After I was involved in an accident that paralyzed my left arm a couple of years back, my beauty routine started to feel tedious and frustrating. My everyday struggles regularly included a battle to uncap my mascara or a scuffle to sharpen my eyeliner with one of those tiny makeup sharpeners. (FYI: Those electric pencil sharpeners from elementary school don’t do the trick either.) Before my accident, most of the products I was using weren’t accessible for people with hand or arm impairments.
So I said “nope” to that and set out on a mission to find products that would allow me to single-handedly power through a beauty session like a professional — or at least reduce the number of fights I was having with my makeup.
Due to design, some products are just easier to wrangle than others. But I didn’t want to settle at just accessible; after all, you shouldn’t need to skimp on quality to accommodate a disability. Accessibility should be a given, not a bonus. All of the products I’ve curated here are not only five-finger user-friendly, but all-around winners in terms of quality and efficacy too.