# “It Feels Like Taking a Gamble”: Exploring Perceptions, Practices, and
Challenges of Using Makeup and Cosmetics for People with Visual Impairments

Franklin Mingzhe Li  Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
<EMAIL_ADDRESS>,  Franchesca Spektor  Carnegie Mellon
UniversityPittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA<EMAIL_ADDRESS>,  Meng Xia
KAISTDaejeonRepublic of Korea<EMAIL_ADDRESS>,  Mina Huh
KAISTDaejeonRepublic of Korea<EMAIL_ADDRESS>,  Peter Cederberg
Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA<EMAIL_ADDRESS>,
Yuqi Gong  Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
<EMAIL_ADDRESS>,  Kristen Shinohara  Rochester Institute of
TechnologyRochesterNew YorkUSA<EMAIL_ADDRESS>and  Patrick
Carrington  Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
(2022)

###### Abstract.

Makeup and cosmetics offer the potential for self-expression and the reshaping
of social roles for visually impaired people. However, there exist barriers to
conducting a beauty regime because of the reliance on visual information and
color variances in makeup. We present a content analysis of 145 YouTube videos
to demonstrate visually impaired individuals’ unique practices before, during,
and after doing makeup. Based on the makeup practices, we then conducted semi-
structured interviews with 12 visually impaired people to discuss their
perceptions of and challenges with the makeup process in more depth. Overall,
through our findings and discussion, we present novel perceptions of makeup
from visually impaired individuals (e.g., broader representations of blindness
and beauty). The existing challenges provide opportunities for future research
to address learning barriers, insufficient feedback, and physical and
environmental barriers, making the experience of doing makeup more accessible
to people with visual impairments.

Makeup, Cosmetics, People with Visual Impairments, Accessibility, Assistive
technology, Qualitative study

††journalyear: 2022††copyright: rightsretained††conference: CHI Conference on
Human Factors in Computing Systems; April 29-May 5, 2022; New Orleans, LA,
USA††booktitle: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI
’22), April 29-May 5, 2022, New Orleans, LA, USA††doi:
10.1145/3491102.3517490††isbn: 978-1-4503-9157-3/22/04††ccs: Human-centered
computing Empirical studies in accessibility

##  1\. Introduction

For the estimated 44% of the US population that regularly uses cosmetic
products (Korichi and Pelle-de Queral, 2008), a makeup practice constitutes
one of the most important avenues toward self-expression and self-care.
Despite this fact, there is a near-absent representation of makeup use by
people with visual impairments, a worldwide population of at least 2.2 billion
(WHO, 2021). Makeup practices are equally prevalent and meaningful for people
with visual impairments, and embedded in a rich constellation of culture and
identity signifiers (Long, 2019). “When I first lost my eyesight, I was quite
sad that I couldn’t look in the mirror. Applying makeup is a way that I can
control my appearance again,” said Lucy Edward, CoverGirl’s first blind beauty
ambassador (Long, 2019). Although visually impaired people utilize various
tips and tricks in makeup application (Holly, 2018), there are profound
barriers to participating fully in such efforts of self-expression;
purchasing, using, and vetting makeup remains inaccessible (Pradhan et al.,
2021). For instance, makeup products have a high reliance on visual
information, as many manufacturers do not tactilely differentiate between
colors and formulas in their product lines (Robin, 2021). Nonetheless, people
with visual impairments are attentive to their appearance in the same
proportion as sighted peers, especially in spaces that are guided by social
norms around makeup (Pradhan et al., 2021). With Edward’s testimony in mind,
we believe there remain many opportunities for research that furthers the
self-expression and personal well-being of people with visual impairments
(e.g., (Shinohara and Wobbrock, 2011; Li et al., 2021b)).

To support people with visual impairments in cosmetics, companies like
L’Occitane and Proctor & Gamble have made some progress by attaching braille
labels (Sicardi, 2019) or non-braille tactile markers (Quito, 2018) on their
cosmetic packages. Furthermore, existing assistive technologies for people
with visual impairments in navigation (Ahmetovic et al., 2016), text
recognition (Deshpande and Shriram, 2016), object detection (Bigham et al.,
2010), blind photography (Brady et al., 2013; Jayant et al., 2011), and color
detection (Mascetti et al., 2016) may be helpful for individuals researching
cosmetic products online and in-store, as well as using products
independently. Many existing accessible crowdsourcing platforms, such as
BeMyEyes (BeMyEyes, 2015) and Aira (Aira, 2014), connect people with visual
impairments to sighted volunteers, which may provide more detailed feedback
and instruction on makeup application (Aira, 2014; BeMyEyes, 2015). While
research in this area is growing, assistive technologies are still limited in
their scope to functional activities—such as browsing online content (e.g.,
(Lazar et al., 2012)), or indoor and outdoor navigation (e.g., (Ahmetovic et
al., 2016))—rather than expressive activities. For instance, even where
assistive technologies can be helpful in differentiating basic colors, none
are currently sophisticated enough to differentiate tones in a nude eye-shadow
palette, much less match to a user’s skin color or outfit. Because these
existing technology approaches do not support users in all important aspects
of the task, we first seek to understand cosmetic practices as an essential
mode of expression for people with visual impairments. We then focus on the
perceptions and challenges of makeup as an everyday task, which may be
enhanced through technological development. As such, the aim of this work is
to address the knowledge gap around effectively supporting the expression and
independence of people with visual impairments during the makeup process. To
achieve this, we explore the following research questions from the perspective
of people with visual impairments:

  * •

RQ1: What are the existing practices around makeup and cosmetics?

  * •

RQ2: What is the importance and perception of doing makeup and cosmetics? And
why?

  * •

RQ3: What are the existing challenges around makeup and cosmetics? And how
could HCI research contribute to solving challenges with makeup and cosmetics
for people with visual impairments?

To understand RQ1, we first conducted a YouTube video analysis with 145 videos
relevant to how people with visual impairments do their makeup. We show
nuanced information related to unique practices of makeup by people with
visual impairments before, during, and after doing makeup (Section 3.2). Based
on the makeup practices extracted from the video analysis, we then conducted
semi-structured interviews with 12 people with visual impairments who have
experience with makeup and cosmetics to explore RQ2 and RQ3 in-depth. The
interview findings further illuminate individuals’ perceptions of makeup; both
the meaning of makeup to people with visual impairments and its role in social
interactions (Section 4.2). We then present novel challenges that people with
visual impairments are currently facing (i.e., learning barriers, insufficient
feedback, physical and environmental barriers) (Section 4.3). We further
discuss the design guidelines and potential opportunities in considerations
for assistive makeup technology based on makeup meanings and perceptions, and
solutions towards novel challenges (Section 5).

##  2\. Related Work

In this section, we describe related literature to provide a foundation for
our work. First, we present existing literature that explores the meaning of
makeup and cosmetics to people with visual impairments (Section 2.1). We then
show the enabling and assistive technologies for people with visual
impairments that may benefit specific steps of the makeup process (Section
2.2). In the last section, we describe existing technologies and research for
makeup (Section 2.3).

###  2.1. The Social Meanings of Makeup for People with Visual Impairments

Makeup and cosmetics contribute to a consumer culture regarding personal
reinvention and transformation, forming rituals that allow people to express
different aspects of their identities (Jackson, 2019). Makeup may reify gender
roles as a rite of passage toward adulthood, or otherwise subvert gender
through its applications in queer performance spaces and fashion (Jairath and
Daima, [n.d.]). Makeup has also historically functioned as a proxy for
professionalism, and upward mobility for female-presenting employees
(Dellinger and Williams, 1997)—social pressures which have been repeatedly
highlighted by critical feminist scholarship (Sandra, 1988). In response to
critiques of socially-mandated makeup use, many makeup-lovers have recently
reclaimed their capacity for personal expression. In the widespread 2015
YouTube movement “The Power of Makeup,” creator NikkieTutorials challenges
“makeup shaming” by stating that makeup can instead “transform you into whom
you want to be” (Kennedy, 2016). Indeed, individuals may spend significant
time developing makeup practices to express evolving standards of beauty (Nash
et al., 2006), or feel themselves as part of a community (Gentina et al.,
2012). Different cosmetic styles could also assist individuals in changing how
their facial appearance is externally perceived (Liu et al., 2016). Throughout
these facets of meaning, it is clear that makeup is a socially complex,
embodied practice that reaches far beyond the visual gaze.

