Butterfly beauty.

Scientists are creating a new makeup that mimics the shimmer of butterfly wings. To imitate the dazzling color, researchers studied the blue morpho butterfly, Morpho rhetenor (MOR-foh REH-teh-nor). The key to the butterfly's vibrant blue hue is the way light reflects, or bounces, off tiny scales that coat its wings, says Peter Vukusic, a physicist at the University of Exeter in England.

The butterfly's scales reflect visible light waves of only one wavelength (distance between wave peaks), so only blue light bounces off its wings.

The butterfly's scales also pump up the intensity of the color. That's because the scales are made up of many small layers. As light bounces off each of these layers, the waves experience constructive interference: They combine to produce a wave with a larger amplitude, or peak height. Result: "The superwave creates a brighter reflected color," says Vukusic.

Scientists from the cosmetic company, L'Oreal, have recreated this effect in eyeshadow, lipstick, nail polish, and mascara. The makeup contains flakes of compounds that reflect light in a similar way to a butterfly's scales. Each compound reflects a different color of light.

There is a downside: Without good light on it, the makeup looks like a plain white powder. So in a dimly lit room, the once-vivid colors disappear.