App Showcase: Glam Up

What it does

Glam Up is an AI-powered beauty coach. The app allows users to upload a photo of themselves to receive personalized analyses on their facial features, skin tone, and ideal color palette. Based on these scans, it promises to deliver tailored makeup tutorials and product recommendations to help users achieve their desired look, or 'glow up.'

Where it shines

The app's core loop is cleverly designed to maximize user investment before presenting a paywall. By having a user perform a 'Color Analysis' (01:25), which includes uploading a personal photo and waiting through an engaging analysis animation (01:51), the app creates strong anticipation. The reveal of a completely blurred results screen (02:06) leverages the sunk-cost fallacy, making the subsequent paywall feel like the final, necessary step to unlock earned value. The app also excels at turning non-converting users into marketers with its 'Invite 3 friends to unlock' growth lever (03:52), providing an alternative path to value.

UX highlights

• Clear Instructions: Before a user uploads a photo, the app presents a screen of 'Do's & Don'ts' with visual examples (01:27), setting expectations and increasing the likelihood of a successful scan.
• Branded Animations: The analysis process isn't a generic spinner. Instead, a custom pink scanner animation moves over the user's photo (01:51), reinforcing the brand and making the wait feel productive.
• Multi-Faceted Paywalls: The paywall isn't just a pricing table. It incorporates dynamic carousels showing color palettes (02:30), TikTok videos (02:54), and scrolling user testimonials (03:02) to build social proof and convey value.
• Permission Priming: The app effectively uses warm-up screens to provide context before every system-level permission prompt, from ratings (00:40) to notifications (00:50) and tracking (00:56).

Monetization & growth

Glam Up's monetization strategy is direct and multi-layered. The core features are gated behind a hard paywall that appears only after the user has invested time in the analysis process. There is no free trial offered. If a user dismisses the initial offer, they are immediately shown a second paywall with a 50% discount and a 3-hour timer (03:20) to create urgency. For users still unwilling to pay, the app deploys a powerful growth loop: invite three friends to unlock the results for free (03:52), effectively converting potential churn into a user acquisition channel.

Who it’s for

The app appears to be targeted at a younger, predominantly female audience that is active on social media platforms like TikTok and interested in beauty, makeup, and personal style. The language ('Glow Up,' 'Latina Baddie' aesthetic) and the use of influencer-style videos on the paywall suggest a focus on Gen Z and younger millennials who look for personalized advice and are familiar with digital beauty trends.

Notes & opportunities

The strategy of locking 100% of the results is aggressive and could lead to high user frustration and abandonment. Offering a limited 'teaser' of the results, such as revealing one or two recommended colors, could potentially improve conversion by giving users a taste of the value. Additionally, asking for an app rating (00:40) before the user has experienced any core functionality is a risky move that might result in negative reviews from users who feel they haven't been given a chance to properly evaluate the app.