A make-up artist has become a viral sensation by transforming her eyes into celebrities’ mouths – creating unique illusions of stars including Ant and Dec, Paul Hollywood and Kim Kardashian.
Romanie-Jade Tulloch, a 26-year-old content creator from Nottingham, launched her Instagram page @cakefacerj in 2017 with aspirations of becoming a bridal make-up artist.
However, after posting a video of herself creating a “blank canvas” illusion on her face, in 2018, where three quarters of it looks like a white canvas, and the other quarter looks like make-up drawn on, it sparked an unexpected turn in her career.
Since then, she has become known for her hyper-realistic designs and optical illusions, where she’s turned herself into celebrities such as Will Smith and Oprah Winfrey, even painting a McDonald’s meal on her face and visiting the restaurant to capture reactions.
Since November, she’s gained viral attention for painting celebrities’ faces on her own, with their mouths aligning with her eyes to create the illusion of them speaking when she blinks.
With 338,000 Instagram followers and 150,000 on TikTok, her viral creations have included looks of ITV hosts Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, which where featured on I’m A Celebrity… Unpacked, as well as stars of The Great British Bake Off, the Kardashians, and Sabrina Carpenter.
Romanie-Jade told PA Real Life: “I was watching I’m a Celeb and thought it would be good to do a look based on it.
“The reaction was not what I expected at all, it was crazy, but it’s nice to see people appreciate my art.
“Sometimes it’s really painful (taking the make-up off), especially when you spent so long on detail.
“I’ve started filming myself taking them off, and that’s really popped off.
“It gives me some comfort that at least the last step isn’t as traumatic now.”
Romanie-Jade’s passion for art began in childhood when she was rarely seen without a sketchbook in hand.
Between 2015 and 2017, she studied fine art at college and, after graduating, she launched an Instagram page with the goal of becoming a bridal make-up artist.
Initially, she showcased bridal-inspired make-up looks alongside bold, experimental eye designs.
By early 2018, her follower count had surpassed 3,000.
Later in the year, she posted an image of her turning her face into a “blank canvas” where three quarters of her face was painted white, and the other quarter had make-up on.
Within a week of posting, her follower count surged by thousands, and by the end of the year, her account had more than 100,000 followers.
Romanie-Jade uses make-up, rather than face paint, to create her looks, and has a wardrobe full of thousands of brightly coloured eyeshadows, eyeliners, and foundations.
“I start by sketching with eyeliner, then layer on colour with eyeshadow, then adding in shadow, and highlights,” she added.
“At the time, creative looks were mostly reserved for Halloween, so I think people were intrigued, it just went mental.”
In 2020, she delved into the world of transforming herself into iconic characters and celebrities, such as Stanley Hudson from the US Office, Will Smith, Drake and Oprah Winfrey, using light and shadow techniques.
She laughed: “Sometimes my mum or fiance will walk in and be like, ‘What’s going on?’ and I don’t know why I’ve turned myself into so many men, I think it must just be easier than women.”
The same year, she created her first hyper-realistic portrait, painting the Friends cast on her face and eyelids in a design that took 15 hours.
In 2021, Romanie-Jade posted a Where’s Wally-themed look, painting an intricate fairground scene across her face, with a crowd of people, including Wally himself.
The creation took 17 hours of sleepless work, garnered more than 56,000 likes on Instagram, and Romanie-Jade said actress Viola Davis even shared it on her Instagram story.
She even drew a hyper-realistic McDonald’s meal on her face, which she wore into the restaurant in 2023 to capture people’s stunned reactions.
“It was hilarious,” she recalled.
“Some people didn’t know where to look, and others came up asking for pictures.”
In November this year, she revisited the concept of hyper-realistic portraits, adding a comedic twist by drawing the characters’ mouths on her eyelids to make it look like they are speaking.
For the Great British Bake Off final, in 10 hours, she painted judges Paul Hollywood and Dame Prue Leith, alongside presenters Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond, surrounding the iconic cake from the show’s opening credits.
Her video of the design got more than 85,000 views on TikTok.
She said: “I’m always up to trying something new, and I haven’t seen people draw someone on their face and use their eyes and mouth and stuff like that.
“I feel like I’ll get an idea, and then just see if it works, and when I did the Bake Off look, Paul’s mouth was aligned on my eye so I thought I’d use my eyes as their mouth and see how it would play out.
“I feel like it ended up being so funny.”
Ahead of the I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! final, she painted Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly on her face in just six hours, receiving more than 98,700 views on TikTok, and it was even featured on I’m a Celebrity… Unpacked.
She selects the celebrities to draw based on trends and personal interests, often reworking her schedule to stay current.
More recently, she has drawn Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, as well as Sabrina Carpenter, making it appear they are talking and singing with her eyes.
She said: “Surprisingly those didn’t take me as long as I thought, it took me six hours which, for me, isn’t that long.
“The more I do, the better I get at them, it just takes so much concentration and I love doing it, it’s so much fun.
“My Sabrina one got 10 million views on Instagram, it was amazing.
“I’d like the celebrities to see my looks but I’m focusing more on creating the looks, and just enjoy doing it.”
Romanie-Jade does not wish to disclose how much she earns from her @cakefacerj accounts, but said it is a “comfortable” amount.
She dedicates two days a week to creating her intricate designs, a day to filming, and the rest of the week to editing her content.
She plans to continue painting celebrity portraits on her face, with Billie Eilish and Beyonce on her list, but hopes to one day see her art displayed in an exhibition setting rather than just online.
To people wanting to get into the make-up industry, she said: “Just be you, and try to be as unique as possible.
“Be yourself because no one will be interested if you’re just trying to be like everyone else.”
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