For visually impaired individuals, the ways in which makeup furthers identity
are equally important. Yet, due to the subjective nature of evaluating one’s
own visual appearance, conducting a beauty regime may not always be as
straightforward as it is for sighted individuals (Pradhan et al., 2021).
Overall, there is a lack of overall understanding of the social complexity of
makeup for people with visual impairments, including its implications for
self-perception and in-group status. As such, we explore how individuals’
makeup practices change according to common social contexts (e.g., employment,
shopping (Shinohara and Wobbrock, 2011; Li et al., 2021a)), including when
people with visual impairments might ask sighted people for assistance with
different aspects of the makeup process (Pradhan et al., 2021). We offer this
in-depth exploration of makeup-related practices and challenges from the
perspective of people with visual impairments.

###  2.2. Enabling Technologies for People with Visual Impairments

Existing accessibility issues in makeup and cosmetics influence the ways that
blind people navigate their makeup purchases and how they use makeup (Pradhan
et al., 2021). In the HCI and Accessibility communities, prior literature
explored technologies that assist people with visual impairments in various
activities of daily living (e.g., cooking, gaming) (Li et al., 2021b; Guo et
al., 2016; Carvalho et al., 2012; Kianpisheh et al., 2019; Li et al., 2017).
Existing research such as web accessibility (Wang et al., 2021; Zajicek et
al., 1998), media accessibility (Królak et al., 2017; Seo and Jung, 2018),
object recognition (Guo et al., 2016; Bigham et al., 2010; Chincha and Tian,
2011; Jabnoun et al., 2014), tactile design (Guo et al., 2017; He et al.,
2017), color identification (Neiva, 2017), and indoor navigation (Ahmetovic et
al., 2016; Williams et al., 2013; Sato et al., 2017) may be adapted to improve
the makeup process for people with visual impairments. We divide this prior
work into three categories—online learning by people with visual impairments,
visual assistance for interacting with inaccessible interfaces or
environments, and physical and tactile design for visually impaired
individuals.

####  2.2.1. Online Learning by People with Visual Impairments

Prior research has explored online accessibility issues and created guidelines
for web accessibility. Makeup products are available online both for shopping
and browsing, and existing research that focused on making web interfaces
accessible (Wang et al., 2021; Zajicek et al., 1998) would assist people with
visual impairments in searching for the makeup product that they are
interested in. Beyond searching for makeup products, many people with visual
impairments now use online media content and MOOCs (i.e., Massive Open Online
Courses) for learning (e.g., (Królak et al., 2017; Seo and Jung, 2018)). In
addition to searching and learning from online media content, existing work on
supporting people with visual impairments to share their images or videos may
further improve the overall experiences of learning makeup styles and products
(Bennett et al., 2018; Seo and Jung, 2018).

####  2.2.2. Visual Assistance for Interacting with Inaccessible Interfaces or
Environment

To interact with inaccessible spaces or interfaces, prior research has used
computer vision to identify objects in the environment and components in
digital interfaces (e.g., (Fusco et al., 2014; Bigham et al., 2010; Guo et
al., 2016; Morris et al., 2006)). For example, Bigham et al. (Bigham et al.,
2010) leveraged crowd workers to help visually impaired individuals recognize
various objects. Guo et al. (Guo et al., 2016) introduced Vizlens, an
accessible mobile app that supports people with visual impairments to interact
with inaccessible interfaces through crowdsourcing and computer vision. Beyond
recognizing a specific object or interacting with interfaces, color
identification applications (e.g., (Neiva, 2017)) through computer vision
could also be enhanced to assist people with visual impairments in choosing
and recognizing products with different colors (e.g., lipsticks). To purchase
makeup products, it might be inevitable for people with visual impairments to
visit stores (e.g., Sephora) physically. Therefore, prior work on indoor
navigation (e.g., (Ahmetovic et al., 2016; Williams et al., 2013; Sato et al.,
2017)) could assist people with visual impairments when navigating from a mall
entrance to a specific makeup store.

####  2.2.3. Tactile Design for Visually Impaired Individuals

Beyond using mobile technology and computer vision to support people with
visual impairments with daily activities, many researchers explored tactile
design for people with visual impairments as a more inclusive approach (e.g.,
(Bliss et al., 1970; Kurze, 1996; Guo et al., 2017; He et al., 2017)). For
example, Guo et al. (Guo et al., 2017) presented a crowdsourced fabrication
pipeline to assist people with visual impairments to create physical labels
with 3D printed augmentation of tactile buttons. Furthermore, He et al. (He et
al., 2017) introduced a novel toolchain to create tactile overlays for
touchscreens.

Our research builds upon prior work of enabling technologies for people with
visual impairments. Although existing technologies might be beneficial toward
aiding people with visual impairments with some makeup and beauty steps (e.g.,
object recognition), there is a lack of domain-specific nuance and
capabilities to support visually impaired individuals in makeup.

###  2.3. Existing Technology for Makeup

Prior research has explored different approaches to reduce the effort of
makeup steps through technology, such as providing makeup recommendations
(Jain and Bhatti, 2009; Nguyen and Liu, 2017; Ou et al., 2016; Liu et al.,
2014), recording and sharing makeup logs (Nakagawa et al., 2011), improving
makeup creativity (Treepong et al., 2018), developing instructional makeup
videos (Truong et al., 2021), enabling interactive makeup experiences (Kao et
al., 2016) and supporting marginalized groups in makeup (Chong et al., 2021).
For example, Jain and Bhatti (Jain and Bhatti, 2009) developed a multimodal
cosmetic advisory system that leveraged face recognition and color detection
to provide recommendations based on skin tones. To support the creativity of
makeup processes, Treepong et al. (Treepong et al., 2018) introduced an
interactive face makeup system that combined 3D face modeling, tangible
interfaces, projection mapping techniques, and a drawing system that allowed
users to interactively design their makeup that enhanced creativity. As
additional examples in learning makeup styles, Truong et al. (Truong et al.,
2021) showed the approach of combining computer vision with transcript text
analysis to provide hierarchical tutorials from instructional makeup videos
automatically, and Chang et al. (Chang et al., 2021) used content-based voice
navigation for how-to videos in makeup tutorials. Beyond supporting makeup
just for the general public, Chong et al. (Chong et al., 2021) created a
makeup recommendation system for transgender individuals through automatic
facial recognition systems. Although prior research explored technologies for
makeup, these applications and solutions are highly reliant on vision. For
example, the interactive face makeup system that Treepong et al. (Treepong et
al., 2018) showed would require certain visual capabilities to use, such as
positioning the face in the camera’s field of view and placing precise
commands in the system. Therefore, there remains work to be done around
technologies that benefit people with visual impairments not only in domain-
specific ways, but also through accessible means.

##  3\. YouTube Video Analysis

To understand the overall makeup practices for people with visual impairments,
we choose to first perform a content analysis on YouTube videos. We focus on
YouTube both as a rich online space for accessibility research (Anthony et
al., 2013; Li et al., 2021b), and as a hub for a diverse community of makeup
users and beauty-focused content creators. Specifically, many blind YouTubers,
such as Molly Burke (Burke, 2014) and Lucy Edwards (Edwards, 2009), create
content around the significance of wearing makeup as visually impaired
individuals, while also filming tutorials for members of their community. As
such, our research in this space allowed us to understand the practices of
makeup use directly from an active community of visually impaired creators.
Our analysis of YouTube videos on blind makeup provides rich examples of
practices that complement and present more diverse and nuanced information
that we leverage in our interviews with visually impaired people for in-depth
understandings of perceptions and challenges. In this section, we first show
both searching and filtering procedures of the YouTube video analysis (Section
3.1.1). We then describe the coding process and data analysis approach
(Section 3.1.2). Finally, we present findings from our YouTube video analysis
(Section 3.2).

