I remember back in the day watching the Fifth Element movie, and there’s one ultra cool bit in it where Leeloo puts a device up to her face, presses a button and a full set of makeup is instantly applied without her having to touch a thing. Cool sci-fi at its best. Well we’re not there yet, but we may be on the way if this new freeware app is anything to go by.

The YouCam Makeup app for iOS and Android uses your phone’s camera and some clever augmented reality to let you play with a wide range of cosmetic options on a selfie you take. It’s not a new idea, but the technology – and processing power – is now good enough that you can make some very detailed adjustments and get exactly the look you want, with very little trouble.

With that said, you will need to spend some time adjusting the default face points on the app, in order to make sure eyes, lips and contours are all spot on, but once that’s done the world is your blushing pink oyster, as they say. The app offers tools for applying everything from foundation to skin tone and mascara, and if you’re really a masochist, you’ll also enjoy playing around with the face altering tools to see just how much worse you look with that chiseled chin.

Of course you can also share the results with your friends and family to see if they approve, or you can just use the app as a harmless way to experiment with your looks without having to spend hours and heaps of money, which is probably a pretty valuable idea (for your bank balance if nothing else). Anyhoo, the app is available now, with the iOS version just released to join the Android one. Enjoy!