What Makeup Changes
Most makeup does not significantly affect face recognition results because it changes colour and texture (surface properties) without changing the geometric positions of features. The face recognition network extracts structural geometry, landmark positions and their spatial relationships, which is largely unchanged by most cosmetics.
The exception is makeup that deliberately reshapes apparent feature positions. Heavy contouring using dark shading along the jawline, nose bridge, or cheekbones changes the contrast map in exactly the same way that lighting changes do, altering the apparent geometry without changing actual geometry. Dramatic contouring can shift nose width, jaw definition, and cheekbone prominence enough to affect the embedding.
Practical Guidance
Standard everyday makeup (foundation, blush, mascara, moderate lip colour) will not meaningfully affect your celebrity match results. Heavy theatrical contouring, dramatic prosthetic or decorative applications, or heavy theatrical eye makeup that substantially changes eye shape can produce small embedding shifts.
If you want to compare how your results change with and without makeup, the most informative comparison uses matched photos, same lighting, same angle, same expression, identical everything except the makeup. This isolates the makeup effect from other photo variables.
