For many women, makeup is a common step in a morning routine. From getting ready for school or work, we are able to make ourselves feel confident with cosmetics. However, makeup brands have been very slow to adapt to include customers with a visual impairment, in their packaging, advertisement and product use.
Estee Lauder claim to have changed this. They have broken the barrier after the release of their new voice activated app, which is now available in the UK. The app uses AI technology to scan your face and detect lines that have not been blended, keeping everything even and symmetrical.
To make this app more accessible, it is completely voice activated, making it completely ‘hands free’ to use. It enables users to be more independent when applying makeup, while giving a virtual helping hand when needed.
Lacey Southward, 21, from Rotherham, said: “It’s really very life changing. I’ve been shopping before with a face full of makeup that I thought looked amazing, but when my boyfriend saw me, he couldn’t stop laughing. My foundation was so patchy.
“When I heard about this app, I was suspect of how good it would be, but it really surprised me. It definitely needs a bit more development, but it has the potential to help so many people.”
The app is also supposed check your makeup on the go, so if you desire, you can do your makeup without the app, then check that everything is perfect by a ‘whole face’ scan where the app will instruct the user where the improvements need to be made.
This app could prove to be very revolutionary for the partially sighted community, and other brands are now expected to follow in Estee Lauder’s footsteps.
Sarah Hague, 22, said: “My visual impairment has held me back from makeup, I’ve almost been afraid of it. For work I don’t really bother, it’s only special occasions where I would spend an hour trying to get it perfect.
This app is really promising from them [Estee Lauder], it definitely could do with a few improvements, but it’s a very good start.”
In their press release, Estee Lauder said: “We are committed to building innovative technology solutions that make beauty truly inclusive to everyone. We are thrilled to bring the experience of independently applying makeup to the millions of people that are visually impaired.
“As a company, we are deeply committed to playing our part in creating an inclusive beauty industry.”
Due to this app being very new, it can only help with a group of ‘base’ makeup steps which include foundation, blush, eyeshadow and lipstick, however updates are expected, which means that this app could prove to be even more helpful.
The App is available to download from the Apple App store and esteelauder.co.uk