iStyle Personal Makeover: Uncover a Whole New You

• Platform: IBM PC Compatible
• Release Date: 1999
• Genre: Home
• Style: Fashion and Beauty
• Similar Games: Cosmopolitan Virtual Makeover (Hybrid Windows/Mac), Cosmopolitan Virtual Makeover 2 (IBM PC Compatible)

Game Description

From Sierra Home comes a new look at personal beautification, iStyle Personal Makeover: Uncover A Whole New You. The product is a veritable trove of beauty secrets, expert advice and contains a vast array of possible new looks, aimed at both men and women.

Have you ever wanted to try a new look but were too worried about the expense and the results? No need to worry about it any longer. Salon nightmares (scheduling and results) are a thing of the past. Alone or with friends, you can now utilize your PC as a test site for new and varied hairstyles, coloring, makeup and even eye color that you can apply to an actual personal photograph of yourself. Industry experts on skin care and hair styling/conditioning stand ready to help at the click of a button.

Features in iStyle Personal Makeover: Uncover a Whole New You are numerous. Hair care alone includes interactive items such as 500-plus hairstyles (multi-ethnic styles and over 30 for men), a revolving camera that allows a full 360-degree view of approximately 50 of them, 24 shades of hair color from the Revlon Color Stay product line and highlighting tools.

Plenty of free advice (the best kind) is offered by industry experts as well as celebrity stylists like Sonia Kashuk, Kevin Mancuso and Roxana Floyd. These stylists have impressive client lists that include stars such as Cindy Crawford, Winona Ryder, Whitney Houston and many more.

In the area of makeup, brand names abound with the likes of Revlon, Almay, Philosophy, Urban Decay, Smash Box, Street Wear and Toni and Tina as well as two dozen videos from industry experts. If you don't have a friend to share your personal makeover ideas with, the option of real-time chats over the Internet with others interested in the topic is also provided.

Rounding out the possibilities with iStyle Personal Makeover: Uncover A Whole New Your are multiple eye-color choices, more than 400 accessories, such as hats, eyewear and jewelry and 20 bridal veils. Simple makeup application tools and even a personalized Beauty Consultant to help nail down the style that is best for you are available as well.

Review: Overall

Despite being user-friendly and straightforward, iStyle Personal Makeover: Uncover a Whole New You doesn't quite deliver on its promises, and is limited as a useful tool or even a diversion. The program is essentially nothing more than an extended commercial for several lines of cosmetics with some basic beauty tips included.

A selection of models is included, but users are encouraged to import their own picture to get the full effect. The manual details the process needed to take a good photograph for use in the program, but most users won't want the hassle. The models provided cover a broad range of ages, sizes, and ethnic groups, which allows those without a digital camera or scanner to find a representative. Unfortunately, browsing the images requires loading them one-by-one.

The most beneficial and entertaining section of the program is the Hair Salon Gallery, with its wide range of hairstyles of different lengths and looks offering plenty of customization features including a variety of colors and highlighting tools. Although using women's hairstyles on the male models can create some absurd looks, the Gallery is still the heart of iStyle Personal Makeover.

The Cosmetic Counter, despite a wide variety of cosmetic brands and products, is surprisingly lacking. You must have a very steady hand or plenty of patience to apply the make-up neatly, since the control device is nothing more than a basic drawing tool. While useful in judging how different colors might look, it's mostly a waste of time. The persuasive hints to create shopping lists of your favorite products to be purchased later simply adds to the advertising aspect of the CD-ROM.

Accessories, like jewelry, hats, and glasses, can be added in the Boutique, but most seem like afterthoughts. Using the various colored contacts can lead to creepy effects and serve to highlight the limits of what the program can accomplish. The beauty tips and "how-to" advice won't offer anything new to anyone familiar with women's magazines, but the step-by-step videos are a nice touch.

iStyle Personal Makeover: Uncover a Whole New You may inspire you to try a new look, but the restriction of features is unlikely to "uncover a whole new you."

Review: Enjoyment

While you'll initially enjoy trying different hairstyles and colors and playing with various looks offered by the available cosmetics, any long-term usefulness is negated by the self-imposed restrictions of the program.

Review: Graphics

Graphics are generally sharp and clear, and though the overall look is a bit artificial, the photographic quality gets the right idea across.

Review: Sound

Sound effects are minimal, but the narrator's voice in the "how-to" videos is pleasant.

Review: Replay Value

Although the combinations are fairly limitless, it's hard to imagine anyone using the program on a steady basis for any real benefit.

Review: Documentation

The instruction manual provides adequate guidance on using the modules within the program.

Production Credits