some of your favourite beauty apps, for Android or iPhone? More broadly, what is your favourite app of all????

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Thanks to all of those reading my blog and Raia from MIKA Magazine – I appreciate your support! xxx