Woman gains millions of TikTok followers thanks to her mind-bending illusion make-up - see photos of her work

You’d be forgiven for doing a double take, or even a triple take, when you first see the work of make-up artist Mimi Choi. That’s because she’s a specialist illusion make-up artist and will often look like she has an extra pair of lips, or extra eyes, or even no eyes at all.

The 37-year-old’s work is so impressive that she’s gained millions of followers across her social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Some of her latest work includes turning her entire face into a huge mouth with tongue sticking out, transforming her legs into two peeling bananas, and also making it appear as though flowers are growing out of her face.

It takes hours of dedication for Choi, who lives in Vancouver, Canada, to create her mind-bending looks and ensure they are perfectly executed. She told NationalWorld: “I’m inspired by photography, architecture, films, literature, classical art, digital art – really anything and everything that I come across. My looks can take anywhere between 2 hours up to 16 hours depending on its size and intricacy. On average, I would say that I spend about 6 hours on a look but I typically spend several more hours photographing and recording each look as illusions can be very angle dependent.”

She has also turned her sleep disorder into a source of inspiration for some of her more scary looks. Choi has had sleep paralysis since she was four-years-old, a condition in which her mind is awake but she cannot move or speak as she wakes up or falls asleep. She said during this time she can have frightening visions which have inspired some of her “morbid looks”. She added: “Interestingly, I found that after painting a vision on my face, I would stop experiencing that specific hallucination. So in a way, sleep paralysis is a source of inspiration for my make-up and my make-up is also therapy for my sleep paralysis.”

What started out as a hobby for Choi has now become a full-time job, thanks to her amazing talent. She worked as a teacher for several years, but was frequently asked by family and friends to do their bridal and graduation makeup and eventually decided to pursue her “true passion” of make-up, with support and encouragement of her family. 

Choi applied to study at Canada's number one college for makeup artistry, Blanche Macdonald Centre, which is in Vancouver. It was here that she discovered illusion make-up. She said: “During my first year as a student, I decided to recreate a cracked face illusion on my face for Halloween. I received a lot of positive comments on social media which encouraged me to continue exploring the illusion genre. Since then, my portfolio has evolved into what it is today.”

Choi’s work has won her lots of praise on social media, with fans calling her work “exceptional”. One person commented: “Exceptional artwork, brilliant subjects, perfectly executed. You are a really talented artist.” Another person referred to the sometimes creepy effects that Choi creates. “I kind of love it, and disturbed by it at the same time.” Another person said: “You are beyond talented. Every video I see gets better and better.”

Illusions distort reality, and it is this aspect that Choi loves as it allows her to experiment in a whole host of ways. She said: “I love how my own imagination is the limit to what I can paint. It allows me to express myself in my own way and display my various alter-egos. There are no rules to illusion make-up and I'm not bound to any rules.” You can see all of Mimi Choi’s looks for yourself by following her official TikTok page, Mimles or her official Instagram page, also called Mimles.