Applying makeup with more ease

When people experience low vision, they may have a hard time seeing their face in a mirror. This can make applying make-up hard, frustrating, and embarrassing. Worse, few people have the courage to tell someone who is visually impaired that there is a makeup problem. We are pretty sure that you have seen patients with misapplied makeup in your offices.

Leveraging the sensory system can be a game changer for precise make-up application. We suggest that our patients keep their make-up and brushes in the fridge. Then, when they take the makeup out it is at a cold temperature. The cold increases the sensory awareness to the face and the patient more intensely feels where eyeshadow, blush, lipstick are being applied. This increased sensory feedback also can help determine where not to re-apply the same coverage. 

While we cannot guarantee perfect makeup applications, we feel confident that this technique reduces mishaps.

Thank you to Katina Lawdis, one of our occupational therapists, for this lesson.