Happy Halloween: Avon Beauty Vision

We play with the Avon Beauty Vision Personal Color Computer from 1987. Our color palettes are discovered, explored, and ... modified.
Thanks to our Goth Friends in Retro:
(in order of appearance)
Veronica from ‪@VeronicaExplains‬
Ken from ‪@CanadianRetroThings‬
Evie from ‪@EviesRevue‬
Bil from ‪@BilHerd‬
Robin from ‪@8_Bit‬
AJ and (vic)Tim from ‪@mydrunksibling‬
and for the programming skills of:
Amy from ‪@TiltFive‬
Jeri from ‪@jeriellsworth‬
#retrocomputers #makeover

[@VeronicaExplains]

Thanks for the help with the makeover. Much easier to present my quarterly reports now.

[@fractalMD]

I mean, got to look on point for the board meeting!

[@BilHerd]

woot! Or as Jeri would say Wøøt!

[@NeverlandSystemZor]

@@fractalMDWhen you want EVERYONE to notice you for your talking points, there's only one option. ;)

[@NeverlandSystemZor]

You ladies took this with EXACTLY the right amount of seriousness and comedy. I laughed sooooo hard. That ending was brilliant...

[@fractalMD]

Thank you!

[@MichaelZweifel]

I love your videos thay make me laugh all the time. I put your Taylor and Amy Show sticker on my Honda Scooter, that I got at VCF Midwest 2023.

[@fractalMD]

That is so cool!!!!

[@AureliusR]

Oh my gosh that was Tim Lindner on the floor at the end! And AJ as the vampire! Awesome. Also, I can't believe Bil Herd is THAT cool! Such a rad dude.

[@fractalMD]

We have THE COOLEST FRIENDS!!!!

[@awilliams1701]

Wow I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I couldn't even breathe with the Bill Herd part. lol

[@fractalMD]

Bil went ALL IN!!!!

[@maverickblah]

You guys are a breath of fresh air in the retro computing community!

[@fractalMD]

😃😃😃😃😃

[@GeoffSeeley]

That "processing" sound effect is AWESOME! And the ending was epic!

[@fractalMD]

Beep boop beep boop

[@ActionRetro]

Everyone's talking about ChatGPT, but this thing was peak AI

[@fractalMD]

The PEAKEST

[@adamengelhart5159]

@4:33: fellow Square One TV alumnus, checking in 😄

[@fractalMD]

Holla!

[@geekwithsocialskills]

Amy is warm and Earthy! I got a kick out of the 1980s look. Taylor with the side ponytail for the win! The goth cameos at the end were great!

[@fractalMD]

That make up was a WHOLE THING!!

[@geekwithsocialskills]

@@fractalMD Now you and Taylor have a great side hustle for expos and shows, just bring the Avon computer and charge $5.00 a pop per face scan 🙂

[@fractalMD]

@@geekwithsocialskills Oh, this begs to go to a show.

[@DevilsHandyman]

I think this is the only youtube channel I watch that makes me giggle out of nowhere.

[@fractalMD]

That is all we ever wanted. 😅

[@DevilsHandyman]

@@fractalMD Mission complete!

[@tekvax01]

Wow! That’s quite a find! I had a couple of T1000’s back in the mid 90s. Made a great serial terminal .

[@fractalMD]

Why use as a serial terminal when ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS? 🤣🤣🤣

[@zh84]

"I was trying to get it to deploy!" A splendidly technical word which I don't think the original Avon Lady would have used.

[@fractalMD]

Statistically I'm with you on that one.

[@chriscoxadobe]

LOL! Makeup colors I haven't seen since high school....

[@fractalMD]

Glorious!

[@CanadianRetroThings]

Thanks for giving me my awesome makeover!

[@fractalMD]

YOU ROOK MAHVELOUS

[@fairlyamused]

You looked thrilled🤪

[@tekvax01]

Bil Herd! The Hack-A-Day Alice Cooper we didn’t know we needed! That was hilarious!!

[@fractalMD]

It's what has been missing from all of our lives!

[@minuslr]

That has to be preserved for future generations!

[@fractalMD]

It's true

[@8_Bit]

Gotta tell you that you've got MULTIPLE fans of your neon '80s look up here in Thunder Bay.

[@fractalMD]

Loool! But those nails!

[@BilHerd]

This is WHO I AM NOW..., I'm never going back!

[@BilHerd]

so about using a chisel to remove makeup...

[@drjohnfisher]

@@BilHerd might I suggest an oil-based makeup remover (may have been Amy's response to my same question...)?

