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.

01
No photoshop involved!

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ

She has video tutorials on her Instagram
02

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
03

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
04

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
05

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
06

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
07

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
08

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
09

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
10

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
11

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
12

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
13

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
14

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
15

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
16

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
17

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
18

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
19

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
20

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
21

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
22

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
23

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ
24

via ＭＩＭＩＣＨＯＩ