Advertisement

Blind beauty vlogger Lucy Edwards inspires with her makeup tutorials

Two years ago, Lucy Edwards, the beauty vlogger behind the YouTube channel Yesterday’s Wishes, went blind.

The 19-year-old from Birmingham, England, is now sharing her makeup tips and tricks online, inspiring women to up their beauty game with her fail-proof techniques for applying cosmetics without a mirror — and, hopefully, changing the way sighted and non-sighted communities interact.

“My inspiration for posting my makeup routine online is my desire for change,” Edwards tells Yahoo Canada. “I wanted there to be a place on the Internet for other blind and disabled people like myself to come together as community. Posting videos allows me to interact with the sighted world, and as I’ve been sighted before I really want to maintain this part of myself. Posting online makes me feel happy and doing this helps me cope with my blindness.”

Youtube
Youtube

Edwards tells BuzzFeed Life that her sister, Alice, worked with her to create a makeup routine she could master on her own. It took her almost a year to feel comfortable applying the products by herself — and trusting her sister’s instructions and feedback.

“That’s a factor when you go blind – you have to put your trust in people a lot more with the way you look,” she says.

Alice helped her develop steps to ensure careful, even makeup application.

“I’ve got steps in place that make sure that I’ve done it right. And I do go very slowly, because I don’t have a mirror.”

Trying new products and choosing new shades can be intimidating enough for sighted individuals. So, how does Edwards know what works for her?

She tells Yahoo Canada that Alice helps her choose new products and shades: “I couldn’t think of a person I would trust more.”

In her beauty videos, Edwards shares her basic makeup routine, offers reviews on easy-to-use products, and gives a tutorial for a night-out-worthy glam look.

She says doing her own makeup is important to her. It makes her feel good about herself — and gives her a sense of control:

“And that’s the thing about being blind. You are very dependent on other people. And makeup for me, personally, means that I don’t have to ask anyone about how my face looks any more. Because I know I’ve put my foundation on a certain way, and I’ve built up my routine so I know my cleansing routine and all that. I know that my face looks good without looking in the mirror. So I don’t have to ask someone, ‘Do I look good today?’ because I know that I do.”

She hopes her videos will become a resource for other women like herself.

“I haven’t, as of yet,” she writes when asked if she’s connected with other blind beauty bloggers. “I’m not aware of any other blind beauty bloggers as the blind community is quite small. I am always wanting to meet new people though!” she says.

“When I was plunged into blindness, there were no resources for this kind of thing [beauty], and it took me hours and hours to learn how to do my make-up,” she tells BuzzFeed Life.

Edwards also provides what she calls “blind life hacks” and covers topics like dating, her favourite apps and how to use cash machines, and to clarify misconceptions about blindness on her channel.

“I…wanted to prove to people just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean we’re ‘aliens,’” she told RLSB last fall. “People often don’t know how to approach a blind or partially sighted person or many people with disabilities; so in Yesterdays Wishes I tried to show people that I am approachable and of what I’m capable of.”

“I really hope [people] watch my videos and feel like no disability or illness can ever hold you back. You are your own person and you define your future,” she says.