Makeup Kit – Color Mixing

Why I Downloaded Makeup Kit – Color Mixing

I’m a college student, so I’m always hunting for free stuff that actually does something useful. Last year, I had this project for an art class where we had to design a themed makeup look for a presentation. I don’t have a million eyeshadows or blushes lying around, and buying even a cheap palette felt like a waste for one assignment. I saw Makeup Kit – Color Mixing on the App Store, it had a decent rating, and it was free. That’s basically all I needed. I figured at worst, I’d delete it after the project. But honestly, once I started mixing colors on my iPhone 15 Pro, I kept using it even after the class ended. It let me try out lip colors I’d never wear in public and eyeshadow blends that looked way too extra for my daily life but were fun to mess with on a Tuesday night when I should have been studying.

Standout Features

The color wheel is the thing that actually got me. You can spin it around and pick a base color, then drag another shade into the mix, and it blends them in real time. It doesn’t just show you a swatch—it gives you a little preview of what the mixed shade would look like on skin or lips or eyelids. That felt way more real than I expected. There’s also a section with tutorials that aren’t just “mix red and yellow to get orange.” They actually show step-by-step how to recreate a specific look using the custom shades you made. I followed one for a “sunset eye” on a Saturday afternoon, and it actually looked decent when I tried it with real shadows later. The save feature is clutch too. I can name my custom shades, and they sit in a little palette so I don’t have to remember ratios. If I make a shade I hate, I just delete it. No regrets.

Daily Use Experience

I use this app way more than I thought I would. Usually at night, after my last Zoom class, I’ll open it while I’m eating dinner or scrolling. It’s not something I use every single day, but at least three or four times a week. I have a folder on my phone called “dumb experiments” and that’s where I save the weird colors I make. Last week I tried to mix a lip shade that matched my favorite hoodie, which is this gross olive green. It took me like twenty minutes of tweaking, but I got something close. The app didn’t crash or lag, which is rare for free stuff on my phone. The screen on the iPhone 15 Pro is big enough that I can actually see the color mixing details without squinting. My only small complaint is that sometimes the “undo” button doesn’t work if you try too many changes in a row, so you have to start over from a saved point. That’s annoying when you’re three mixes deep.

Cost Breakdown

It’s free. Like, actually free. No forced subscription, no “premium” that hides the good features. There are ads, but they’re the kind you can close after five seconds, not the ones that play a thirty-second video you can’t skip. I’ve never paid a cent, and I’ve been using it for over a year. If you compare that to buying real makeup to experiment with—even drugstore stuff—that’s easily $10 to $20 saved every time you want to try a new color combo. For a student on a ramen budget, that’s huge. I’d rather spend my money on coffee than on a lipstick I’ll wear once. The only thing that isn’t free is the ability to export a high-res image of your custom palette, but I’ve never needed that. Screenshots work fine for me.

Support Experience

I never had to contact support because the app just worked. No glitches that broke the whole thing, no login issues, no weird crashes. I only looked at the App Store reviews once, and they seemed mostly positive. A few people complained about the ads being annoying, but I think those are the same people who don’t realize free apps need to make money somehow. If something went wrong, I’d probably just delete and reinstall the app rather than emailing anyone. That’s how I handle most things on my phone. So I can’t really speak to how helpful the support team is, but I can say I never needed them, which is a win in my book.

Privacy Verdict

I checked the privacy label on the App Store. It says the app collects some data like usage info and device ID, but not things like your name, location, or contacts. That’s pretty standard for a free app. I’m not thrilled about any data collection, but I’m also not putting my credit card info or real name in here. I use a random username for the share feature, and I don’t connect it to my social media. For a makeup mixing app that doesn’t ask for camera access or microphone permissions, I feel fine about it. If you’re super worried about privacy, you can just use it offline after you download the tutorial videos. But honestly, it’s not a banking app. I’m not losing sleep over it.