Corporate baddies have been sleeping on Microsoft Teams' beauty app featuring 12 different Snapchat-like filters

What you need to know

• Microsoft Teams ships with a beauty app from cosmetics company Maybelline.
• The app lets users apply any of its 12 different looks and styles before joining or during a meeting.
• The beauty app leverages AI capabilities to identify "over 70 points of the user's face to create a "virtual map" that enables the seamless application of the digital filters."

With more organizations and companies leaning more toward hybrid and remote work (especially since the COVID-19 pandemic), the dependence and reliance on online meeting and messaging apps like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Slack, and more is at an all-time high.

Admittedly, the companies behind these platforms have been doing their bit and shipping new features and updates ever so often to make the work-from-home experience seamless, effective, and efficient. Microsoft is meticulous at this, as it ships new features to Microsoft Teams (free) and Teams Premium every month. As it happens, the company shipped new features and improvements to the tool in January. 

We already know the benefits that come with hybrid roles, including convenience, comfort, and more. A company running its operations remotely heavily relies on apps like Microsoft Teams to foster effective communication through meetings and messages. Therefore, there's an implied importance to keep up appearances during these calls.

It can be difficult to achieve this if there's some sort of laxity bundled with your daily workload, which at times may prevent some from having time for the extra effort to begin with. But worry not. I'd honestly forgotten about the Maybelline app in Microsoft Teams until I recently stumbled on a TikTok video highlighting it. 

According to Microsoft:

"The Maybelline Beauty app in Teams uses AI-powered functionality enabled by Modiface, an augmented reality technology for the beauty industry owned by Maybelline's parent company L'Oreal. Modiface AI identifies over 70 points of the user's face to create a "virtual map" that enables the seamless application of the digital filters."

It builds on Microsoft Teams' virtual meeting experience and has been available for a hot minute. We first talked about the Maybelline app shipping to Microsoft Teams last year in July and how it allows users to express themselves within a meeting using 12 different looks.

How to use the Maybelline app while in a Teams meeting

1. First, join the meeting and click on the Video effects option.
2. Next, select More Video Effects, scroll down the right pane, and click on Maybelline under the Filters category.
3. Scroll down the view all and pick your favorite look
4. Finally, hit the Join Now button.

You can also apply these filters even if you're already in an ongoing meeting. To do so, simply follow the steps outlined below:

1. Click More at the top of your meeting screen and select Video Effects.
2. Scroll down in the right pane and select Maybelline under the Filters category.
3. Next, scroll down to view all and select your favorite look
4. Finally, click Preview to see your selected look without others viewing yet, then click on the Apply button to turn on your favorite look.

Microsoft has doubled down on its efforts to improve the virtual meeting experience on Teams, having recently shipped Microsoft Mesh to broad availability. It essentially makes a virtual and immersive meeting in a 3D space feel like a real-life experience. Did you know about the Maybelline app in Teams, and will you be using it during your online meetings? Also, if you've been using it, what's your experience so far?