The “Impossibly NYX Professional Makeup” experience allows you to watch makeup tutorials by three different beauty vloggers. Using the Gear VR Controller, viewers can select different products being used within the tutorial to learn more information.
NYX showed Digital Trends a demonstration of the tutorials using Samsung Gear VR. In the beginning, you’re asked to fill out your basic information and answer a quick survey about your skin type. You’re then greeted by three different makeup vloggers — Kristen Leanne, Mykie, and Karen Sarahi Gonzales — and can choose which tutorial you’d like to experience based on the different looks each one has to offer.
Using the controller, you can swipe over one of the three vloggers to learn more about their social media following and see a preview of the finished look. As you watch the tutorials, you’ll see each product float across the screen in front of you — giving you an up close look along with details like pricing and exact names.
But the tutorial is filmed a bit differently than the ones you might be used to seeing on Instagram or YouTube. Rather than shooting close up, they sit farther back at a table while still explaining the process and making it more informative.
Our favorite feature was the ability to pause the tutorial to zoom in on the fully made-up face. Using the controller, you can see parts of the look in more detail such as eye shadow and contouring. Once you’re done, you can then choose to head back to the tutorial to finish up the rest of the look.
NYX’s launch into the technology space with the help of Samsung isn’t a first for makeup brands. Last month, MAC Cosmetics launched its own beauty mirror with the help of ModiFace’s AR technology. Rather than physically trying on makeup, customers can use the mirror to preview what a specific product would look like.
With the NYX VR experience, customers can use it to preview different types of looks that are possible with NYX makeup products. Since you’re already in the store, you can then easily purchase the exact products to create the same look.
The “Impossibly NYX Professional Makeup” is currently available for use in select stores within New York City and Los Angeles. It will also roll out across all of the brand’s retail locations throughout 2018.