For 90 minutes on a Sunday evening, Tracy Ma and her two girl friends experimented with a combination of lipsticks, eyeshadows, eyeliners and blushes in a MAC Cosmetics store along Shanghai’s prime shopping belt.
The two-storey outlet is fitted with an augmented reality counter, allowing walk-in customers like the 20-year old office clerk to simulate and display her looks on a large screen, using different shades of make-ups. A deep purple lipstick made her look like a vampire, she said to screams, laughter and wefies, before trying out the coral hue and ochre shades.
Without any prior intention of adding to their collection, the trio left the store on the bustling Huaihai Road with about 1,200 yuan (US$170) worth of purchases from Estee Lauder’s cosmetics chain.