Roblox has added makeup to its Avatar Marketplace, allowing users to apply virtual cosmetics to their in-game characters for the first time. The feature, which has been in beta since late 2025, is now live with over 100 items available, spanning eyes, lips, face, eyelashes, and eyebrows.
Beyond conventional cosmetics, the category also covers face paint, camouflage, battle markings, and decorative designs, with full-face looks available as single items. Items can be layered and combined freely, unlike most platforms where in-game makeup works by recolouring or replacing facial features outright. Creators can also apply physically based rendering effects to achieve finishes such as metallic eyeshadow or glossy lipstick.
The launch comes with data that helps explain the commercial interest around it. According to figures released by Roblox, users updated their avatars an average of 274 million times per day in 2025. Research commissioned by Roblox and conducted by Ipsos found that 83 per cent of Generation Z makeup users on the platform wanted to wear their favourite real-world brands on their avatar. Separately, 76 per cent said wearing a brand’s products on their avatar made them more likely to buy that brand in real life.
That second figure goes some way to explaining why beauty brands are moving in early. e.l.f. Cosmetics is the title sponsor of the launch, having partnered with creators to develop virtual looks ahead of the rollout. The brand has been on Roblox since 2023, when it released a financial literacy game on the platform, and has since expanded its presence with a second experience, Glow Up, which launched in late 2025. Patrick O’Keefe, its Chief Integrated Marketing Officer, described Roblox’s community as one that ‘doesn’t follow culture, it creates it.’
The timing of the launch also reflects a broader shift in how younger users relate to their digital identities. Roblox’s own data suggests that a significant portion of its Generation Z user base considers avatar customisation an extension of self-expression rather than a purely cosmetic feature, with many updating their looks to match their mood or the context of a specific game.
Whether virtual makeup becomes a sustained category or a short-lived addition will depend on how the community engages with it beyond the initial launch. The feature is live now, with more items being added daily from both independent creators and brands.
