This light-up phone case that celebrities love is going to be the next selfie stick
Megan Willett/Tech Insider
Ever wonder how celebrities get the perfect lighting on their Instagram selfies? Meet the LuMee case.
Pronounced “loo-me” — as in “illuminate me!” — the case is surrounded by tiny white lights that brighten your face. It was invented by Jersey-based professional photographer Allan Shoemake back in 2011 after he realized some people’s selfies just looked terrible.
Shoemake, a photographer for over 30 years who has photographed everyone from Paula Deen to Bill Clinton, knew part of the issue with bad selfies was the lighting.
“When social media started up, I would look at photos people had taken and I would wonder why bother?” Shoemake told Tech Insider, referencing selfies taken at night or inside clubs and bars. “Now there are all these front-facing cameras, but there’s no lighting for them.”
The LuMee case solves that issue with its ring of Goldilocks lights that are neither too bright, too cool, or too warm.
Megan Willett/Tech InsiderInstead, they make you glow.
Though the case itself went through four prototypes before Shoemake was satisfied with the final product, his first-ever design was actually for his laptop. After numerous Skype calls with his daughter who was then studying abroad in Florence, Shoemake realized he could improve the lighting by taking a foam core, drilling holes, and stringing Christmas lights through it.
It was essentially his very own makeup mirror lights, but for his laptop.
“Everyone looks good in the makeup mirror,” he told TI. “That’s where the idea was born.”
Five years later, the LuMee case has been written about everywhere from CNBC to Us Weekly. When news first broke that Kim Kardashian West used the case at the 2015 Grammy Awards, suddenly everyone had to have one, including other stars like Lindsay Lohan.
Megan Willett/Tech Insider
Intrigued, I wanted to try the LuMee case for myself.
The case was bigger than I anticipated, but charged really quickly. Shoemake said it takes around half an hour for the case to fully charge and if you keep it turned on, it would last roughly two hours. He charges his case “once a month, maybe.”
After charging for 30 minutes, I was ready to start taking pictures.
Immediately, I noticed a huge improvement in my selfie game.
The biggest difference was taking selfies indoors or anywhere with overhead lighting. You can see in these before-and-after selfies I spliced together that my skin is glowing and looks pretty flawless once I turned the case on.
Megan Willett/Tech InsiderAnother huge change was in my apartment building’s elevator. On the way to dinner, I went from looking like a gremlin in the dingy lighting to looking dewy as can be:
Megan Willett/Tech Insider
The case also has a dimmer function. All you need to do is press down and hold the power button to either dim or brighten the lights. That way, you can choose just how bright you want to go.
Megan Willett/Tech Insider
I did notice there was very little change when I was in the sun or outside — even on a cloudy or rainy day.
But when I was outside around people, I got a ton of attention. Not unlike a selfie stick, as soon as I turned the case on, people would ask me what it was, why I had it, and if they could test it out.
Megan Willett/Tech Insider
“The first time I spoke to Kim [Kardashian West] we were talking about that,” Shoemake told me. “When you bring the case out in a bar or a club and you turn it on and start taking pictures with it, its like people are drawn to that light.”
The immediate draw of the LuMee case also had an effect on how Shoemake and the company decided to market the phone.
“We thought our demographic in the beginning would be high school girls because I had a high school girl at the time and she took so many selfies,” he said. “But they didn’t like the attention drawn to them by turning the light on because they’re self-conscious.”
Instead, it’s the more confident 18- to 35-year-old crowd who are buying the case, at a rate of about 70% women and 30% men, according to Shoemake. “Vanity is not just for women,” he laughed.
Megan Willett/Tech Insider
There are a few downsides to the case, namely that it was pretty bulky. Sometimes, I felt as though I had another phone stacked on top of my phone. I also found it hard to take my phone out of the case and I didn’t love the huge LuMee logo on the back, but these were minor issues that could likely be fixed in the future.
Ultimately, the LuMee did exactly what it claimed to do and everyone who borrowed my phone was impressed. So if you have a spare $50 and are selfie-obsessed, this is the phone case for you.
Plus, if it’s good enough for Kim Kardashian West, then it’s good enough for me.
Megan Willett/Tech Insider