Comparison

iPastels vs Makeup Studio

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

iPastels

This app offers a realistic digital painting experience with lifelike pastel simulation and interactive textures. It allows for precise color blending and adjustable stroke sizes, catering to both beginners and experienced artists. Explore your creativity without the cost of traditional art supplies.

Highlights
  • Lifelike pastel simulation
  • Realistic paper/canvas textures
  • Precise color blending
  • Fingertip stroke size adjustment
  • Left-handed toolbar option
  • Live parameter changes
  • Multiple layers
Features
Read full description

A painting app for all artists, whether you’re experienced or just starting out. Perfect for creating beautiful works of art or a quick sketch whenever and wherever you have a burst of inspiration. You can also try out ideas and compositions before starting on a new painting in real life, or practise and refine your skills, all without the added cost of art supplies. • LIFELIKE PASTEL SIMULATION • The app features live-calculated brushes and strokes, making a realistic pastel simulation possible. Painting tools include soft pastels, oil pastels, pastel pencils, smudge tool, and more. • REALISTIC PAPER/CANVAS TEXTURES • When creating a new picture, a unique, non-repeating paper texture is generated that will interact in real-time with the live-calculated strokes you paint. You can change the default-generated texture to, for example, canvas, which goes great with oil pastels! • PRECISE COLOR BLENDING • When painting, especially with soft pastels, use Smudge or the Cotton Swab to blend and smoothen the colors right on the paper, as you would in real life. With oil pastels, in addition to smudging, the blending is often done by the pastel sticks themselves (for best results, reduce the force or use a similar or lighter color). If you use an Apple Pencil, it will feel incredibly realistic if you use the stylus to draw and use your finger to Smudge (assigned as a 2nd tool)! • FINGERTIP = STROKE SIZE • When you paint, the app measures how much of your finger is touching the screen and changes the stroke size accordingly. Apply just the corner of your fingertip for a thin line, or the whole fingerprint area for a broad stroke. A 2nd tool assigned to your finger will still use this feature, so don’t ignore it just because you have an Apple Pencil! • LEFT-HANDED? • Just swipe the toolbar over to the other side! • PARAMETERS CAN BE CHANGED LIVE • Use any buttons or controls to change/adjust color, size, force, simultaneously while painting. • UNIVERSAL PURCHASE • If you choose to buy the Pro upgrade, this one-time in-app purchase will unlock all Pro features in the app on all available platforms (iPad-iPhone-Mac)! • METAL • The engine is based on Metal, with 128-bit color and floating-point arithmetic. • SWIFT • The app was developed entirely using Swift (earlier versions used C++). • APPLE PENCIL SUPPORT • FULL SCREEN PAINTING • SEAMLESS PATTERN EDITING MODE • • DARK MODE • LANDSCAPE • PORTRAIT • WIDE COLOR • • MULTIPLE LAYERS • PHOTO TRACING MODE (Pro feature) •

About

Makeup Studio

This app allows users to practice and visualize makeup looks on diverse digital face charts. Explore a vast collection of colors and textures to create natural or glamorous styles, and even pick outfits to complete the look. Perfect for aspiring and professional makeup artists, or anyone wanting to experiment with virtual beauty.

Highlights
  • Diverse face chart templates
  • Extensive makeup color palettes
  • Variety of makeup textures
  • Mirror tool for precise application
  • Outfit selection feature
  • Virtual makeup visualization
Features
Read full description

Introducing "Makeup Studio", a revolutionary mobile application designed for makeup enthusiasts and professional make-up artists in honing their creativity and practicing makeup styles. INTERACTIVE MAKEUP TUTORIAL Improve your skills with this makeup practice. Learn step by step professional makeup artist techniques. FACE CHARTS TEMPLATES Choose between 3 models of girls of different races, we’re all about diversity! WIDE MAKEUP COLLECTIONS Both suitable for natural and full glam looks. EXTRAORDINARY COLORS Come and try out all the products and create an eye-catching look using lavender concealer or pink foundation. PLAY WITH TEXTURES Matte, gloss, metallic, creamy, highlighter, and glitter. Use what fits your mood! MIRROR TOOL Yes Queen, slay with your sharp eyeliner on both eyes and well-blended eyeshadows. PICK AN OUTFIT Throw a stunning fit on. Dress to impress. Unleash your imagination and color face charts to visualize your desired makeup look before application. Or just have fun :) https://happsify.com/privacy https://happsify.com/tos

