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Guide Beauty enhances the usability of make-up

Guide Beauty, US

US – Guide Beauty is an adaptive make-up brand designed for people with Parkinson’s disease.

The brand has been launched with four products: an eyebrow gel, mascara, potted gel eyeliner and an eyeliner tool, all developed with ergonomic experts to ensure easy application. To make the products easier to use for differently abled consumers, grip-applicators act as a finger rest to provide a steadier and more controlled application.

Guide Beauty also offers an online tutorial library, making it easier for buyers to achieve make-up looks. The brand was founded by make-up artist Terri Bryant after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. ‘It wasn’t just my livelihood, but it was my creative outlet and the way that I’ve connected with women and men over the years, I didn’t want to let it go,' she tells Allure.

Differently abled consumers have been long overlooked by the beauty industry. However, new brands like Guide are encouraging the sector to adapt to consumers’ diverse needs. For more, read Adaptive Beauty.

Covid-19: A platform to combat quarantine loneliness

Excellent Quarantine Ideas by Rifke Sadleir

Global – Excellent Quarantine Ideas is a website dedicated to documenting inspiration and advice for self-isolation.

The platform was created with the aim of encouraging optimism and a community spirit among those social-distancing around the world, as well as to combat the difficulties associated with loneliness and uncertainty.

With ideas such as ‘find your worst (selfie) angle’ and ‘become a motion designer’, the site provides users with links and resources that take a more light-hearted approach to dealing with the pandemic. Launched by a freelancer used to working from home and staying indoors for long periods, the site also accepts user-generated content through anonymous submissions.

As we explore in Mood Retail, brands that provide content to suit a variety of emotions are likely to gain traction among audiences seeking serendipity and inspiration.

Covid-19: A sterilisation lamp designed for the home

China – Frank Chou hopes the lamp will fight the spread of bacteria on everyday items such as phones, keys and wallets.

The sterilisation lamp uses an ultraviolet (UV) light, and is designed to be kept by the entrance to a user’s home, where people can place common objects such as keys. Created in response to the rapid spread of Covid-19, the product is activated as users apply pressure to the body of the lamp, concealing the items for 60 seconds as it sterilises them.

Chou hopes the ‘unconscious design’ of the lamp, created to be both functional and aesthetically pleasing, will help the product blend into the home and become part of people’s daily routines. The lamp provides an easier alternative to conscious disinfection methods.

As consumers find themselves navigating a world of uncertainty, brands are stepping in to create everyday solutions for an increasingly Dislocated World.

Frank Chou, China

Stat: Men’s activewear overtakes women’s sales

According to a study by the NPD Group, women’s activewear sales in the US remained flat in 2019 compared with the previous year, while the men’s market grew by 2%. For a third consecutive year, men’s sales grew at a faster rate than women’s – with the market as a whole generating £42.7bn ($50.3bn, €46.4bn).

Matt Powell, vice-president and senior industry adviser at the NPD Group, says: ‘The women’s athletic apparel market remains the sports industry’s greatest failure, yet its biggest opportunity.’ Despite women’s growing presence in sports overall – the percentage of female athletes set to compete in the Tokyo Olympic Games is 49%, according to the International Olympic Committee – the apparel market still lacks the same momentum as menswear.

As the men’s activewear market grows, communications are changing to reflect modern attitudes towards strength and masculinity.