I'm Alba, and I help Shopify makeup brands bring lip virtual try-on into their stores. My work combines my love of beauty e-commerce, my business background, and my own experience of shopping for makeup online.
I grew up in Mexico and have called the UK home for the past eight years. Studying Business and Management at the University of the West of England taught me to look at every project through a commercial lens. That's why I approach try-on as a business decision, not just a new feature.
For a long time, I avoided buying makeup online. I could never tell from a photo whether a shade would actually suit me, so I’d rather not risk it.
That changed when I tried virtual try-on on the e.l.f. and MAC websites. Being able to see the colours on my own face made all the difference. For the first time, I felt confident enough to choose a shade and buy it.
Lip products were where it made the biggest difference for me. In a shop, comparing lipsticks means applying and wiping off colour after colour, and I don’t always feel comfortable using shared testers. With try-on, I could compare several shades at home in minutes.
That experience stayed with me. As I became more interested in beauty ecommerce, I kept thinking about how much that extra visual reference had helped me decide, and I wanted to help more brands offer it to their shoppers. Soon I became just as curious about the work behind the preview: how the products are configured and how the experience comes together in a store.