Screenshots

iPastels4 screens
Makeup Studio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: iPastels at 82% against Makeup Studio's 38%. iPastels also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.7 vs 4.4). Makeup Studio's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 weeks). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. iPastels sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Makeup Studio sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iPastels holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.1K and 2.8K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of iPastels's written reviews are positive against 38% of Makeup Studio's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iPastels ships an update every 6 weeks, Makeup Studio fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
iPastels versus Makeup Studio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriPastelsMakeup Studio
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2.1K ratings) — better4.4 (2.8K ratings)
Positive reviews81.7% of reviews — better38.3% of reviews
Number of ratings2.1K2.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB345 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNorbyteHappsify, LLC

Customer experience

iPastels

All ratings2,142 ratings
Positive91.6%
Neutral4.3%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews229 reviews
Positive81.7%
Neutral7.4%
Negative10.9%

Makeup Studio

All ratings2,819 ratings
Positive83.5%
Neutral5.6%
Negative10.9%
Written reviews196 reviews
Positive38.3%
Neutral13.3%
Negative48.5%

User reviews

iPastels

From 2.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🎨 Realistic pastel simulation
  • 💡 Useful for beginners and professionals
  • 🌈 Wide range of colors and shades
  • 🔍 Good blending and smudging tools

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or glitches
  • 🔒 Limited free features, need to pay for more
  • 🔍 Lack of zoom or detailed control
  • 🎨 Difficulty finding/reusing specific colors
  • 🔀 Confusing layer management

Makeup Studio

From 2.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐ Enjoyable experience
  • 🎨 Creative freedom
  • 🙌 No ads
  • 💕 Loved by users

Room to improve

  • 💰 Paywall for key features
  • 🔧 Lack of blending tools
  • 🐛 Glitches and bugs
  • 🔍 Limited options

Bugs and requests

iPastels

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when importing images
  • Layers sometimes disappear or get lost
  • Undo button deletes entire drawing sections

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add color picker tool
  • Improve layer management and visibility
  • Implement pressure-sensitive brush support
  • Provide more paper/canvas texture options
  • Allow saving and recalling custom palettes
Show 1 more
  • Add undo/redo functionality for individual strokes

Makeup Studio

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Scrolling issues
  • Makeup application problems
  • Glitches when using certain features

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add blending tool
  • Improve hair coloring options
  • Provide more free content
  • Add tutorial/guidance for beginners

In-app purchases

6 purchases

iPastels

One-time6
  • Tip Jar: Smallest Tip$1.00
  • Tip Jar: Small Tip$2.00
  • Tip Jar: Medium Tip$5.00
Show 3 more
  • Pro Upgrade$7.00
  • Tip Jar: Big Tip$10.00
  • Tip Jar: Biggest Tip$25.00
3 purchases

Makeup Studio

Subscriptions3
  • 1 Week Subscription$9.997 Days
  • 1 Month Subscription Trial$19.991 Month
  • 2 Month Subscription3 Days trial$39.992 Months

Questions

Is iPastels free?
iPastels is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Makeup Studio free?
Makeup Studio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, iPastels or Makeup Studio?
iPastels is rated higher. iPastels averages 4.7 out of 5 from 2.1K ratings, while Makeup Studio averages 4.4 from 2.8K ratings.
Do iPastels or Makeup Studio have ads?
Makeup Studio shows ads; iPastels does not.
Which is updated more often, iPastels or Makeup Studio?
iPastels ships an update every 6 weeks, and Makeup Studio fortnightly. Most recently, iPastels was updated on September 25, 2026 and Makeup Studio on September 23, 2026.

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