Give yourself a makeover with Lumia
From adding a beard to trying out a stylish hairdo, you can test new looks with your Windows Phone before attempting them in real life.
Who doesn’t want to play around with their appearance? Whether it’s just for laughs or for testing out a brand-new look, you can give yourself a virtual makeover using your Lumia phone.
Some Windows Phone apps can change the way you look–sometimes radically. We’ve listed some of our favorites below. Just remember to have a sense of humor about the results!
Most of these apps will ask that you begin by taking a selfie. For best results, face the camera, look straight on, and make sure the lighting on your face is bright and evenly lit.
The Silly
Beardify – Grow a Beard (free)
Now anyone can landscape himself or herself with a full-on face forest. Ever wonder what you’d look like with a soul patch, mutton chops, or a Van Dyke? This imaginative app adds those facial hair styles and many more, even if you already sport a beard. (My new Santa beard fits seamlessly over my real one.)
Weirdest feature: You can choose to wear a cat’s head instead of a beard. Um, OK.
Oldify – Face your Old Age (99 cents)
You don’t have to imagine what you’ll look like in 20, 40, or even 60 years with Oldify. This app ages your selfie photo with wrinkles and age spots, giving you a glimpse of your future. It’s all in good fun, though I think the results of what I’ll look like in 60 years may be scarily accurate.
Weirdest feature: Seeing yourself burp and sneeze as an octogenarian in the animated video mode.
Fatify – Get Fat (free)
See what you’d like with full-figured proportions in this novelty app. Fatify can add 10-300 kilograms (that’s 22 to 661 pounds!) to your body weight, giving your face a notably fuller appearance.
Weirdest feature: If you also have Beardify installed, you can unlock the “neck beard.” Ewww.
The Stylish
StylEyez ($1.99)
Change the color of your eyes with styles ranging from realistic to creepy. StylEyez can also help you decide which color of contact lens to get.
Magic Mirror ($2.49)
Designed for men and women, Magic Mirror allows you to try out a fresh new hairstyle before visiting your stylist. It’s easy to use, and there are several different hairstyles and coloring options available.
Perfect365 (free)
Give yourself a more subtle makeover with Perfect365. This portrait app takes an existing selfie, scans it, and enhances it by smoothing out your blemishes, giving your skin a healthy glow, or–as you can see in my photo–giving me long, luxurious eyelashes and lipstick. No judgments!
Lumia Selfie (free)
Tweak your selfies with this free app that lets you enhance your eyes, soften your skin, slim your face, and widen your smile. You can also choose from a myriad of filter effects and backgrounds such as black & white antique, poster, and, my personal favorite, magazine.
Have you given yourself a silly or stylish makeover using Lumia? Post your best new look in the comments below!