Louise McSharry: The brands making beauty products accessible to all

If you watched the Paralympics this year, I’m sure you were blown away, just like me. There’s something incredibly moving about seeing people’s years of work and dedication come to fruition, just like in the Olympics. But each Paralympian also has an impairment in a world that doesn’t cater too well for those who have impairments. At the Paralympics, the events have been altered in a variety of ways to allow for each athlete’s needs. I found it amazing to see how little it often took to make things that might otherwise be impossible, possible. I also found it quite confronting in terms of how frequently these efforts are not made in wider society to support the lives of people with disabilities. Many industries have work to do to improve accessibility, and the beauty industry is no exception. There are simple ways to make products work for a variety of needs, as demonstrated by some of the existing brands below. ​

1. Rare Beauty (via spacenk.com) Selena Gomez’s lupus diagnosis means she sometimes struggles to use her hands in the way others do. As a result, her beauty brand’s packaging was designed specifically with ease-of-use in mind. Simple, easy-to-hold lids mean the products are easily opened, while applicators require little pressure to achieve great impact, no matter the user’s hand strength or dexterity. This has not led to any dilution of Rare Beauty’s success — the brand generated an estimated $350m in revenue last year.

2. Kohl Kreatives (kohlkreatives.com) This brand specialises in beauty tools, such as make-up stencils and brushes, for people with motor disabilities. Make-up stencils are hugely helpful to anyone who struggles with a steady hand, while flexible make-up brushes, which stand on their own, assist in a multitude of ways. There are many videos and testimonies online demonstrating the significant difference these can make in people’s lives.

3. Guide Beauty (guidebeauty.com) Make-up artist Terri Bryant struggled to use the make-up tools she was familiar with when her body began to behave differently just over a decade ago (she was ultimately diagnosed with Parkinson’s). She viewed this as an opportunity to create tools which could assist people who found themselves in the same boat. Thus, Guide Beauty was born. The brand now makes a wide range of products, from a wand which makes it easier to apply eyeliner, to Lash Wrap mascara in an easy-to-grip tube which steadies the hand during application.

4. Herbal Essences (via boots.ie) While brands specifically designed for people with disabilities are great, it would be even better if the full range of people’s needs could be considered in all product design. Herbal Essences is an enormously popular brand, and in 2019 it launched innovative packaging to assist those who are visually impaired. Tactile bottle design means each bottle of product has a series of raised lines or dots on it, which help shoppers to distinguish between the brand’s shampoos and conditioners.

5. Benefit (via cultbeauty.com) There are simple things beauty brands can do to make consumers’ lives easier, and Benefit’s packaging and fragrances are good examples. Products are packaged in unique shapes or with individual fragrances (as it does with its blushes and bronzer), which is helpful for visually impaired consumers.

Buying local

Nancy Costello has made a real name for herself in the Irish hair business. It started with her salon in Galway, which is known for hair extensions. Then she created a range of hair brushes, designed to be gentle on extensions. Now she’s putting something else into the world. InvisiBelle is Costello’s new line of clip-in extensions, designed with special events in mind. These extensions can be easily added to your natural hair, whether it’s up or down, to give it added length or thickness for a special occasion. InvisiBelle extensions are available now via bellehair.ie

Something old…

Alfaparf’s Style Stories Blow-Dry Cream (£11) has been a staple of my hair product wardrobe for some time now. I noticed a difference in my hair the very first time I used it. It felt softer and smoother and generally improved the quality of my blow-dry. As someone who doesn’t have the patience to do much more than blast-dry my hair, this was significant. I find that some pre-styling products really weigh the hair down or leave it feeling stiff or unnatural, but this does neither. Aside from that, it somehow speeds up the drying time. I’m not a scientist, in case you haven’t noticed, and truly this blows my mind. How can putting something liquidy on your hair make drying it faster? I do not know, but I know that it does. Simply work it through damp hair before combing to ensure it coats each strand, then blow-dry as usual.

… Something new

Dyson has firmly placed itself into the beauty industry via its innovative hair tools, but only now is the brand releasing a range of accompanying styling products. The Dyson Chitosan styling range (full-size 100ml, £49), is named after a complex molecule derived from oyster mushrooms. According to the brand, chitosan is what gives the fungi its shape, which translates into your hair retaining flexible hold when you use the products. I love mushrooms as much as the next person, but what we all want to know is are they any use? In my opinion, yes. The packaging is predictably beautiful from a company built around design. It’s refillable and ergonomic and makes it harder to overuse or waste product. The products themselves — a pre-style cream (available in two formulations for straight-to-wavy and curly-to-coily texture) and post-style serum — noticeably extended the life of my hairstyle and left it feeling soft and flexible.