Essence bolsters its beauty offerings with the first digital makeover application created for African-American women. The tool, Makeover Magic launches today and is being sponsored by the fastest growing cosmetics line for African-American women, COVERGIRL Queen Collection.
Makeover Magic, is designed to provide Black women with a virtual salon and makeup counter experience. Users can upload their photos, select from a diverse palette of cosmetics as well as relatable celebrity hair styles to “try on” before clicking to purchase. The virtual transformations make the popular celebrity styles of Beyonce or Rihanna accessible to every-day women. Operating as more than a tool, Makeover Magic facilitates a dynamic beauty community experience that provides users the option to share, post or have their looks voted on, within their social networks via Facebook and Ning compatible widget.
“Makeover Magic is an innovative tool that offers the ESSENCE.com visitor a rich user experience and virtually connects her to the ESSENCE beauty and fashion editors. The makeover tool is modern, creative and empowering just like the ESSENCE.com brand. Building confidence and self awareness through technology is just another way ESSENCE.com is bringing its audience into the future,” says Essence.com Managing Editor, Emil Wilbekin.
Designed to accommodate the beauty needs of Black women, Makeover Magic offers users the best products available – including makeup from COVERGIRL Queen Collection – a line inspired by Queen Latifah to celebrate the beauty of women of color. COVERGIRL Queen Collection is dedicated to producing shade ranges and pigments designed specifically for women of color; the quality products are expertly formulated for deeper skin tones, and at a value price, are accessible for all women.
To further engage users, Essence and COVERGIRL launched an online Model Search, (ending June 18, 2009), empowering everyday woman to celebrate their unique beauty characteristics and win the opportunity to be the face of Makeover Magic as a featured default model image within the tool. Hundreds of contestants have submitted their headshots, making them eligible to win a lavish photo shoot and gifts including an array of COVERGIRL Queen Collection cosmetics.
Essence.com General Manager, Lesley Pinckney says: “Great web experiences marry easy to use, engaging technology and great branded content from a trusted source. With Makeover Magic — Essence.com is unveiling the first makeover tool for women of color everywhere. In addition to Essence.com we will be working with partners to include this widget on their site, and hopefully will roll-out this as a mobile offering by 4th quarter. This is the first part of a multi-tiered strategy to becoming the leading online beauty destination for women of color, over the next 6-12 months we will debut out additional functionality, as well as new tools and franchises to cement the expertise we’ve proved offline.”