Faces adorned with fins or floating tentacles, eyes framed with iridescent algae, cheekbones decorated with flowers in full bloom... Welcome to the futuristic and ethereal universe of digital makeup artist Inès Alpha.
Since 2016, the Parisian artist has been exploring the possibilities of e-make-up by working on digitized bodies and pushing the boundaries of beauty using 3D software and augmented reality.
Her bold spirit and avant-garde vision appealed to Prada Beauty, who called on her to co-design its Prada Couleur makeup range.
To make the experience even more immersive, Inès Alpha has even created filters that allow you to test the products on yourself or explore other facial possibilities from another world.
Meeting with a pioneer of e-beauty.
Madame Figaro.-
You designed this range in collaboration with Lynsey Alexander, Global Creative Make-up Artist Prada Beauty.
How did the process go?
Inès Alpha.-
The brand had the ambition to bring together a digital make-up artist and a “physical” make-up artist, so we had to bring the two practices together.
Lynsey proposed pigments, formulas and physical tints on illustrations of faces drawn on paper.
For my part, I also suggested shades and beauty enhancements using 3D software that I projected onto digital avatars.
We understood that we had a lot of ideas in common and that we were on the same wavelength, but also that we were inspired by each other.
For example, Lynsey drew from the colors that I had created on the computer, which were very complicated to produce in laboratories and the physical world due to the constraints of raw materials and a certain know-how.
These are very powerful and saturated shades, full of light, which we don't necessarily have in reality.
How does this makeup range stand out from what already exists in the industry?
In addition to the extension and increase of makeup in the digital world, these eyeshadow palettes and lipsticks were inspired by fashion, with references coming directly from the history and prints of the house of Prada .
In my opinion, makeup is one of the integral accessories of a look, like a skirt or bag.
The Prada Dimensions palettes also allow you to create maximum look possibilities with few shades.
There are three complementary ones in neutral tones, and a fourth more daring, which allows you to go from basic daytime makeup to something more risky, with a real bias.
Or, just add a little touch of color, which is “very Prada”!
Your favorite product from the collection?
I had a lot of fun creating the palettes, it was fun to imagine all these color combinations... The more colors there are, the more I like it!
The one that suits me the most personally is the shade Pure 05, with this sky blue tint.
Prada Dimensions Pure 05 Palette from Prada Beauty.
Prada Beauty
Prada Monochrome lipstick from Prada Beauty.
Prada Beauty
How did you become a digital makeup artist?
I was an artistic director in an advertising agency for seven years, where I specialized in the world of luxury, fashion and beauty.
At the same time, I started learning to master 3D software in my free time to escape and express myself a little more artistically.
As I experimented with all these tools and honed my skills, I came up with the idea of blending my two areas of expertise.
I merged makeup and technology to create 3D makeup.
At first it was just a passion, I did it for fun, then it became my job.
I am very proud to be able to say that today it is real, that it was not just something that I had in my imagination, but that it is now a concrete profession.
Nature is the best designer.
We just copy her and try to be at her level, but she will always do better than us
Inès Alpha, Prada Beauty digital makeup artist
Where do you find inspiration?
Nature is the best designer.
We just copy her and try to be at her level, but she will always do better than us.
I am particularly inspired by the underwater environment.
It's a world to which we have little access, but if we take this universe out of the water with digital tools, post-production and special effects, it becomes magical and fantastic.
Drag Queen makeup also inspires me a lot.
It’s an art that made me want to work on self-expression.
Also read: Nicky Doll: “Drag queens have become makeup icons”
What part of the face do you prefer to work on?
The eyes.
Because it is the vehicle of our emotions, the first thing we notice about someone.
As soon as we can illuminate the look, amplify it or decorate it, the impact is stronger.
Also, because it is easier to integrate 3D around the eyes than around the mouth, for example, which is always moving.
What does 3D bring that is different from traditional makeup?
What is interesting is that it offers a lot of possibilities for expression, almost infinite.
It allows you to create your own reality.
We are a bit like God, we choose the gravity of the world, how things come to life, their texture, their color, etc.
And all this, in a short time.
We don't need materials, there are no physical constraints... apart from the cost of the software and the computer.
Of course, we test, we experiment, and sometimes there are failures.
For example, augmented reality and filter technology made it possible to notice many errors, such as the fact that face detection tools did not capture certain profiles or black skin.
This is how we allowed for more inclusiveness.
3D also creates a real digital community, particularly on social networks or the metaverse, where we can be as we are.
3D makeup offers a huge number of almost endless possibilities for expression.
It allows you to create your own reality
Inès Alpha, Prada Beauty digital makeup artist
How long does it take you to design 3D makeup?
It could take two weeks to a month.
It all depends on whether I'm working alone on a project or with a client.
Do you hope that one day we will be able to see your works worn in real life using futuristic accessories?
Of course, it's something I've been thinking about since the beginning of my career in this field.
The day we can see digital makeup with our own eyes, with lenses or augmented reality glasses for example, I hope to still be in this world!
The day we can see digital makeup with our own eyes, with lenses or augmented reality glasses for example, I hope to still be in this world!
Inès Alpha, Prada Beauty digital makeup artist
Like Prada, more and more brands are launching into augmented reality and the metaverse. Has this become a necessary step for luxury cosmetics brands?
It's completely normal that they want a piece of the pie, but you shouldn't force yourself to venture into it just because it's fashionable.
You have to use these new technologies when you have a good idea and you have something interesting to tell.
For Prada for example, it made sense, because it is a brand that has always been at the intersection of fashion, art and innovation.
It would be extremely frustrating to live in a world without physical makeup
Inès Alpha, Prada Beauty digital makeup artist
Are the metaverse and augmented reality the future of makeup?
Perhaps in a dystopia where we would all be completely dematerialized and where we would all live on a hard drive, which I don't hope for at all... I have a hard time imagining a world with essentially virtual makeup.
3D, augmented reality and the metaverse are complementary tools.
It would be extremely frustrating to live in a world without physical makeup.
I would miss the textures, the sensations and the smells.
(1) Prada Color range from Prada Beauty, available at Sephora, Galeries Lafayette and on the
Prada website
.