###  3.1. Method

####  3.1.1. Video Searching and Filtering Procedures

To broadly understand the overall makeup practices for people with visual
impairments, we used the depth-first random sampling method to find videos
relevant to the makeup practices of visually impaired people. Similar to prior
research of searching steps (e.g., (Li et al., 2021b; Anthony et al., 2013; Li
et al., 2022)), we combined vision-related keywords (e.g., blind, visually
impaired, visual impairment, low vision) and makeup related keywords (e.g.,
makeup, cosmetics, beauty)) to serve as our searching keywords. To come up
with these, researchers first started with basic searches (e.g., blind makeup)
then gradually added other combinations of keywords from resulting video
titles or descriptions (Table 1). Adopting the approach of Komkaite et al.
(Komkaite et al., 2019), we terminated the search with the specific keyword if
the resulting page no longer included any relevant videos.

Table 1. The searching keywords used in the YouTube video analysis. A depth-
first random sampling method was used to find videos relevant to makeup
practices of visually impaired people. Searching Keywords
---
Blind Makeup, Blind Cosmetics, Blind Beauty, Blind GRWM, Blind Makeup
Tutorial, Blind Beauty Step-by-step, Visually Impaired Makeup, Visually
Impaired Beauty, Visually Impaired GRWM, Visually Impaired Makeup Tutorial,
Vision impairment Makeup Tutorial, Low Vision Makeup

Our initial video dataset covered 160 relevant videos collected before July
14th, 2021. We then filtered out individual videos if: 1) the video did not
include any makeup practice nor tips; 2) both the person applying and the
person getting makeup did not have visual impairments (e.g., blindfolded); 3)
the video had poor audio and video quality; 4) the video was duplicated; 5)
the video was not English-based. After the filtering, we ended up with 145
videos (V1 - V145) in the final dataset. Among the 145 videos in our dataset,
most videos were uploaded in 2019 (35), while others were uploaded in 2020
(33), 2018 (28), 2021 (15), 2017 (11), 2015 (9), 2014 (7), 2016 (5), 2013 (1),
and 2012 (1). The 145 videos were from 77 YouTube channels with the highest
number of videos (9) coming from the “Lucy Edwards” channel (Edwards, [n.d.]).
The average length of videos was 904 seconds (ranging from 60 seconds to 4130
seconds).

####  3.1.2. Data Analysis

The video analysis mainly consisted of two steps: open-coding (Charmaz, 2006)
and affinity diagramming (Hartson and Pyla, 2012). To analyze the 145 videos
we collected, three researchers first open-coded (Charmaz, 2006) all videos
independently. Then the coders met and went through the codes of each video.
When there was confusion or conflict on any code, the coder explained that
code, and then three coders discussed until they reached a consensus then
modified the code. A list of codes was consolidated after the discussion. The
same three researchers then performed affinity diagramming (Hartson and Pyla,
2012) to group the codes into candidate themes and refine the themes in terms
of definition and naming, iteratively. Finally, we generated four themes and
23 codes. We describe and report the findings based on the four themes in the
following subsection.

###  3.2. Findings: Practices of Makeup by People with Visual Impairments

In this section, we present the practices of makeup by people with visual
impairments from YouTube video analysis. We first present how people learn
makeup and available resources. We then describe how visually impaired
individuals select and identify makeup products and styles. Afterward, we show
the practices often utilized by people with visual impairments in applying
makeup. Last, we present how they self-assess their makeup and ask for
feedback.

####  3.2.1. Learning Makeup

Throughout the makeup learning process, people with visual impairments often
refer to online content developed by other blind people. By watching makeup
videos from content creators with visual impairments, they were not only
motivated (V45, V101), but also learned about existing blindness-specific tips
and practices (V21, V45). For instance, V101 mentioned: “[I was] obsessed with
makeup when I was a young girl and watched YouTube videos about makeup
tutorials. That’s where the passions come from.” Makeup videos created by
people with visual impairments tended to be more accessible in terms of
details in the narration, and most of them explicitly described the product
information and the look of the product when it is applied (V34, V35, V51,
V66, V92).

In addition to watching video tutorials from people with similar disabilities,
we found that people also prefer learning from people with similar complexion
or demographic background to reduce the effort of asking sighted people for
feedback and help. In V26, the content creator commented: “I always like to
watch the makeup tutorial videos or product reviews from another content
creator who has exact skin color as I do. That reduced my concerns of whether
a specific product will look good on my skin color.”

####  3.2.2. Makeup Selection and Identification

We found that visually impaired individuals select products with which they
can easily discern the amount used during the makeup process. For example,
they used products with pump buttons to measure out how much was coming out
(V69, V91). In V69, the content creator commented: “By using the pump buttons
of my CC cream, it allows me to easily track the exact amount I have applied
or need to apply.” Another criterion in choosing products was the likelihood
of encountering errors due to vision barriers. In order to prevent errors,
people with visual impairments preferred tools with short handles that they
can control easily to mitigate limitations in depth perception (V11, V58,
V65), old dry mascaras that leave fewer clumps (V5, V66, V71), and sponges
that leave fewer streaks on the face (V65, V75). Additionally, V89 further
mentioned the importance of having long-lasting solutions to reduce the effort
of re-application.

We distilled several strategies that people with visual impairments use to
distinguish products they own. First, we found that they leverage the physical
shape of the products to differentiate them (e.g., V34, V51) (Fig. 1(a)). The
creator of V1 mentioned the importance of the unique tactile shape of the
product: “Any tactile differentiation is a game-changer.” For products that
lack unique physical shape, people with visual impairments added custom
tactile markers (Fig. 1(b)), such as braille stickers (V4, V6, V22, V30, V64),
bump dots (V33, V69, V137), or rubber bands (V2). Some people with visual
impairments use the placement to distinguish makeup products. They always
lined up tools in order (V12, V15, V34, V107, V136) or put them in different
compartments of a bag (V26, V39, V40) (Fig. 1(d)). Additionally, other sensory
inputs such as sound and smell were utilized to find the right product to
compensate the visual impairment. People with visual impairments added audio
stickers (Fig. 1(c)) to label the product with its name and color (V109), or
smelled the product to make sure the correct product was being used (V36,
V72). V72 further mentioned: “I use smell to distinguish makeup products with
different scents, especially when they have similar physical packaging, such
as lipsticks.”

We found people with visual impairments prefer asking family members or
professionals who know their needs for recommendations that satisfy their
personal preferences. For example, they might consult the makeup store staff
in finding the right foundation for sensitive skin and products that are more
accessible. V21 commented: “I always have that one person from the store to
help me choose the product that is more accessible or easily identifiable to
me, such as products with different shapes or tactile.”

Figure 1. Different ways of distinguishing products. (a) Brushes with
different handle shapes. (b) Eyeshadow pans customized with braille labels.
(c) Customized audio stickers on an eyeshadow palette. (d) A person shows
various products organized in different compartments of a bag.

There are four figures (two rows by two columns) that show different ways of
distinguishing products. On the top left, sub-figure (a) shows brushes with
different handle shapes. On the top right, sub-figure (b) shows two eyeshadow
pans that are customized with braille labels. On the bottom left, sub-figure
(c) shows a person holding an audio sticker reader in her right hand and has
an eyeshadow palette on her left hand. On the bottom right, the sub-figure (d)
shows a person introducing various products organized in different
compartments of a bag.

