If you haven’t heard the name Mimi Choi — you’re missing out. She’s a makeup artist from Vancouver, B.C. that isn’t just doing weddings or special events — Mimi takes makeup artistry to the next level.
Mimi Choi creates makeup optical illusions that are mind-bending pieces of art.
The 31-year old Canadian makeup artist wasn’t always creating these insane masterpieces. Before doing makeup, Mimi was a pre-school teacher. Although she loved working with kids, she felt the need to do something that harnessed her creativity.
Mimi began experimenting with different makeup brushes at home and even enrolled in a local beauty college to learn and perfect new skills. She loved playing around with different looks but had never done any costume makeup before.
It wasn’t until she was inspired while searching for a Halloween look on Instagram that her crazy talent was sparked.
Mimi found a photo of a woman on Instagram whose makeup gave the illusion that her skin and her her face were cracked. Even though she had never attempted doing makeup in this style before, she decided to give it a shot.
Using black and white eyeliner, Mimi created her first makeup optical illusion. From there, the rest was history and Mimi’s talent at perfecting mind-blowing makeup creations has gone to new heights.
Mimi uses makeup to create shadows that give the illusion of the skin popping out, receding, or not even there at all.
Her brush and color techniques make skin look like it’s cracking, split into pieces, or completely missing.
“My main goal each time I do a new look is to beat myself from yesterday because I’m the biggest critic and competition to myself. It’s gotten really hard to impress myself these days but it motivates me to keep trying and doing better,” Mimi told Allure magazine.
For the most part, Mimi uses normal makeup products and tries to stay away from special effects makeup; she wants to really challenge herself — although she does use paintbrushes to help her with the fine details and strokes.
Her creations are so intricate and detailed that it’s hard to believe it’s not a Photoshopped picture.
Her mind-warping looks can take anywhere from an hour to over 5 hours depending on the intricacy. She has even used makeup to turn hands into sushi.
“My sushi looks were inspired by a sushi dinner that I had,” she says. “I’ve seen people paint animals on their hands before, but I thought why not food?”
She’s even a master at creating the illusion of bugs, snakes, and animals as well.
Her masterpieces are beyond impressive and are sure to make you take a few extra blinks to wrap your head around the illusion.
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