We live in a world in which we can be anyone, anywhere and at any time. So what does this mean for beauty, an industry predicated on how we look? As part of The New Order campaign, we asked 3D artist Ines Alpha to take some of our favourite beauty products and show us how they might look in 3D.

Art director and 3D artist Ines Alpha is at the forefront of the three-dimensional digital make-up revolution. Collaborating with artists, musicians and models on Instagram, and big brands such as Nike and i-D, the Parisian artist creates mesmerising 3D face make-up that blooms, quivers and sprouts on the screen. We talked to her about her pioneering work and the inspiration behind her images for The New Order.

Where did your 3D digital design journey start?

As long as I can remember, I’ve always had a craving to augment reality; as a child, I wanted to make everything more fantastical. Now I’m finally able to augment my world, thanks to new technology and my imagination.

How does your work represent your vision for the future of beauty?

By combining my two favourite things in this world – make-up and 3D design – I began to create make-up from the future. I consider my work to be an exaggeration of people’s desire to augment themselves with social media filters and advanced make-up techniques. For now, it’s just an art project, but I hope there will soon be 3D make-up collections to download and that people will start to question themselves about their perceptions of beauty.

What was your inspiration for the campaign?

For The New Order campaign, I imagined a photo booth from a near future in which technological progress has enabled people to wear 3D make-up in real life. In this photo booth, people are able to choose between different products, which each have a 3D design inspired by their ingredients, benefits, packaging, colours, etc. In this new world, make-up, skincare and perfume can be worn as a virtual augmented accessory, in 3D dimensions, which is both fantastic and alive.

What was the most rewarding and challenging part of creating this campaign?

The most challenging part was to find the key words and concepts to illustrate each product, without using the ingredients in a literal way – like making 3D flowers for a perfume that contained floral notes. I had to think of other ways to approach it – like the brand’s story, aesthetic, the product’s benefits, packaging… But as soon as the design is done and everybody is happy with it, it’s very rewarding!

What are the limitations of 3D make-up?

3D make-up can sound a bit abstract; for many people it has limitations because it’s not real. But where do people spend most of their time? On their phones, the internet – it’s all digital and it’s all very real. 3D make-up is only relatively new, but it’s limitless – you can defy nature, gravity, textures, light…

How do you see the industry changing the way they create and present beauty products in this new digital age?

In today’s, and more importantly, tomorrow’s society, people are expressing an ever-growing desire to transform themselves through social media filters, advanced make-up techniques or plastic surgery. They will need more tools to help them express their personality in the future, so beauty brands need to develop new products and images to satisfy this demand – and digital tools might be a good way to achieve that goal.