####  3.2.3. Makeup Application

We identified various unique practices from people with visual impairments
when applying their makeup. We found visually impaired individuals rely
heavily on their hands or fingers as an input rather than various makeup
tools. Specifically, we found they usually first apply the makeup product
(e.g., eye shadow (V7, V42), foundation (V2, V29), lip products (V38, V96)) on
their hand or finger, then apply the makeup on the face. They also use their
hand or finger to distinguish a specific amount and quantity in makeup. For
example, some people store makeup products in the fridge to distinguish the
amount of the product by squeezing them on a hand or finger to feel the
temperature difference (e.g., cream (V69)). Furthermore, they often used their
palm or finger to feel the specific location of the face and guide tools for
makeup (e.g., V92, V99, V100) (Fig. 2). For instance, V56 showed how visually
impaired individuals use fingers to feel where the little hairs are under the
eyebrow. Additionally, they often clean their fingers or move the products
back to the original place after each makeup step to avoid losing track of
specific steps and unwanted mess.

Figure 2. Left: A person uses her hand to guide a brow gel applicator onto
their eyebrow. Right: A person uses painter’s tape on their cheekbone to help
apply contouring.

Two figures. Left: A person uses her hand to guide a brow gel applicator onto
their eyebrow. Right: A person uses painter’s tape on their cheekbone to help
apply contouring.

Besides using a hand or finger as a guide, people also used specific tools as
guides while applying makeup. For example, we found that they preferred to
have tape- or band-aid guidance, such as using tape to create guides on the
face for contouring (V19) (Fig. 2). Moreover, the reaction from specific tools
(e.g., vibration, sound) could provide feedback to visually impaired
individuals. One blind content creator commented on her practices of listening
to her mascara wand: “that is how I know that I am grabbing my lashes and it
is being coated.” To ensure more accurate applications in makeup, some
visually impaired individuals preferred using mini tools or travel-size kits
for precision and accuracy (V15, V31, V61, V116). For example, V61 commented
on choosing brushes of small size to reduce the risk of poking eyes.

During the makeup application process, we learned that blind makeup users
often rely on memorization to recall their makeup progress. For some specific
measurement steps, individuals often memorize the number of strokes or how
many pumps of makeup to use to control the amount, such as counting the number
of strokes (V19), tapping the brush onto the blush for specific times to pick
it up, and memorizing how many pumps of foundation to use. Beyond memorizing
the specific amount, we found that they also use specific positions on the
face as an anchor or reference point during makeup. For example, people with
visual impairments memorize scars with finger-distance from facial parts (V92)
and specific places on her face to stipple (V145). Due to the difficulty of
memorization, we found that they tend to over-do certain steps in makeup, such
as blending (e.g., V8, V89). For example, some blind content creators
mentioned that they prefer blending more than sighted people just to make sure
it is done (e.g., V4, V30).

In some cases, visually impaired individuals asked other people for help
during makeup processes. We found that they sometimes ask for help with
specific makeup steps, such as eyeliner or mascara that requires more
precision and depth perceptions (e.g., V2, V4, V35). The content creator of
V35 commented: “I normally would have someone to do eyeliner for me because I
cannot do it very well myself.”

####  3.2.4. Self-assessment and Feedback

While applying and finishing their makeup, visually impaired individuals
explored various approaches for self-assessing and asking for feedback. First
of all, we learned that they often use touch and feel to check while doing
makeup after specific steps. For example, V74 mentioned using fingers to feel
if the primer is properly applied and blended. For people who can see contours
or colors through magnifiers, we found they rely on a mirror with magnifier
for checking makeup (e.g., V42, V69). V69 commented: “I am legally blind and
can see color contours with magnifiers, I often use the huge 10x magnification
mirrors for help with knowing colors and contours while doing makeup and
checking after makeup.” As cameras are getting higher resolution and
magnification, we found that people with visual impairments use their phones
to take selfies with specialized zooming tools for checking their makeup
(e.g., V41, V56).

After finishing the makeup, we found that people with visual impairments tend
to have someone to provide feedback on makeup. First, they ask their friends
or family members to check their look when done. In the YouTube videos, they
also mentioned that they would prefer not only overall feedback of the makeup,
but also the detailed pros and cons about their makeup (e.g., V5, V14). In
terms of how they received feedback, they mentioned either using Facetime or
asking in person. Beyond asking their friends or family for feedback, very few
videos mentioned they would use crowd-based apps, such as Be My Eyes or Aira,
for feedback (e.g., V2, V30). However, they mentioned that they still
preferred more personalized feedback from their friends and family, if they
are available.

Table 2. Participants’ demographic information Participant | Age | Gender | Vision Impairment Description |  Learned Doing Makeup Before or After Vision Loss
---|---|---|---|---
P1 | 39 | Female | Totally Blind, Acquired (23 yrs) | Before
P2 | 20 | Female | Legally Blind, Acquired (2 yrs) | Before
P3 | 24 | Female | Legally Blind, Congenital | After
P4 | 48 | Female | Totally Blind, Acquired (6 yrs) | Before
P5 | 26 | Female | Legally Blind, Acquired (9 yrs) | Before
P6 | 46 | Female | Totally Blind, Acquired (38 yrs) | After
P7 | 42 | Female | Legally Blind, Congenital | After
P8 | 28 | Female | Totally Blind, Congenital | After
P9 | 22 | Female | Legally Blind, Congenital | After
P10 | 27 | Female | Legally Blind, Acquired (26 yrs) | After
P11 | 33 | Female | Legally Blind, Acquired (3 yrs) | Before
P12 | 43 | Female | Legally Blind, Acquired (10 yrs) | Before

##  4\. Semi-structured Interviews

Based on the findings describing makeup practices from the YouTube video
analysis (e.g., how people with visual impairments learn makeup. identity
makeup product, apply makeup, and check makeup quality) (Section 3.2), we
conducted semi-structured interviews with people with visual impairments to
further explore perceptions and challenges of makeup, such as their personal
perceptions on the meaning of makeup, and challenges that are related to
visual information through various makeup procedures. We first present the
methodology of our semi-structured interviews by showing information about
participants (Section 4.1.1), study procedures (Section 4.1.2), and data
analysis (Section 4.1.3). We then describe our findings for both the
perceptions (Section 4.2) and challenges (Section 4.3) of makeup shared by
people with visual impairments.

###  4.1. Method

####  4.1.1. Participants

To understand the perceptions and challenges of applying makeup faced by
people with visual impairments, we conducted semi-structured interviews with
12 visually impaired volunteers who have experience with makeup and cosmetics.
Although our recruitment form asked for participants of any gender identity,
all 12 participants who responded identified themselves as female, with an
average age of 33, ranging from 20 to 48 years old. Four of them are totally
blind, and eight are legally blind. Regarding their first time doing makeup,
the distribution is quite even, with half of the participants starting before
the loss of vision, and the other half after. Participants were recruited via
social platforms (e.g., Reddit, Twitter, Facebook). To participate in our
interview, participants had to satisfy the following requirements: 1) be 18
years old or above; 2) have visual impairments; 3) have experience with makeup
and cosmetics; 4) be able to communicate in English. The interviews were
conducted virtually via Zoom, and each one took around 75 - 90 minutes.
Participants were compensated with a $20 Amazon gift card for completing the
interview. The entire recruitment and interview process was approved by the
Institutional Review Board (IRB).

####  4.1.2. Study Procedure

In the interview, we first inquired about participants’ demographic
information and past experience with cosmetics, such as when and how they
first started applying makeup, obstacles they encountered along the way, and
how they dealt with them. Our findings in the YouTube video analysis have
shown different makeup practices before, during, and after doing makeup (e.g.,
how to distinguish between products (Section 3.2.2), and how do they check
their makeup (Section 3.2.4)), but these findings did not provide much insight
into how people with visual impairments got interested in makeup, and how they
figured out what worked best. We asked participants to discuss their
perceptions of wearing makeup both for personal meanings and influence over
social interactions (e.g., How does wearing makeup make you feel? What do you
think is the role of makeup in society?). Furthermore, we asked participants
to share their experiences and any challenges they encounter throughout the
entire makeup routine, such as selecting and purchasing products (e.g., Where
and how do you purchase makeup products?), learning or following specific
practices (e.g., How do you learn makeup styles?), and checking and correcting
a makeup look (e.g., How do you check your makeup after it’s done?). Finally,
we asked participants to describe how they experimented with new makeup, and
how makeup could be used to help them express their creativity.

