BEAUTY, THE METAVERSE AND BEYOND
PAIGE PISKIN:
From her beauty beginnings to AI art and the future of virtual beauty, this is everything you need to know.
Contributors:
- IMAGERY: PAIGE PISKIN
Paige Piskin is changing the game. An Augmented Reality (AR) creator known for her futuristic makeup filters, Paige has been shaping the face of social media with her makeup filters on Instagram and TikTok. With over 900k followers on Instagram, Paige has amassed an incredible 220 billion views across social media and her filters have been worn by everyone from Billie Eilish to Kim Kardashian. It’s safe to say that in URL and IRL, she’s killing it.
ICYMI, last week was the first ever Metaverse Beauty Week and Metaverse Beauty took over FLANNELS X, Oxford Street, London, with expert guest speakers and a multiverse of AR and AI try-on experiences that celebrated the art of looking good in every dimension.
Piskin joined us in store to give a talk all about her experiences with the virtual world and sat down with us to go on a deep dive into all things beauty. From her beauty beginnings to AI art and the future of virtual beauty, this is everything you need to know.
Where did your journey with beauty begin and what are your earliest beauty memories?
When I was young, my mom exposed me to some of the most amazing beauty icons, like Sophia Loren, Rochelle Welsh and Bridgette Bardot. I immediately loved their style and how they did their makeup. I got so into makeup that my mom got me a book called Making Faces by Kevyn Aucoin. I learned a lot back then, and I started playing with makeup a lot in my teens.
How did your journey with virtual beauty begin?
As a child I was really into avatar style worlds. I grew up in the ‘90s and I had these platforms back then called Avatar World and The Palace. It would be these little 2D characters that would move around a space, but you were able to customise your avatar… and I fell in love with the idea of the metaverse back then.
You’re completely self-taught, how has this influenced the way you approach your career and creativity?
In the augmented reality space I’ve been learning as I go. I learned 3D modelling, texturing, how to do digital makeup and how to make it look more real. Any time I want to learn something new, I searched on YouTube and on AR communities and asked for advice. I really rely heavily on digital learning. I’m actually creating a course myself on how to create filters, because it’s hard for people to jump into.
Talk us through creating a look – where does the inspiration come from and what does the process look like?
Inspiration comes from different sources. One is current trends, things on Pinterest, different makeup looks, that’s a big source of inspiration. I also draw characters, so I’ll take the character and recreate it in AR. And the last is using AI for inspiration. It’s such a cool thing to be able to prompt ideas, play with your prompts and come up with different makeup looks. Something inspires me and I’ll use that as a spark.
The metaverse is increasingly everywhere and it’s really started to infiltrate the mainstream, but it’s particularly prominent in the world of beauty. Why do you think this is?
We’re all drawn to avatar customisations. On a video game, the first thing you do is you create your character. I could spend hours creating my character on The Sims or Alder Scrolls. It’s important to us to create these avatars and I feel like that’s why we’re so drawn to filters that allow us to become different characters. When we go into these metaverses, we’re into like customising our avatars, we’ll buy clothing if we can’t find something that’s for free that we like. We really want to have something that suits our identity, digitally.
What’s your favourite thing about virtual beauty?
I love the limitlessness of virtual beauty. You could take it in any direction that you want. From making a realistic makeup look in VR or AR so you don’t have to wear makeup, you can go to a Zoom meeting and just have digital makeup on. But I like that you can get really creative. You can get into in depth character transformations. There’s a big spectrum of digital identity. You could be anywhere and just have fun.
I LOVE THE LIMITLESSNESS OF VIRTUAL BEAUTY
What’s one thing you wish more people knew about the metaverse and virtual beauty?
I wish people knew just how many creative pieces are out there. A lot of us might see something our friends share and then wear that filter on Instagram or TikTok. But if you explore the effect galleries and you look at different effects by category, you can find so many incredible effects that are so creative, from sci-fi style to fairy creatures or unique makeup looks. I would love to see people explore that space more. And to see what’s happening in places like Decentraland or Spatial, because it’s amazing. I was blown away with what the experience was like.
Digital identities are so limitless… how do you see this evolving as AR/the metaverse continues to grow?
