Described are systems and methods for incorporating the reflection of a user and surrounding environment into a graphical user interface (“GUI”). The resulting reflective user interface helps merge the real world of the user with the artificial world of the computer GUI. A video of the user and the surrounding environment is taken using a video capture device such as a web camera, and the video images are manipulated to create a reflective effect that is incorporated into elements of the GUI to create a reflective user interface. The reflective effect is customized for each different element of the GUI and varies by the size, shape and material depicted in the element. The reflective effect also includes incorporation of shadows and highlights into the reflective user interface, including shadows that are responsive to simulated or actual light sources in the surrounding environment.