####  4.1.3. Data Analysis

The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Two researchers independently
performed open-coding (Charmaz, 2006) on the interview transcripts. Then the
coders met together and discussed their codes. When the coders found a
conflict, such as a missing code, they explained the rationale for their codes
to each other and discussed together to resolve the conflict. Eventually, both
coders reached a consensus and consolidated the list of codes. After finishing
the coding process, they performed affinity diagramming (Hartson and Pyla,
2012) to group the codes and summarize emerging themes. Overall, we
established six themes and 35 codes. The results introduced in the next
section are organized based on our six themes.

###  4.2. Findings: Perceptions of Makeup by People with Visual Impairments

In this section, we demonstrate the importance, perceived benefits, and
concerns of makeup from the perspectives of people with visual impairments. We
will first show the perceptions of makeup itself and how that relates to self-
expression (Section 4.2.1 \- 4.2.2). We then describe the perceptions of doing
makeup with respect to social interactions from visually impaired individuals
(Section 4.2.3).

####  4.2.1. Broader Representations of Blindness and Beauty

From the interviews, we learned of misperceptions from the general population
about the relationship between beauty and blindness. Over half of our
participants reported that they found sighted people assume blind people do
not “need” makeup, so it is less mentioned or taught at home if none of their
family members have visual impairments. According to what P1 and P9 commented,
it is not common to see a blind person wearing makeup on social media in
general, which creates the stereotype that blind people do not wear makeup.
This perspective continues to inform the sparse representation of blind beauty
rituals in both media and research, and directly contributes to the lack of
accessible tools. P4 further commented on this issue:

> “…Many people that I talked with who are sighted were very surprised that I
> do makeup. Even my family were not aware of how important doing makeup is in
> my social life…”

We also learned that aesthetic expression is as multifaceted for blind
individuals as for sighted peers, and encompasses practices beyond makeup use.
For instance, three participants emphasized the importance of looking complete
and put together by combining makeup with clothing. However, color and style
matching makeup with clothing may also pose additional complexity. P8
commented on this:

> “…Some people might think doing makeup is already a difficult task for the
> blind population. However, it is even more complicated because makeup is
> usually combined with clothes, which added more barriers for us in matching
> colors and choosing personalized makeup…”

Despite a lack of representation for blind aesthetic expression, our
interviewees asserted that blindness does not diminish one’s access to beauty.
P11 further commented:

> “…I have had experiences when planning to use a new product, and others just
> reacted like it was not necessary to me. Just because we are blind, it does
> not mean we cannot make ourselves feel beautiful…”

####  4.2.2. Relationship between Makeup and Self-image

We learned that there exists both self-confidence and self-consciousness in
doing makeup for visually impaired individuals. In terms of self-confidence,
we first realized that there is a positive feedback loop between makeup and
confidence for people with visual impairments. Self-confidence is important
for visually impaired people living in a world of ableist challenges
(Shinohara and Wobbrock, 2016), five participants emphasized that makeup can
be a confidence booster in their daily lives. P1 commented on her feelings of
makeup:

> “…Makeup makes me feel like a better version of myself. And it is not just
> more confident, it also makes me look more alive and awake…”

While makeup can be confidence enhancing, having increased confidence can also
make someone more likely to play with and enjoy their makeup process as an act
of self-care (P3, P7, P9). Specifically, P7 recounted appearance-based
bullying throughout her early years, which prevented her from experimenting
with makeup (so as not to further stand out). It was not until P7 was able to
regain the confidence to be expressive with her appearance that she began
gravitating toward bright makeup. Glitter and blue lipsticks became a source
of joy and creativity for her—regardless of others’ perspectives. P3 further
explained that compliments from other people encouraged her to do more makeup,
and she thought of makeup as a way to put her best foot forward because she
knows she looks good:

> “…Every time when I hear from other people talking about how beautiful I am
> with my makeup, I become more excited and confident in trying new makeup
> styles and willing to spend more time and money on it!…”

In contrast, six participants also mentioned feeling self-conscious about
makeup, which discourages them from doing makeup or makes them become more
conservative in trying new things. Three interviewees are resistant to being
creative in makeup due to concerns of error. P5 commented on this fact:

> “…I usually just stick to the same color and same techniques I know. I think
> less is more, and I just want to be comfortable in makeup processes. The
> consequences of doing new makeup wrong are way more than just following
> simple makeup routines…”

We further learned that two participants were often cautious at the beginning
and afraid of messing things up. P6 also followed up on the discouragement
from the complexity of makeup for people with visual impairments:

> “…There is so much discouragement in makeup. So many steps of makeup are
> frustrating, especially when I just started to learn makeup. It is also
> confusing with the tools, the steps and also different makeup products…”

Finally, we learned that these challenges might be further exacerbated by
broader misperceptions of blind makeup use. Our participants expressed that
they felt that society attaches ableist assumptions to less-than-perfect
makeup from an individual with visual impairments. For example, P8 commented
on how imperfect makeup signifies her blindness, rather than a rushed morning:

> “…When I do my makeup, it needs to be great, because if it is not, it will
> signify my blindness and give me a lot of pressure. That is why I tried to
> do things simple and natural…”

This additional pressure may cause some individuals to remain more
conservative in their makeup use, so as to avoid ableist assumptions
(Campbell, 2009).

####  4.2.3. Relationship between makeup and social interaction

In the previous section, we noted how social perceptions influenced how and
when participants used makeup (Section 4.2.2). We also found that
participants’ makeup played a role in their day-to-day social interactions. In
this section, we discuss how visually impaired individuals leverage makeup to
control their visibility in sighted settings and engage in the community. We
also consider how familiarized surroundings affect one’s motivation toward
makeup.

Controlling Visibility: Our participants mentioned makeup could enable them to
adjust their visibility in social interactions. “Makeup helps to control how
visible I am!” said P12. P12 further explained that having a disability often
makes her overtly visible to others, such as when wearing sunglasses indoors
or using a cane. In contrast to findings mentioned in Section 4.2.2, makeup
also disrupts assumptions about what blind people do. As such, makeup is one
especially important way she is able to change her visibility in different
contexts:

> “…Makeup can help to control how I would like to present myself in front of
> others. For example, if I am happy today and would like to socialize more at
> a party, I would put on more colorful makeup. Otherwise, I would keep a more
> natural-looking, and it will be less noticeable…”

Two participants also commented on hesitating to change their makeup or going
out without makeup to prevent unwanted attention. P2 explained:

> “…I normally keep my appearance the same as before the loss of vision. This
> makes people focus less on my face and my visual impairments…”

As a specific example of changing visibility, five participants described how
wearing makeup allows them to be perceived as professional under different
contexts. P10 emphasized the benefit of makeup in making her feel more
professional:

> “…I have a babyface, and it sometimes causes concerns under some
> professional contexts, such as interviews. I always wear makeup to feel more
> professional and confident during formal interviews and presentations…”

From these participants, we learn that makeup is often one way in which
visually impaired individuals may modulate how much attention they receive on
account of their blindness. Some individuals choose to shun attention, while
others use makeup to harness positive attention, such as during a job
interview.

