Glam Up - Perfect Your Look Review Analysis
Analyzed May 31, 2026
The app is perceived as a deceptive 'bait-and-switch' scam by the vast majority of users. It lures them in with the promise of a free AI beauty analysis, only to hide all results behind an aggressive, expensive, and often non-functional paywall. This is compounded by a buggy 'invite friends' alternative, poor quality AI that delivers inaccurate and distorted results (especially for users of color), and serious billing issues including overcharging and non-existent customer support. The app's high App Store rating is artificially inflated by forcing users to review before they experience the product's major flaws.
Rating distribution
The rating distribution is extremely polarized, with 1-star reviews outnumbering 5-star reviews by more than 2-to-1. This is a strong indicator of a deceptive user experience: a large volume of 5-star reviews are solicited during onboarding before users encounter the paywall, while the vast majority of users who experience the core loop leave 1-star reviews detailing the 'scam'.
Rating trend by year
Review-level analysis below covers the latest 969 reviews.
Key themes
This is the most dominant complaint across all regions. Users download the app expecting free analysis, complete the onboarding process, upload a photo, and are then blocked by a mandatory subscription to see any results. Users consistently call this a 'scam,' 'waste of time,' and 'false advertising,' arguing that if the app requires payment for all core features, it should be a paid app upfront.
A significant portion of 5-star reviews are extremely short and generic ('Good', 'Amazing', 'Yes'). The few detailed positive reviews use similar marketing-like language, praising the 'color analysis,' 'glow-up guide,' and 'vibe' in a way that directly contradicts the overwhelming negative feedback on AI quality, suggesting they may be inauthentic or incentivized.
Many users who paid for scans were deeply dissatisfied with the quality. They report the 'glow up' feature completely changes their face shape, race, and features, often producing distorted or comical results like 'two sets of nostrils' or 'crossed eyes'. The color analysis is also frequently cited as inaccurate, sometimes providing contradictory results from the same photo.
The only non-paying option to unlock features is to have three friends sign up with a referral code. A large number of users report this system is broken. They state their friends successfully joined, but the app fails to register the referrals, leaving them still stuck behind the paywall. This fuels user frustration and strengthens the perception that the app is a scam.
There are serious allegations of improper billing. Users report being charged without warning (one user from Chile, @me cobro sin avisar💔, claimed a charge of '100 lucaaaaa' or over $100 USD), being charged for features that then produce errors, and being unable to cancel subscriptions that continue to charge them. Multiple users state that the support email provided in the app is non-functional and bounces back, leaving them with no recourse.
Users frequently point out that the app forces them to leave a review during the onboarding process, before they can use any features or discover the paywall. This practice artificially inflates the app's App Store rating and misleads prospective downloaders. Many users explicitly call out the positive reviews as fake for this reason.
The AI is reported to perform poorly for users of color. Reviews mention the app lightens their skin, changes their race, misidentifies their features, and provides unsuitable recommendations. One user (@AwhqxLils) provided a detailed critique of the app using the term 'caucasian' for white people and featuring a white influencer for a 'latina baddie' style, highlighting a lack of cultural awareness.
Users from non-English speaking countries, particularly France, Mexico, Spain, and Germany, complain that the app is only available in English. This makes the onboarding questionnaire and the final recommendations difficult or impossible to understand.
Tap a theme to expand. Counts represent reviews mentioning the theme.
Notable reviews
It changes your face completely when adding “glow up”. It did a very poor job - it even gave me two sets of nostrils. A complete waste of money.
me cobro sin avisar me cobro 100 lucaaaaa
DELTED THE APP, only to find out it’s still charging my account. Doesn’t reply to my emails. And the subscription won’t leave. SAVE URSELF TIME MONEH AND SANITY. DO NOTTT GET THIS APP.
J’ai payé le forfait Glam Up pro ++ 6,99€... l’achat a été confirmé sur mon compte apple et j’ai bien été débité mais en revenant sur l’application ils envoient un message pour dire qu’une «erreur est survenue ».
I purchased a service in the app but didn’t receive any results... There’s no way to contact support, and they don’t respond... the email address they provided doesn’t even exist.
Got two different undertone results on both scans... I was horrified at the photos generated by this by the way. Completely changed my face, skin color, even my race... I got a automated response saying the email provided that I sent to is either not active/existent or users don’t have the technical permissions to email. What a scam.
Any positive review is fake. Before you use the app, once opening it prompts you to write a review before you even can try to use it. It then makes you either refer 3 people or pay for a subscription... NO TRIALS, NOTHING IS FREE. IS A COMPLETE SCAM
so first of all why are u referring to white people as caucasians? Then when picking a glow up guide, there’s an option “latina baddie”. Latinas DO NOT look that way. In fact, the girl on the picture that was used is a white girl
I haven’t used this app but I think it’ll really help me
This is THE app if you’re out here struggling to figure out what makeup works for you... My friend studied color analysis during her time abroad in Korea and she did a whole analysis on me and took like hours. I got the same results from Glam Up in just 1 min.
I didn’t think I’d actually love this app, but now I’m addicted. It told me my undertone, face shape, and even my vibe (like how??) I’ve been testing different vibes like latina baddie and natural glam and I’m living for it.
Feature requests from users
The most common request is for a way to evaluate the app before paying. Users are angry that every feature is paywalled. They suggest offering at least one free scan or a limited free trial so they can see if the results are worth the high subscription cost.
Users from non-English speaking countries are requesting translations. French and Spanish are the most frequently mentioned languages. Users state they can't understand the questions or results, making the app unusable for them.
Tap a request to see what users said. Counts are the number of reviews explicitly asking for it.
Recommendations
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