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Making Beauty Accessible: Estée Lauder’s Voice-Enabled Makeup Assistant

How Estée Lauder’s AI-powered app brings independence and inclusivity to makeup application for the blind and visually impaired.

By Medha deb

Created on Sep 29, 2025

How Estée Lauder’s AI-powered app brings independence and inclusivity to makeup application for the blind and visually impaired.

Estée Lauder’s Vision: Accessibility for All

For decades, makeup routines have been shaped by visual cues, making beauty less accessible to those with low or no sight. Estée Lauder’s Voice-enabled Makeup Assistant represents a significant shift toward beauty inclusion, enabling blind and visually impaired individuals to apply makeup confidently and independently .

What Is the Voice-enabled Makeup Assistant?

Estée Lauder’s Voice-enabled Makeup Assistant is an AI-powered iOS app designed for blind and visually impaired users . Leveraging advanced machine learning, facial recognition, and voice instruction technology, it provides real-time audio feedback on the application of foundation, eyeshadow, and lipstick. This innovation removes barriers, fostering not just accessibility, but empowerment and independence in beauty routines .

Main Features

Real-time audio feedback for makeup application
Works with foundation, eyeshadow, and lipstick
Uses AI and facial recognition via the phone’s camera
Guides users through application and suggests touch-ups as needed
Available for iOS, with plans for Android expansion
Supports multiple languages (including Spanish in recent updates)

Why Accessibility Matters in Beauty

Historically, the beauty industry has lagged in providing accessible products and services. For people with visual impairments, makeup application poses significant challenges:

No real-time feedback on coverage or blending
Difficulty finding uneven edges of lipstick, foundation, or eyeshadow
Reliance on others to ensure a finished, confident look

The launch of Estée Lauder’s app addresses these issues by leveraging technology to put control and autonomy back into users’ hands .

How Does the Makeup Assistant Work?

The app’s workflow is intentionally user-centric and intuitive:

Apply Makeup: The user applies foundation, eyeshadow, or lipstick as usual.
Scan Face: The app activates the phone’s front camera and uses AI to scan the face, identifying makeup coverage and boundaries .
Get Feedback: It analyzes uniformity, detects missed spots, overapplication, and uneven edges, then provides audible recommendations for touch-ups.
Refine Application: After corrections, another scan confirms improvements and guides further refinements if necessary .

Example Interaction

“You may need to blend your foundation on the left cheek.”
“Lipstick appears outside the lip border on the right side. Would you like to adjust?”
“Eyeshadow is even and well blended. Great job!”

Through these interactions, the app acts as a virtual makeup mentor, offering both encouragement and precise feedback designed to be constructive and inclusive.

Inclusive Design: How Estée Lauder Co-Created the App

Developing the Voice-enabled Makeup Assistant started with listening to the lived experiences of blind and visually impaired consumers. Collaboration was central:

Consulted directly with visually impaired individuals during development .
Tested UI, prompts, and feedback styles for accessibility, clarity, and sensitivity.
Adapted voice instructions and feedback based on real-world use cases.

This human-centered approach ensures the app is not only technologically advanced but also empathetic and practical.

Comparison: Traditional vs. Voice-Assisted Makeup Application

Aspect	Traditional Application	Voice-enabled Assistant
Feedback	Visual, reliant on mirrors; inaccessible to blind users	Audio cues; accessible and actionable for all
Independence	Often relies on sighted help	Empowers independent application
Error correction	Hard to detect unevenness or missed spots	Automatic detection and spoken guidance
Inclusivity	Limited; not designed for disability access	Core focus is inclusivity for the visually impaired

Technical Foundations: Machine Learning Meets Accessibility

The app’s backbone is a combination of machine vision and voice AI:

Facial Recognition: Analyses the geometry and topography of the face for accurate makeup boundary assessment .
Machine Learning: Learns from diverse skin tones and makeup types, improving detection over time .
Voice Synthesis: Provides nuanced, human-like feedback and instructions tailored to each user.