Community & Belonging: In our interviews, nine participants mentioned that
makeup becomes a way to connect visually impaired individuals with other
people, and specifically to form friendships with women. P3 commented:

> “…Makeup is a big thing for women, I can use makeup to show other people my
> feelings for each day, and it can become a social medium between other
> people and me, both sighted and visually impaired populations…”

P4 further mentioned her experiences of exchanging different makeup products
and exploring makeup styles with her friends:

> “…I often exchange my makeup products with my friends, which definitely
> helps our friendship. We read magazines together and even try new products
> on each others’ faces…”

P1 talked about how makeup allows her to connect to her sighted female friends
and teach them new tips as a makeup enthusiast. P8 further mentioned using
makeup to guard and enforce her femininity in social interactions, such as
putting on a powerful full-face makeup look during a breast cancer checkup—a
moment where her womanhood felt threatened.

Importance of Support & Motivation: we found that the support and motivation
from familiarized surroundings are important to visually impaired makeup
users. We found that the social pressure of makeup is highly related to the
surrounding environments. For example, P9 is a student in computer science,
and she mentioned that the limited number of women in her field made her not
that interested or motivated to do makeup every day. P10 also mentioned how
pressure from social media made her feel unmotivated:

> “…The pressure of doing makeup starts at a young age, around middle school.
> Social media often has perfect makeup, and it becomes an expectation for us.
> However, this feels like a lot of pressure because of the complexity of
> makeup for people with visual impairments…”

In addition to social environments, we found that family attitudes also affect
how people with visual impairments apply makeup. Four participants mentioned
that their family environments either motivated or discouraged them from doing
makeup. While P7’s conservative family upbringing caused her to come to love
makeup later in life, P11’s cousin worked at MAC (MAC, [n.d.]) and taught her
a lot of makeup skills when she was a teenager.

###  4.3. Findings: Challenges of Makeup by People with Visual Impairments

We now present key challenges that are currently faced by people with visual
impairments, which provide novel opportunities to researchers—learning
barriers, insufficient feedback, and physical and environmental barriers.

####  4.3.1. Learning Barriers

We previously mentioned that people with visual impairments prefer using
online video tutorials to learn new practices and products (Section 3.2.1).
However, they also mentioned that they highly rely on friends and
professionals for recommendations and feedback due to the limitation of online
resources (Section 3.2.2). From the interviews, we uncovered various
challenges and opportunities to improve video content to better support people
with visual impairments in makeup. Most complaints with the video tutorials
were about the lack of descriptive data in makeup tutorial videos, and content
creators often assumed their audiences did not have visual impairments. For
example, P11 commented on the problem:

> “…When I watch YouTube video tutorials, I listen to them and use the actual
> text descriptions. Because I need more detailed examples, say they are doing
> a red smoky eye, they are talking about you are going to put on barnyard red
> and apply to the crease, but they do not say the way how they did it. They
> assume you can see what you are doing…”

Moreover, P1 further mentioned the overuse of demonstrative pronouns in videos
that confuses visually impaired individuals:

> “…Many YouTubers often use ‘this’ or ‘that’ to refer to a specific product
> or position. We cannot know what does ‘apply this thing here’ mean?…”

Beyond watching YouTube videos from blind content creators, our participants
also complained about the missing detailed information online on how to apply
the makeup product step by step. They proposed that online information should
include every detailed instruction that a person might get from actually
talking with a makeup specialist from a physical store. P1 explained:

> “…It should include everything that you may imagine you can get from
> actually talking with a specialist, such as whether it is great for day or
> night, how long does it last…”

Other than the needs of descriptions, our interviewees also mentioned the
inaccessible and irrelevant content from online makeup product pages, such as
moving images (P10) and information overloading from too many ads (P9).
Therefore, P11 mentioned that she avoids buying makeup products online, unless
she is already familiar with the product. At last, we also learned that online
reviews or recommendations lack specification and customization. Six
participants mentioned the inconvenience and effort of exploring products and
reviews one by one for makeup products and the lack of specifications of
reviewer’s demographic information, such as skin type and skin tone. P6
further explained her experiences of going over reviews and recommendations:

> “…I like to use online web pages for browsing makeup products these days
> during the pandemic. However, many of the reviews and recommendations
> systems do not take my personal information into consideration, such as
> whether my skin is sensitive? Whether I have a dark skin tone? In addition,
> many online makeup platforms do not require people to include their skin
> type or skin tone when they leave a comment on the product review page. This
> made me frustrated because I do not know whether I should listen to the
> person or not.”

Four participants emphasized the need for tactile makeup learning materials
for people with visual impairments. This includes having makeup magazines with
tactile versions and instructions on using new tools for people with visual
impairments. P10 commented on this:

> “…Many people now still prefer reading beauty magazines on physical covers.
> However, I barely see any of them having tactile versions available. Again,
> new instructions on how to apply new tools are still described to sighted
> populations. It would be nice of makeup companies to include instructions on
> how blind people may use the makeup tools…”

Besides the effort of learning and practicing makeup, we found re-learning
makeup after the loss of vision is challenging because people have to abandon
their conventional ways of measuring makeup, applying makeup, and performing
self-assessment with vision assistance. Also, doing makeup usually requires a
long time to practice and adopt a preferred way and style. In our interview,
we had six participants who learned makeup before they experienced vision
loss. For example, P11 expressed the difficulties of learning new ways of
doing makeup after becoming legally blind and how that is different from
before the vision loss:

> “…Applying makeup was a daily routine for me before the loss of vision, I
> became legally blind three years ago, and it took me a lot of effort from
> knowing what makeup products are more accessible, which makeup tools are
> easier for me to use…Of course, it needs a lot of practice and exploration…”

Moreover, all six participants who learned makeup before the vision loss
emphasized the difficulties of maintaining their previous makeup styles right
after the vision loss to prevent unwanted attention of the makeup change from
the general public.

####  4.3.2. Insufficient Feedback

From the interview, we further uncovered existing challenges of having
feedback—color identification before makeup, tracking specific steps during
makeup, and overall feedback after makeup. We found visually impaired
individuals not only have a hard time doing color matching before applying
makeup, but also find it difficult to acquire color information through
product descriptions, especially in online content. For example, both P5 and
P10 mentioned that there is a lack of standards for describing colors, “Nobody
understands what the color ‘moonlight’ refers to!” said P5. P10 further
commented on this:

> “…I wish it could be better for explaining colors. I want more descriptive
> information. For example, the definition of ‘neutral tone’ might be
> different between makeup products.”

From the interview, six participants mentioned the difficulties of identifying
color independently. All participants mentioned that they had used color
identification apps before. However, four participants complained about the
technical limitations of recognizing the detailed description of colors from
color identification apps, including exact color code and color shade. P12
commented on this:

> “…I have used different color identification apps. However, none of them can
> tell me the detailed color information, I understand the light condition
> might affect the exposure of the phone camera, I would like the color
> identification app to tell me more information about the color shade or
> exact RGB value…”

Beyond lacking a standardized way of describing colors, two participants also
mentioned the problem of detecting a group of colors by using color
identification apps, such as colors on a palette. P11 further elaborates on
this:

> “…Many color identification apps can detect single color from the camera.
> However, I found it is difficult to recognize colors on my palette. It also
> needs better ways of describing a series of colors through audio…”

In addition, eight participants also expressed strong frustration about color
blending. We found that people with visual impairments often have difficulties
in blending several colors and making sure the color blending is even. For
example, P1 and P5 mentioned that it is hard for them to follow a specific
order of adding different colors with an exact amount. P9 further explained
the difficulty of color blending evenly:

> “…Blending colors on a color pan is already very hard. However, doing makeup
> often requires me to blend colors on my face. This made me frustrated
> sometimes because it is very hard to make sure I blended both sides of my
> face evenly…”

Besides the challenges with color matching and blending, our participants also
mentioned the difficulties of following makeup steps or having precise control
over tools, especially for mascara (P4, P5, P11) and eyeliner (P2, P4, P6, P7,
P10, P11, P12). P12 complained about the process of applying eyeliners:

> “There are both eyeliner pencils and liquid eyeliners available. However,
> both ways are extremely hard for me, I am always afraid of having ink in my
> eyes while using the liquid eyeliner and worried about sticking the eyeliner
> pencil to my eyes. It is so hard to tell where the eyeliner goes.”

