What is Reality Anyway: 24 Mind-Bending Makeup Illusions by Mimi Choi

John Summers • Contributor

Jul 6, 2025 7:00 PM EDT

There are makeup tutorials... and then there's whatever dark sorcery Mimi Choi is doing. Forget cat-eyes and contouring - this Vancouver-based illusionist uses the human face like a canvas from another dimension. One second it's a normal head, and the next it's been zipped open, duplicated five times, turned into melting clock drips, or hollowed out into some kind of surrealist nightmare that would make Dalí sweat.

With over 2 million followers on Instagram, Mimi Choi has redefined what makeup can be - transforming it from glam to gallery. Her work isn't just impressive, it's unsettling in the best way. Inspired by her cultural background and the sleep paralysis episodes she's dealt with since childhood, Mimi turns visions most of us would try to forget into high-art optical illusions. And she does it all with brushes, pigments, and a staggering amount of patience.

These 24 examples are just a taste of her brain-bending brilliance. Don't trust your eyes - Mimi's already fooled them.

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No photoshop involved!

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She has video tutorials on her Instagram
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