[@fractalMD]

​@@drjohnfisherHe is right!

[@amylouiseherndon1196]

You made me laugh so much with your cameo! Too good!

[@BilHerd]

everyone is gonna get messy before this is over with. They great WIG WARs has begun! @@amylouiseherndon1196

[@mccanm]

OMG! I laughed so hard after the 1st break. Then again after the 2nd break. I was not expecting any of that. Totally hilarious and so much fun. Thank you.

[@fractalMD]

We do retro our own special way.

[@3vi1J]

I never would have thought such a thing existed. That's amazing. I literally busted out laughing @9:56. Great job all around. The last time I saw an Avon lady, a late September many years ago, she acted super-skittish and didn't want to wait even though I assured her my wife would be home momentarily. After she bolted, I sat down to resume playing Ultima Online and realized I had never taken off the coveralls from the Halloween costume I was trying on earlier. They were, of course, covered in fake blood and had "Property of State Asylum 23568" on the front. It was kind of a relief - "Ohhh... she wasn't crazy! I'm just stupid!"

[@fractalMD]

I'll bet she is still telling that story!!!

[@camotech1314]

Yall this is amazing 😍

[@fractalMD]

Right??? 🤣

[@DavidYoud]

Ha! I saw this device foreshadowed (fore-eye-shadowed?) at VCF-MW; a Chekhov's (skin-tone-analyzer) gun if you will. This exceeded expectations -- who doesn't love a device that emits random tones when computing? You two make the best 8-bit Halloween episodes. :)

[@fractalMD]

You foretold the future, David!!!

[@ArJorge1987]

Omg, I was not expecting some many things from this video. First of all, love how you were going with your inner Bill and Ted with the 80s makeup, haha. And secondly, now I need "Gothware" to be totally a thing in the retro community, lol

[@fractalMD]

Let's make it happen!

[@AndyHewco]

Oh that computer sound is the best ever. You know its science when you hear that. And the end result has turned you into Shakespeares Sister Amy.

[@fractalMD]

😎

[@bretlinden8248]

I laughed when you came back with the makeup...but I legit think you both looked hot!

[@fractalMD]

Ah, shucks.

[@carpetbomberz]

The length of the printout/analysis reminds me of a CVS receipt for a single pack of gum 😆

[@fractalMD]

Exactly!

[@darkphotonstudio]

I came here from Veronica's channel. I was not expecting the transition to the 80s outfits and lol'd for real. 😂

[@fractalMD]

We keep you guessing! Btw Veronica is just THE BEST.

[@Kehvarl]

As ever, this was a delight. Thank you for making the video and sharing this wonderful, life-altering technological marvel. Clearly gothware was the answer all along.

[@fractalMD]

Gothware forever!

[@ColinGagnon]

This is rad! I love having an omni-function supercomputer in my pocket but I'll always have a soft spot for these specialized PCs. And leg warmers.

[@fractalMD]

Mmmmm. Leg warmers.

[@NickMarotta]

You both rocked the 80s look! 😁

[@fractalMD]

Lol, we went for it!

[@Fredthefat]

So many colours. Apart from the screen. But everyone needs to know their colour palette. Don't they? And gosh, that is a lot of product it recommends. Slightly disappointed the hack didn't gothify the "working" tune. Awesome, love how you two turn my week from a stress filled nightmare to a wonderous joy

[@fractalMD]

We really should hack the tune. That's a good idea. 😃

[@anjanettepetty-kountz3785]

I think my Avon beauty session went horribly wrong!! 😂

[@fractalMD]

Seemed great to me!!!

[@VK2FVAX]

Oh no.. Poor Ken. I can't stop laughing. Poor buggar. He just looks.... beyond sad.

[@fractalMD]

He looks amaze!

[@BigBadBench]

I can't deal with how awesome you two are! Phenomenally hilarious stuff!

[@fractalMD]

Woo hoo!

[@sx64man]

That was hilarious! Way back when I wrote a JIT inventory control program for Estee Lauder that ran on a SX-64. That brought back memories of the crazy color names for cosmetics that I had to put into the database LOL! You made my day.

[@fractalMD]

No way!

[@AxelWerner]

😂 you guys having fun with geeky stuff makes me giggle all the way!!! way to go!!!

[@fractalMD]

Success!

[@terjemoen8193]

You guys are awesome, love the humor and the tech stuff!

[@fractalMD]

Thanks!!

