With so many different make up products out there, their potential can go a lot further than just a bit of foundation and mascara for a night out. Vancouver, Canada based make up artist Mimi Choi is someone who is all too aware of the looks make up can be used to create.

She creates optical illusions that are so good, you need to look at them a few times to realise they're not actually the work of a talented Photoshop artist. Her work is getting noticed more and more each day, and her Instagram account now has over 500,000 followers. 

She does beauty and bridal make up too, but her real skill lies in the more creative work. She says her inspiration comes from the "patterns and textures of her surroundings, surreal paintings from artists such as Salvador Dali, and Photoshopped artwork."

  • Follow Mimi Choi's Instagram account here

Prepare to give your mind a bit of a workout as we show you some of the amazing art of Mimi Choi.

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Mimi Choi

Breakfast anyone?

The fried egg and sausages may look real at first, but if you increase your screen's brightness, you'll see they've actually just been painted on Mimi's hand. The knife and fork are real though.

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Mimi Choi

The Distorted Face

Mimi's skills are clear to see in this post, in which she's successfully managed to distort her entire face using nothing more than some make up and brushes.

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Mimi Choi

 

Double Vision

We couldn't spend much time looking at this picture as it gave us a headache. The fake eyes, noses and mouth are so realistic it could genuinely be mistaken for Photoshop work.

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Mimi Choi

Venom

Mimi has taken inspiration from Spiderman's arch nemesis Venom for this work, but which is scarier?

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Mimi Choi

Quintuple Vision

It took us a little while to figure out which pair of eyes was real

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Mimi Choi

Sausage Fingers

We know this isn't a real hot dog, but the sausage looks so realistic, especially towards the tip of the finger, that we're still doubting ourselves.

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Mimi Choi

Stretched Face

We love the realism of this post. Obviously the face can't be stretched to the extent that Mimi is demonstrating here, but as with the majority of her other work, it's almost believable. 

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Mimi Choi

Double Handed

Mimi says the "small stubby hand" was inspired by Canadian artist Ambera Wellmannn. It definitely looks as though a smaller person is resting their hand on hers.

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Mimi Choi

Pizza Face

Another piece of work inspired by food, this time Mimi has turned her entire face into a pizza to great effect. It certainly looks good enough to eat. 

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Mimi Choi

Box Face

Mimi demonstrates yet more fantastic skill with this work, successfully managing to split her face up into several different boxes. 

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Mimi Choi

Siamese Twin

Mimi's caption for this incredibly trippy piece of work? "When you're low-key happy that you're the better-looking twin".

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Mimi Choi

Rainbow Melt

Mimi experiments a lot with melting illusions, but this one injects a lot more colour than some of her other work.

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Mimi Choi

Sliced Head

Another illusion that Mimi experiments a lot with is the sliced head and face look. It took us a little while to really take in what was going on in this post and to accept that it wasn't real.

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Mimi Choi

Burger Head

Mimi said the reason for this work was because she had a dream the night before that a hamburger was eating her. It took three hours to paint and looks sensational.

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Mimi Choi

Manga Eye

Mimi painted this Manga eye-inspired look for Halloween and received lots of confused looks as she was walking around the streets. We can see why!

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Mimi Choi

Thumbs Up

Why actually hold a thumbs up when you can just paint it instead?

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Mimi Choi

Layered Face

It's hard to believe there is absolutely no Photoshop work at all in this post, despite it looking like the model has no top section of his head. A very clever illusion that makes it appear as though the face is made up of several layers.

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Mimi Choi

A Hollow Head

This incredibly creepy make up illusion makes it seem as though Mimi's head is completely hollow. We've tried finding her eyes and mouth in the darkness but to no avail.

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Mimi Choi

Parrot

Mimi put the gory illusions aside to paint this parrot on the side of her husband's face. It took two hours to complete and she deliberately painted some of his face white so it would blend in with the background wall.

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Mimi Choi

Sushi

This sushi artwork has to be one of our favourites. It's clear the top left picture is lips, but it took us a few looks to realise the rest are all painted on hands and arms. They're incredibly detailed, and the blending with the backgrounds is outstanding.

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Mimi Choi

Foot Shoe

Another incredible illusion here and not a single bit of Photoshop work in sight. Mimi's husband has stepped in once again to help out with her make up skills, although we do wonder if he has detachable limbs because we can't see his leg anywhere.

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Mimi Choi

Tongue in Drawer

Mimi's had to take it upon herself to create a drawer for her exceptionally long tongue here. Again, we know it's not real, but at first glance we couldn't help but doubt ourselves. 

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Mimi Choi

Chopped Illusion

Another great example of how well Mimi can create the illusion that somebody's face has been chopped up. The absence of any bones makes it even creepier.

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Mimi Choi

Split Face

Mimi says about this illusion that her mum always used to tell her when she was younger that if she kept pinching her cheeks, her face would eventually split in half. Turns out she was right. 

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Mimi Choi

 

Chopped Fingers

It looks like Mimi's had a bit of an accident while chopping lemons and caught her fingers instead. Strange how they're not bleeding out though.

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Mimi Choi

Dog Face

This dog face illusion was inspired by the work of Photoshop artist Sebastian Niedlich. Mimi has deliberately left out the top row of teeth and she says it's not meant to be realistic, but more just a bit of fun.

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Mimi Choi

Melting Face

Another one of our favourites is this melting face, with the blending around her eyes being particularly effective. Mimi says her melting face work is inspired by her own episodes of sleep paralysis, so being able to turn it into artwork and share it provides a good release. 

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Mimi Choi

Kiwi Centre

Always thought there was bone and tissue inside your head? Think again, we've actually all got a kiwi inside. Thanks Mimi for showing us.

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Mimi Choi

Hole in the Arm

Mimi describes this as a "silly hole" as if it was incredibly easy to do. We love the way she's been able to authentically replicate the table underneath and the addition of the laptop corner gives a greater sense of believability.