While applying makeup, our participants also mentioned the difficulty of
tracking makeup status and memorizing specific steps, which includes the
number of swipes that have been applied on each face (P2, P4, P5) and the
layout of makeup products (P5). P5 further commented:

> “…For blush, I have to exactly count how many times I applied on each face
> to make sure they are even, I also have to be consistent with the starting
> and ending point…While using my palette, I have to memorize the layout of
> all the colors…”

Due to the difficulties of following and memorizing specific steps, we found
some participants avoided doing makeup or following specific makeup steps due
to the effort. The most common problem comes from the time consumption of
makeup, which includes learning (P1, P5), practicing (P5, P6), and actually
applying the makeup in a daily routine (P3). P5 commented on this concern:

> “…Makeup is not just a simple application. It requires you to spend a lot of
> time to both learn and do your own practices again and again before you can
> actually wear it to go outside…”

Our interview findings corroborated our YouTube video analysis about the roles
of other people in providing useful feedback about how makeup looked (Section
3.2.2). Through the interview with 12 participants with visual impairments, we
learned that getting feedback through electronic devices can be problematic
when the person they want to ask for feedback is not physically around. First
of all, three participants mentioned that getting feedback through video calls
can be difficult. P1 explained her difficulties of doing FaceTime with her mom
for feedback due to the camera’s field of view and light conditions:

> “…When my husband and my mom are not around, I have to call them through
> FaceTime to get feedback on my makeup. I usually have a hard time zooming in
> and out for a specific part of my face. And the light condition affects the
> automatic exposure of my camera which makes my face look a slightly
> different color…”

Beyond asking the person they know for feedback, our participants also
mentioned that they leverage crowd-based apps, such as Aira (Aira, 2014) or
BeMyEyes (BeMyEyes, 2015), for feedback. However, they mentioned the
difficulty of finding the right person who is qualified and trustworthy for
makeup feedback. For example, P9 complained that she experienced
unknowledgeable volunteers jumping in and providing dishonest feedback to her
while using BeMyEyes:

> “…I have experienced that a random person came without any background
> knowledge or even vocabulary of makeup while I use BeMyEyes for help. I wish
> they could pre-filter some people based on my needs…”

Furthermore, our participants also mentioned that it is difficult to receive
immediate feedback from the crowd-based systems. Three participants commented
on the need for having an automatic makeup feedback system that can provide
specific and personalized feedback to people with visual impairments. P2
further elaborated on this:

> “…I wish there were systems that can alert me if my lipstick goes way out,
> and can just let me know my makeup looks OK today…”

####  4.3.3. Physical and Environmental Barriers

In addition to learning barriers and insufficient feedback, there are also
physical and environmental barriers, such as the lack of accessible product
design, limited technology, and the complexity of different contexts (e.g.,
makeup shopping aisles). Seven participants complained about the lack of
accessible product design, which includes unreadable product descriptions,
lack of tactile features on the package, and uniform shape of different
products. P10 commented on the challenges of acquiring product information
from physical packaging:

> “…I understand makeup packages are really condensed in terms of the product
> information. Some products are not even readable through OCR. I wish there
> could be more approaches, such as having a QR code, to help me get the
> product information easier…”

P5 further describes the tactile and shape design of products:

> “…Currently, very few products have tactile dots or markers. We rely on the
> shape design of makeup products to recognize specific products. However,
> existing makeup products, such as lipsticks, the same product with different
> colors all have the same shape and tactile design…”

We realized that existing technology (e.g., color identifier apps, object
recognition apps) is limited for makeup by people with visual impairments,
because makeup usually requires high precision and adaptability of complex
steps. For example, P3 mentioned that her apps stopped working sometimes, and
it is cumbersome to use one technology for a specific makeup step, and
additional technologies for other makeup steps. P4 further commented that the
limitation of technology forced her to rely on low tech or no tech solutions:

> “…There are so many limitations of the current technologies. It may just not
> work under a specific context, or it may break down at any point. This is
> why I prefer low-tech or no-tech solutions…”

Moreover, we learned that the complexity of different contexts also limits the
makeup experiences to people with visual impairments, especially for shopping
experiences. For instance, our participants complained about the inaccessible
experiences of exploring beauty products in drug stores due to the lack of in-
person support (P7, P12), and the layout of beauty aisles is too complicated
for people with visual impairments (P2, P8). P8 further explained:

> “…I always try to avoid in-store shopping for makeup products, especially
> for stores like Target, I cannot just wander up, and down the beauty aisle,
> all the products are so close to each other, and sometimes the specific
> product I want is locked…”

Finally, participants had difficulty modifying their makeup when they were
outside, such as re-applying lipsticks after dinner or adding more eye shadow
or mascara (P2, P3). P3 commented on this:

> “…I often have a hard time doing makeup modifications outside of my place.
> It often requires me to go to the bathroom and ask another lady for help. I
> wish I had a small magnification mirror with me all the time…”

##  5\. Discussion

From the interview findings, we describe existing perceptions of how people
with visual impairments think about the meaning of makeup and how it affects
social interactions. We also showed under-explored challenges that are
currently faced by visually impaired individuals when doing makeup. Based on
these findings, we further discuss the design considerations and potential
opportunities for assistive makeup technology based on makeup meanings and
perceptions of makeup and the unique challenges faced by people with visual
impairments.

###  5.1. Considerations for Assistive Makeup Technology Based on Makeup
Meanings and Perceptions

Critical disability scholar Alison Kafer argues that there is a “persistent
and pervasive assumption that disabled people’s uses of technology are more
assistive than creative” (Kafer, 2019). We have seen this in the relative lack
of beauty-related assistive technologies (e.g., problems of detecting a group
of colors) (Section 4.3.2), which has been further maintained by historically
sparse mainstream representation (Heiss, 2011). However, as disability beauty
and makeup use is becoming increasingly visible (Mabry, 2020), we see new
possibilities for assistive technologies to celebrate and uphold personal
expression (Section 4.2.2). Many assistive technologies are still often
evaluated on the basis of their “ability to move bodies and minds into
heightened productivity, efficiency, normalcy, and speed” (Kafer, 2019) rather
than how well they attend to the emotional experiences of their users (Section
4.2.2). Drawing from our interviews, we first recognize that beauty practices
can be an emotionally impactful practice for many blind individuals,
intersecting ableism, femininity, belonging, and self-image (Ettinger, 2018;
Chandler and Ignagni, 2018). As such, we see the need for technologies that
take into consideration the emotional and social factors of makeup use which
may be uniquely exacerbated for blind individuals. Below, we offer a set of
questions to help developers build accessible makeup tools toward pleasure,
expression, and community support:

Is the experience of using a tool calming and confidence-building? We know
from our interview data that makeup has a strong and enduring relationship
with self-image (Section 4.2.2). To help users build confidence, consider
using product design to offer a calm and luxurious experience and allow users
the opportunity to go over content to train up their skills (Tran et al.,
2020). To cut down on overwhelm, automatic suggestions could take the form of
capsule makeup kits—neutral starter packs (Alpert, 2021) with basics that
individuals can be assured will work for them in any combination.

Does the tool account for social context and personal style? We heard from
several users about the importance of holistic style, the combination of
makeup, clothing, hair, and accessories. This requires that tools be sensitive
to a user’s context (Gulati et al., 2021), as well as the various elements of
their look. Consider crowdsourcing styles that are contextually embedded
(Tilbury, [n.d.]): a smokey eye guide for a night out with friends, a tool
that matches lipstick shades to one’s accessories, or a trend-inspired
clothing and makeup palette.

Does the tool make a user feel included in a community or social group? It is
important to account for makeup as a community practice (Section 4.2.3), in
addition to individual practice. Because blind individuals rely on friends or
influencers of a similar age, skin color, and ethnicity to vet their makeup
(Section 3.2.1), a tool could also allow individuals to connect to one another
remotely by sharing images and asking for feedback from friends, etc. Consider
also how a tool could be used by multiple users, such as a group of friends
who are all getting ready together.

