YouTube Launches AR Beauty Try-On For Virtually Testing Makeup

By Annie Baker ● Jun 20, 2019
  • YouTube has announced a new AR Beauty Try-On feature that allows viewers to try on makeup virtually.

YouTube has launched a new feature called AR Beauty Try-On, which allows viewers to try on makeup virtually while watching beauty tutorials.

YouTube AR Beauty Try-On

The AR Beauty Try-On feature is available through Google’s in-house branded content platform called FameBit. And this feature is currently being tested and is expected to arrive later this summer.

This feature is a big deal since makeup tutorials and reviews are some of the most popular videos on YouTube.  AR Beauty Try-On features a split screen design so you can see yourself putting on the virtual makeup while watching the vlogger talk about it.

As part of the program, brands are connected with YouTube influencers who market products via paid sponsorships.

“M·A·C Cosmetics is the first brand to partner with FameBit to launch an AR Beauty Try-On campaign. Using this new format, brands like M·A·C will be able to tap into YouTube’s vibrant creator community, deploy influencer campaigns to YouTube’s 2 billion monthly active users, and measure their results in real time,” wrote YouTube’s Head of Branded Experiences of AR & VR Aaron Luber. “We tested this experience earlier this year with several beauty brands and found that 30 percent of viewers activated the AR experience in the YouTube iOS app, spending over 80 seconds on average trying on lipstick virtually.”

YouTube also launched a new immersive display format called Swirl for mobile web platforms that allow consumers to view products in a 360-degree view. So you can rotate products, zoom in and out, and play animations. This format is available through Display and Video 360.

And Google also launched a new format in Display & Video 360 that allows brands to run their YouTube live stream content in display ads — which can also be built with Google Web Designer.