[@timothyp8947]

As usual - totally bonkers, totally loved it! Brought a lot of laughter to my Friday morning. What a bizarre gadget… and the weight - you’d get strong arms going door-to-door with that. Makes you wonder how many other niche, customised computers were made, or which ones should’ve been made. Also, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to watch Bil Herd's channel the same way again 😊 Many thanks, ladies!

[@fractalMD]

Bil sent us so much! He is HILARIOUS.

[@misi3837]

Grufty greetings from Germany ... (*closing coffin*) ... Hilarious 🤣🤣🤣

[@fractalMD]

Hearty hallo! ⚰️

[@JimLeonard]

COFFINS ARE FOR CLOSERS I am speechless. My meager collection of still-functional synapses can only utter a single word: RADICAL Bonus points for the side ponytail. OMG.

[@fractalMD]

ALL YOUR FAULT! 🤣🤣🤣

[@JimLeonard]

@@fractalMD A, B, C ALWAYS BE COFFINING

[@fractalMD]

@@JimLeonard YOU GET IT

[@fractalMD]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@VeronicaExplains]

"Coffins are for closers" killed me. I died after that. I'm a zombie now.

[@tombarber8929]

I love when companies decide beeping at various pitches is the sound of a computer thinking. For a while one of our internet service providers we used at a remote office would play a very similar sound if you called in to have the modem remotely rebooted. “Boop boop beep boop beep bop beep. Your modem has restarted. Please call us back if issues persist”

[@tombarber8929]

8:11. “This is Amy’s…entire life story!”

[@fractalMD]

If there are no sounds then nothing happened! 😂

[@MeriaDuck]

Who at what marketing department decided this was The Thing to develop. Including that 'processing' melody. Fantastic!

[@fractalMD]

Some genius, clearly!

[@Angeboun]

I totally remember the Avon computer at VCFMW. The only thing you both were missing were IOU Sweatshirts LOL Awesome Video

[@fractalMD]

I the before times pre goth ware!

[@JBBost]

This was my first time ever seeing this channel and the slow reveal that they're both hackers was absolutely perfect, lol

[@fractalMD]

Welcome to the weird!

[@AddieDirectsTV]

17:13 love the Veronica look!

[@fractalMD]

Right?!!?

[@marjon1703]

9:57 I was eating delicious rice dish and choked on airborne rice! ...... Tantric breathing and lots of water later....... Please keep this device and donate it to a deserving museum so that in 20 years time youngsters can take the pee out of us for our naff marketing ways. *hugs*

[@fractalMD]

Keep breathing!!

[@TrondRune]

I love your charm! You make such a good show togheter.

[@fractalMD]

Awe,, thx :)

[@AddieDirectsTV]

10:38 oooh nice Chucks. :). And yeah leg warmers should come back. Obvs.

[@fractalMD]

We need them!

[@derekchristenson5711]

Hahaha, that's some hilarious retro fun there! A nice video to see after LGR did a video on this, "blasting" himself with the colorimeter, uncertain how it worked (but that lead to some great informative and hilarious comments). 🤣

[@fractalMD]

Hilariously LGR was present when we got this puppy.

[@derekchristenson5711]

@@fractalMD LOL

[@bitdigital8052]

😂😂🤣 YO! This is hilarious and totally tubular. AVON for the win.

[@fractalMD]

Radical

[@GarthBeagle]

6:28 BEEP BEEP BOOP BOP BEEP BEEP It's working of course!!

[@fractalMD]

That's how you know!

[@Senax79]

Goth Amy looks a bit like (Goth) Noel Fielding ;-)

[@proteque]

hahahahaha the computer nailed it! looks awesome. the new software will change the world!

[@fractalMD]

FLAWLESS!!

[@EviesRevue]

Flawless 80's makeup

[@fractalMD]

RIGHT??

[@CDanieleLudus]

Caught up in circle, confusion is nothing new, if you're lost, you can look and you will find me (time elapses,) time after time

[@aytviewer2421]

What a rad neon vibe you two had going on there... and then, you both managed to spread the drabness of gothware to the world! Of course, you must total recall that drabness is a state of mind -- NOT a color. Your AVON overlords like feel like you like totally dissed them for sure!

[@fractalMD]

Yeah, waiting for that cease and desist from Avon!

[@francisbartholomew7816]

I was unprepared for the 'avonification'. What this makes me wonder is... you had this jewelry and clothing *on hand?* The little 'beep, boop, bleep, bloop' had me rolling.

[@fractalMD]

There might have been a side quest to Spirit Halloween store.

[@chrissimpson1183]

I just played this video to a friend of mine who did not believe it existed.