Is the tool culturally competent and accounts for unique practices by visually
impaired people? While there may exist as many application styles as there are
users, we have distilled several common practices that may be unique to blind
makeup users. Tools can be sensitive to common problem areas such as symmetry,
help users count off the number of strokes, or suggest application tips like
keeping products cold to help measure the amount used.

###  5.2. Improve Support for Better Makeup Learning Experiences

From our findings of both YouTube analysis and interviews, we illuminated that
people with visual impairments highly rely on online content for learning
purposes, and there exist various learning barriers that are unique to makeup
tutorial videos (e.g., overuse of demonstrative pronouns) (Section 4.3.1). We
also found that people with visual impairments prefer using online content
made by content creators who also have visual impairments. Our research
further extends existing research of enabling visually impaired people in
content creation, such as photo sharing on social media (Bennett et al., 2018;
Zhao et al., 2017), video editing on YouTube (Seo and Jung, 2017, 2021, 2020),
and music composing (Payne et al., 2020). For example, leveraging personal-
aesthetic recognition and contextual saliency detection (Zhao et al., 2017)
for makeup-related content would reduce the effort of content creators with
visual impairments in editing their photos or videos. Moreover, in video
editing by content creators with visual impairments, makeup tutorial videos
will require more advanced editing (Seo and Jung, 2020) to enhance certain
products or processes. This would further require more research and
development into supporting visually impaired content creators with more
specialized editing instructions.

We also learned that there exist challenges for people with visual impairments
to understand video tutorial content for makeup (Section 4.3.1), such as the
lack of descriptive data (Gagnon et al., 2009; Kobayashi et al., 2009; Natalie
et al., 2020; Pavel et al., 2020; Yuksel et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2021) in
makeup tutorial videos and overuse of demonstrative pronouns in videos.
Specifically for makeup tutorial videos, our participants mentioned that
detailed applications and product information are essential for their purposes
of watching them (e.g., brand, volume, where and how to apply) (Section
4.3.1), which has different focuses comparing with general videos. For
example, a general video may just need audio descriptions such as “A person is
applying mascara.” However, makeup video tutorials would need detailed
descriptions such as “The person is holding a [brand][product], and apply
[product rather than “this”] from the [distance] to [specific location rather
than “that”] for [number] times.” Therefore, we suggest future research on
designing accessible makeup videos by creating a database (Zhao et al., 2017)
to store the detailed information and leverage human-in-the-loop approaches
(Yuksel et al., 2020) to obtain specific answers to questions from visually
impaired individuals as an add-on tool to the video stream synchronously. This
database would need to contain not only product-specific keywords, but also
domain information relevant to a visually impaired audience, such as
describing a mascara wand’s shape. Furthermore, the database could also
leverage demographic information from content creators (e.g., age, skin type,
skin color) (Alashkar et al., 2017) to provide more specialized answers to
questions and recommendations to visually impaired makeup users.

###  5.3. Improve Provisions for Makeup Feedback

In our study, we showed the existing challenges of insufficient feedback
before, during, and after doing makeup (Section 4.3.2). According to prior
research in blind photography (Jayant et al., 2011; Brady et al., 2013; Gurari
et al., 2018), future research could explore various ”feedback” modes (Jayant
et al., 2011) that are specifically for makeup purposes, such as the number of
colors presented in the camera’s field of view, light exposure, camera focus,
and face area occupied in the photo. This would support people with visual
impairments in taking a picture themselves to send to their friends or family
members for better color identification and personalized feedback.

Furthermore, we also learned that individuals with visual impairments have to
use BeMyEyes (BeMyEyes, 2015) or Aira (Aira, 2014) for assistance while their
family or friends are not around (Section 4.3.2). However, our participants
mentioned that it is often the case that the volunteers from these services
are often not qualified to provide sufficient feedback or that using such
services is time-consuming to be practical (Section 4.3.2). To reduce the
effort of providing feedback, future research should consider creating an
automatic feedback system that leverages computer vision (Ishikiriyama and
Suzuki, 2017) or other approaches to provide 1) instructional systems that
allow people with visual impairments to follow along while their hands are
occupied, 2) feedback systems that check the overall quality of the makeup to
make sure it would not cause unwanted attention, and 3) feedback systems that
provide detailed recommendations on makeup revision and guidelines based on
examples provided by the user.

###  5.4. Create Workarounds for Physical Barriers

From our interview results, we showed that there exist significant barriers to
accessing beauty products by people with visual impairments, such as lack of
awareness between beauty and disability from the general public, design of
uniformly shaped products, inaccessible product descriptions, and complexity
of context (Section 4.3.3). To enable easier object detection and information
retrieval by people with visual impairments, future product design could
leverage RFID (Alghamdi et al., 2013) or QR code (Al-Khalifa, 2008; Li et al.,
2019) as assistance to reduce the effort of using OCR to scan the product
information on makeup packages (Section 4.3.3). Upon having QR codes on
product packaging, future research could also leverage augmented reality on
mobile devices with audio feedback to assist people with visual impairments in
exploring the beauty aisle in stores (e.g., (Coughlan and Miele, 2017;
Herskovitz et al., 2020)). Exploring the beauty aisle can be more complex than
a clear ground space for augmented reality. This would further bring more
consideration of providing additional contextual factors and having more
detailed contextual descriptions (Herskovitz et al., 2020) in beauty-specific
applications.

Beyond easier recognition and navigation through assistive technologies, there
are more opportunities for fabrication research to contribute in building
accessible makeup add-ons (Kreatives, [n.d.]) and other tactile design
(Holloway et al., 2018; He et al., 2017; Hurst, 2019), which further improve
the accessibility of doing makeup. For instance, future research could also
leverage crowdsourcing and computer vision to provide automated 3D printing to
help people with visual impairments to organize and label their makeup
products under a reasonable cost (Guo et al., 2017). Finally, we acknowledge
many barriers that consumer-focused technologies alone may not be able to
solve. For this reason, we simultaneously encourage product manufacturers to
ease the burden on individuals by leveraging differentiated shapes and
embossing to create tactile-accessible products.

##  6\. Limitations and Future work

All of the participants we recruited for the interview were either legally
blind or totally blind. However, we agree that people with low vision might
have different challenges in makeup (e.g., more often using magnifiers or
other accessible tools). Furthermore, while all participants who volunteered
to our study happened to identify themselves as women, we would be interested
in research that accounts for the different preferences, practices, and
challenges held by visually impaired participants of other genders. Finally,
we only analyzed the practices through YouTube videos that are based in
English, but there might exist other makeup practices that were spoken in
other languages and happen across different cultures. Therefore, we are also
interested in further discovering how cultural differences affect people with
visual impairments in makeup.

##  7\. Conclusion

In this paper, we first describe the results of our content analysis with 145
YouTube videos featuring visually impaired individuals doing makeup and
illuminate unique makeup practices for people with visual impairments (e.g.,
over-do certain steps in makeup). We further show the findings from semi-
structured interviews with 12 visually impaired participants and highlight the
perceptions (e.g., personal meaning and social implications) and existing
challenges (e.g., difficulties in blending several colors, precise
application, and acquiring feedback) of makeup from their perspectives. We
then discuss considerations and potential opportunities for assistive makeup
technology based on makeup meanings and perceptions, including supporting
better makeup learning experiences, providing makeup feedback to people with
visual impairments, and creating workarounds to overcome physical and
environmental barriers. Overall, our findings and discussion shed light on
opportunities for future research and development of assistive technologies to
empower people with visual impairments in makeup and cosmetics.

###### Acknowledgements.

We would like to thank Yunzhi Li, Frank Elavsky, JiWoong Jang, Michael Xieyang
Liu, Zhen Li, Jiannan Li, Yan Chen for their valuable feedback.

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