As the Metaverse continues to grow, technology gets more advanced and computer power gets faster, we’re going to seee much higher quality versions of our own effects. They’ll be rendered the way you see in movies. Like in Marvel or Disney, you see this high-quality rendering. Imagine that in real time on yourself as a Wearable, becoming someone like Wonderwoman but really having that studio quality. I think we’re going to see that in the space, especially with the incorporation of AI.
What do you think virtual beauty means for the industry and for individuals?
Virtual beauty makes different parts of the beauty industry accessible for people around the world. Wherever you are, you could try out different makeup looks from home. As this industry advances more and we get more realistic try on experiences, it just becomes more accessible for everybody to have a really good experience online; trying out different concealers or trying out lipsticks and knowing ‘does this type of foundation work with my skin texture, does this lipstick work with my skin type’.
AR beauty is bridging the gap between IRL and URL, and it’s bridging the gap between us and celebrities. Your makeup filters have been used by megastars like Ariana Grade, Billie Eilish and Kylie Jenner, what does this mean to you?
Over the years it’s been mind blowing. I was just creating these filters for myself, and I watched as people were sharing them, from my friend group to their friends and then their friends of friends. And then, Grimes was following me. I’d created some Cyberpunk filters and I guess she was looking for that key word. Then she used my filters in her music video, I Am Dark. That was a big point in my career. I’ve always loved her music and her style, so it felt like ‘wow, I’ve really reached my niche’. After that I started getting followed by celebrities, like Brie Larson and Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and Kim Kardashian wore my effects. And that’s all because of filters.
Who would be your dream person to have wear your filters?
Lady Gaga, because she’s so creative.
What’s been your biggest career moment to date?
Being a guest judge on Glow Up. It was such a cool experience to be part of a production like that, to connect with the judges and see the makeup artists. How amazing and how talented they are and how they work so fast and create on the fly. For me, coming up with ideas takes a while. But they move so quickly and they’re so creative.
Increasingly, celebrities like Doja Cat and Lizzo are drawing inspiration from AR beauty for their IRL beauty looks. Why do you think virtual beauty is such a good source of inspiration for creating IRL beauty looks?
In virtual beauty we can try out different looks without committing. We don’t have to spend any time, you can just try it out, you can click a button and completely transform yourself. Whether it’s somebody like Doja Cat becoming different characters and getting inspiration from that or trying out a makeup look with colours you never thought to try, or styling that you never thought to try. You get to try out different looks, and it really made me think as a creator ‘wow these are makeup looks I’ve never actually tried in real life’, and it gave me the courage to actually try it out. You can draw a lot of inspiration from filters.
Who are some creatives in the industry we should be following? Who is inspiring you?
There’s a lot of amazing creators out there, especially in the AR space. Dmitri from Face Me, Face Me is an amazing agency, I’ve been inspired by the work they do and by Wondermilk who’s part of that team, from the beginning of starting to create filters, I’ve always been inspired by them. And there’s Alpha whose part of this event and she’s been just innovating for so many years, there’s like tons of other creators out there. Locus Solus Studio is really amazing, they do really incredible 3d modelling and texturing, gorgeous makeup looks and creative digital styles.
In IRL, what’s the one beauty you could never live without?
I would say BB cream. It makes you feel like you’re not wearing any makeup, it’s nice and subtle, it’s good for everyday and going out.
What do you think is next in the world of virtual beauty?
As we get more into AI, right now there’s this period where we’re getting a shock factor from it, and we’re creating digital versions of ourselves where we’re using AI portrait tools, we’re using Mid Journey to come up with concepts. There’s a little controversy here and there. But I feel like it’s going to approach this phase where it becomes utility. AI is going to become really useful in terms of being able to make product recommendations, makeup recommendations and recommending the right products for your skin. I use AI all the time to ask questions about products and if they’re safe for the skin. You can dive deep into that kind of response, it can tell you, ‘are these products safe for my skin’, ‘do they have any damage over long term’, ‘how does sunlight impact these products’, and it’ll give you a deep dive. It’s going to be incredible.
From creating internet breaking filters to being dubbed an ‘Artistic Master of AR’ by Meta, you’ve reached some incredible milestones in your career so far. What’s next for you?
I’m looking forward to creating more filters for fun. I love sitting down, designing effects and learning more. I’m looking forward to spending more time learning. And learning to create effects for the outside world that transform the environment. I’ve always focused on creating digital avatars, but I like creating in the world space too. So I’m going to get more into that.