This tech stack ensures the advice is precise, adaptive, and sensitive—not just clinical. Safety and privacy are also prioritized, with all processing done locally, and no photos stored without consent.

The Impact: Empowerment and Inclusion

Feedback from users and disability advocates highlights several profound benefits:

Empowerment: Users report feeling more confident, autonomous, and able to express themselves through makeup .
Accessibility: Reduces reliance on others for basic beauty routines.
Social Inclusion: Helps bridge a significant gap in beauty culture, allowing everyone to participate equally.

Estée Lauder executives have stated the company’s commitment to further innovation in accessibility, planning expansion and new features that respond to evolving consumer needs .

Limitations and Areas for Growth

Color Selection: While application assistance is robust, the app presently does not offer color matching or selection guidance, which would require further advances in AI .
Blending Detection: Feedback primarily focuses on boundaries and coverage, but advanced blending recognition is still a challenge .
Product Choice: The current version does not recommend specific shades or textures based on skin tone or personal preference.
Platform Availability: Only available on iOS and in select regions, with Android expansion planned .

Future updates are expected to bring solutions for these limitations, including educational features, broader makeup guidance, and extended platform support.

How to Get Started

Download the Estée Lauder Voice-enabled Makeup Assistant from the Apple App Store.
Allow camera access when prompted for face scanning.
Apply foundation, eyeshadow, or lipstick, then request an assessment.
Listen to the feedback and follow spoken instructions to perfect your look.
Repeat scans and adjustments as needed.

The app supports English, with Spanish newly added—users can select their preferred language in phone settings .

Industry Context: Accessibility Tech Trends in Beauty

Estée Lauder’s initiative is part of a broader movement to make technology more disability-friendly:

Guided Frame by Google: Helps visually impaired users take accurate selfies.
Voiceitt and Alexa: Integrate speech recognition for users with impaired speech .
Smart Mirrors: Products like Zmirror provide analysis, though rarely optimized for accessibility.

Estée Lauder sets a new standard, and other brands are likely to follow suit.

What’s Next for the Voice-enabled Makeup Assistant?

Expansion: Upcoming launch on Android devices and in additional countries .
Enhanced Features: Educational tools for makeup artistry and tutorials for achieving different looks .
Advanced AI: Features like color contrast detection and personalized product recommendations .

Estée Lauder welcomes user feedback for ongoing development, ensuring future versions truly reflect the needs and wishes of their diverse consumer base.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What makeup products does the app support?

Currently, feedback is provided for foundation, eyeshadow, and lipstick application .

Is the app available for Android?

Not yet. The app is currently exclusive to iOS, with an Android version and wider geographic rollout planned .

Does the app recommend makeup shades?

No. At present, it assesses the uniformity of the application, not color selection. Future versions may offer color guidance .

How does the app respect user privacy?

All image analysis is done locally and photos are not stored or transmitted without explicit user permission .

Can individuals without visual impairment use the app?

Yes. While designed for the blind and visually impaired, anyone seeking audio-guided makeup help may use it.

Is the app available in languages other than English?

Spanish support has been added; further language options are planned as the app expands .

Resources and User Feedback

App Store page: For downloads, version updates, and change logs .
Contact Estée Lauder: For questions and feedback, direct contact options are available through the app and company website .

Estée Lauder encourages feedback from the visually impaired community, aiming to refine and expand the technology further.

Conclusion: Beauty, Independently Yours

The Estée Lauder Voice-enabled Makeup Assistant marks a transformative advance in beauty tech, proving that industry inclusion begins with acknowledging diverse needs. Through AI and voice guidance, everyday routines become more than just accessible—they become opportunities for personal expression and confidence, uninhibited by physical barriers. The future of beauty is accessible, empathetic, and inclusive, set in motion by empowering tools like the Voice-enabled Makeup Assistant.

References

Author

medha deb

Medha Deb is an editor with a master's degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Hyderabad. She believes that her qualification has helped her develop a deep understanding of language and its application in various contexts.

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