[@fractalMD]

Hahahaha

[@f15sim]

I'm 27 seconds in to this and am virtually convinced there are half-full glasses of alcohol just outside the shot. 🤣

[@fractalMD]

We don't even need that to act like this!

[@f15sim]

@@fractalMD Ha! You guys are adorkable. Keep up the good work. 😁

[@fractalMD]

@@f15sim aye aye

[@fairlyamused]

Glad to see you got it working! Too funny 😮😅

[@fractalMD]

And for real!

[@gametimewithunclejer]

So, do you actually know how this thing was used? I would assume that Avon reps would lug it door-to-door or take to the makeup & perfume counters that were a part of every major department store back in the day. Regardless, great stuff, as always!

[@fractalMD]

That's the thought. It's so heavy to just carry around!

[@JamiesHackShack]

Hoot = This! Awesome stuff!

[@fractalMD]

Woo!

[@shawnerz98]

That was hilarious! Great work. P.S. I'm still trying to get my T3200's to work properly.

[@fractalMD]

It's a struggle!

[@AddieDirectsTV]

11:24 GOTH PALLET!!! Fire up the Cure and light some candles.

[@fractalMD]

Hell yes

[@bentbilliard]

That was Halloween Gold. No wait... Orange, Halloween Orange. But then nobody will get the ref... *sigh* ... It was great.

[@fractalMD]

🧡

[@AddieDirectsTV]

2:17 I still need Veronica to explain color pallets and makeup to me. lol.

[@fractalMD]

AND SHE CAN!

[@AddieDirectsTV]

@@fractalMD ehm. Paging @Veronica Explains.

[@awilliams1701]

dammit I kind of want to do the 80's look (just no 80's hair) now. lol

[@fractalMD]

DO EET!

[@Chris.Wiley.]

This is so much fun!

[@fractalMD]

We had fun doing it!

[@awilliams1701]

OMG! I'm dying here! I needed this! Thank you! lol

[@fractalMD]

All the welcome! 😂

[@r0bst4rl1ng]

Great work! Maybe further mod the sw to make the bleep bloops a minor key.

[@fractalMD]

Or a straight up dirge

[@Ran-tan-tan]

9:56 I knew to expect something, but that was not it and really caught me by surprise! :D Like walking around in a dark house, then opening a door to a room where the lights are on... :D Loved the beep boop -noises the computer made, I guess those are so the salesperson can say to the prospective customer "One moment please, the computer is thinking" :D The Goth Friends potpourri was brilliant! I need to ask Bil what his list said about the hair, so I can prepare for the loss of my own... :P

[@fractalMD]

You know ppl are like, if it isn't beep booping, then how can anything even be going on?

[@Ran-tan-tan]

@@fractalMD The WOPR was beeping and booping all time while calculating the scenarios, surely any computer in a "lesser" (with all due respect to ABV, it can be an important computing job, but measuring make-up palettes is a bit less important job than simulating global thermonuclear war... :P) job would do so too!? :D (English is not my mother tongue, so apologies for using silly words instead of ones that should be there, mainly: important, I feel like that should have been something else, but can not figure out what)

[@fractalMD]

Your words are flawless. Never change.

[@Ran-tan-tan]

@@fractalMD I'm not sure if that's sarcasm or not... :D Thanks, and looking forward to the next video! :)

[@CurtisBoyle]

Loved the video! Sorry I wasn't able to partake... but all the people you got would have outdid me anyways! And boy do I remember a lot of people made up like the 80's version you did from that time. (I was also glad to see that AJ finally had complete victory over Tim at the end...)

[@fractalMD]

He was truly her...vicTim.

[@CurtisBoyle]

@@fractalMD - LOL! (And also, grooaaannn…)

[@fractalMD]

@CurtisBoyle Wish I could take credit for it, that was ALL vicTim and AJ. 🤣🤣🤣

[@KeritechElectronics]

T-1000, advanced prototype? None of that T-800 organic tissue over metal endoskeleton rubbish. Seen one on EEVBlog. Fun makeover time and beepity-boops! :)

[@fractalMD]

Skynet!

[@KeritechElectronics]

@@fractalMD of course! :)

[@AddieDirectsTV]

10:11 why am I having 80s flashbacks right now.

[@fractalMD]

😅

[@tbytecreator]

Jesus, this think seams to escape from a 60 Batgril comic book. Hahahaha

[@fractalMD]

So very cool

[@DaveVW]

Fabulous!

[@fractalMD]

😃😃😃

[@happysprollie]

This might be the best video yet.

