How to use Google to pick the right makeup online

Google’s virtual try-on experience for shopping is enabled using AR. Users can try out products from brands Google has collaborated with by using the front camera.

Google will let you try on lipstick and eye shadow online before you buy it.  (Google )

Google's use of augmented reality (AR) is not restricted to bringing 3D animals into your living room and letting you take a tour of the International Space Station (ISS). You can now use the same tech now to try out makeup online before you buy it. Google is using AR to let you try on lipstick and eyeshadows virtually with the try-on experience in Google Search.

Now on, when you search for makeup on Google, for certain brands that Google has collaborated with you will get an option to virtually try them in. This option to experience these products online will show up right on top of your search results.

You can click through photos of models with different skin colours, find the one the most closely matches your own to see how the lipstick or eyeshadow you have chosen looks on the skin.

But taking it a step further, you can also try on these products by using your front camera. For this, the makeup shades will show up like filter palettes at the bottom of the camera feed and you can try them on one at a time.

This experience is similar to trying on filters on Snapchat or Instagram stories, but at the end of it in this case, you can get an idea about how the product looks on you and eventually buy it using Google's shopping tab.

"If you're shopping for beauty products, it's difficult to make a decision on such personal items without trying them on. Say you want to know how sheer a lip gloss is, how much pigment is in an eyeshadow or what a product will look like on your skin tone, it can be difficult to understand these things without seeing the products up close," Google explained in a blog post.

“To make it easier for you to answer these questions from home, we're working with data partners ModiFace and Perfect Corp to help you better visualize thousands of lipstick and eyeshadow shades from your favorite brands like L'Oreal, MAC Cosmetics, Black Opal and Charlotte Tilbury,” Google added.

ModiFace offers AR tech to beauty brands and Perfect Corp are the guys behind the popular YouCam Makeup app.

Google told TechCrunch that this AR-powered try-on experience is not an ad and these partner brands are not paying Google to be a part of this feature.

Google's shopping tab was all about product listings for the longest time. Google announced this year that it would make most of its retail listings on the shopping tab free. Along with this, Google will show recommendations from beauty, apparel, and home and garden enthusiasts and experts in the form of videos on Google Shopping.