[@fractalMD]

Lol, glad you liked it!

[@AddieDirectsTV]

16:15 I feel like y’all should be hosting the late night horror flick.

[@fractalMD]

Oooh, I'm in.

[@AnthonyDFHogan]

This is hilarious!

[@fractalMD]

Hooray!

[@juanmacias5922]

LMFAO this was hilarious! Thanks for sharing!

[@fractalMD]

You are welcome!!

[@KaterKomPuter]

Awesome Show

[@fractalMD]

Thanks!

[@drjohnfisher]

❤❤❤ True, hilarious badassery ❤️❤️❤️

[@fractalMD]

❤❤❤

[@drjohnfisher]

@@fractalMD 😘

Wow that was unexpected 😂 You've made my day.👍

[@fractalMD]

Hooray!

[@BrandonNedwek]

I've never clicked on a video so fast in my life. PS, I can't help but notice you're getting close to another power of 2, I hope there's a good treat picked out.

[@fractalMD]

We have... ideas. 😊

[@BilHerd]

My mouth just went dry. Should we be worried? BTW I never said the box wasn't a glitter bomb, it just never came up @@fractalMD

[@fractalMD]

​@@BilHerd😂😂😂😂

[@carpetbomberz]

11:13 the BIGgest reveal evar! the Goth color chart y'all!@!!

[@fractalMD]

🤣🤣🤣

[@AddieDirectsTV]

9:14 no whammy no whammy no whammy STOP!

[@fractalMD]

Big bucks!

[@ChrisCromwellHP]

You now need software on that computer to print your Ultra Cool fake ID’s! 😂😂😃👍

[@fractalMD]

😎

[@NeverlandSystemPunkGirlChloe]

This is crazy... lol I think Amy's got the eyeshadow game down to art yo... That 80's rainbow look is AMAZING!!! ROFLMBO And that "goth version"... my emo friend is gonna LOVE THAT!!!!

[@fractalMD]

WE ARE NOW A BEAUTY CHANNEL

[@NeverlandSystemPunkGirlChloe]

@@fractalMD Well beautiful women with beautiful minds... kinda saw this coming. ;)

[@fractalMD]

@@NeverlandSystemPunkGirlChloe Inevitable, really. 🤣

[@NeverlandSystemPunkGirlChloe]

​@@fractalMD So like the thing I love about your channel is I'm like young enough to NOT know what a ton of this stuff is and you explain it so well and without like making ppl who don't know and don't have that nostalgia feel dumb or lost.

[@fractalMD]

​@@NeverlandSystemPunkGirlChloe That makes us so happy to hear!

[@tonycosta3302]

It’s truly amazing just how much BS marketers will throw at something to get people to buy a product. But I do like the upgrades you made.

[@fractalMD]

You are so right.

[@DavidStahlOLDHAPPyMACs]

That is really neat did not know that Avon computer existed.very slick set up great video I Laughed so hard. Hey you can wear that cool make up for the 12 hour Halloween stream Oct 29 Hope you can join

[@fractalMD]

Right? When we spotted it in Jim's basement we were like, what is THIS?

[@aqualung2000]

I like how 8 bit show & tell just did his nails :) Also, I might be showing my age here but I liked you guys as 80's chicks better than goth :)

[@fractalMD]

Robin is just the best!

[@BilHerd]

I could have just done my nails??! :O

[@fractalMD]

@@BilHerd Looool

[@MaxAmiga]

Totally RAD!!!

[@fractalMD]

Bad to the bone

[@IsaacKuo]

OMG it's the 1980s! No actually ... WAS that like the 1980s? I seem to recall that everything was brown. Like EVERYTHING.

[@fractalMD]

Neon, baby!

[@fractalMD]

​@@wotsfoxAnd we all lived happily ever after....

[@thomasrotweiler]

I wonder if Avon ever issued updated floppies with new products or to keep up with new fashions ? Or are Avon stuck in the late 1980s forever ?

[@fractalMD]

Excellent question

[@chrissimpson1183]

Send it to David Plummer LOL...

[@fractalMD]

😃

[@tomleech9753]

I feel so sad for anyone who didn't watch past 10 minutes.

[@fractalMD]

Lol, me, too!

[@chrissimpson1183]

I did not know that you could find leg warmers...

[@fractalMD]

Spirit Halloween! At this point they should sponsor us, lol.

[@toddrlyons]

Subscribed! 😂

[@fractalMD]

Thx!

[@DJTI99]

As an elder goth, I approve.

[@fractalMD]

**bows**