The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has been awarded the Innovation Award at the 2025 World 50 Impact Awards for its Voice-enabled Makeup Assistant (VMA), a mobile app developed to support visually impaired users in applying makeup independently. The award reinforces growing industry recognition that accessibility is not only a social imperative but a market opportunity.
CosmeticsDesign spoke to Robin Shum, Lead, Product Management, and Lynda Pack, Interim CEO at ELC for additional insights into the R&D behind the company’s VMA technology and its impact on industry stakeholders.
A strategic response to market gaps
With over 1.3 billion people worldwide living with a disability or neurodiversity—and only 4% of beauty and personal care brands actively addressing their needs—ELC saw a clear gap, Pak explained.
“The Estée Lauder Companies recognized the opportunity to create inclusive technology that would empower and serve the underserved market of individuals with physical and visual disabilities,” she shared.
“The inspiration for developing the Voice-enabled Makeup Assistant (VMA),” she added, “stemmed from our commitment to creating a more accessible beauty industry.”
For manufacturers and suppliers, this strategy represents a shift in product development priorities: adaptive features and inclusive design are fast becoming non-negotiable for today’s beauty consumer.
Human-centered research fuels product design
ELC’s development of VMA began with “human-centric user research and in-depth interviews with visually impaired and blind participants across the globe, providing our design team with real insights into the needs and challenges faced by this community,” Pak explained.
Following ELC’s initial global research, the company worked with visually impaired and blind consumer participants to co-develop its VMA technology in collaboration with the community it aimed to serve. “The development process of VMA was a collaborative effort,” Pak shared. “We worked closely with visually impaired individuals to co-create this innovative solution.”
Those insights informed every aspect of the tool, which uses real-time voice guidance and AI to assess product application—such as lipstick, eyeshadow, or foundation—and give corrective feedback to the user. “Our focus has been on usability, ensuring that the application is accessible and empowering for visually impaired users,” she said.
“This feedback was instrumental in designing the app to be as intuitive and user-friendly as possible, with little to no learning curve,” she explained.
VMA combines smart mirror technology with ELC’s proprietary augmented reality, AI, and machine learning capabilities. It audibly identifies where makeup is applied, checks for evenness, and alerts users to areas needing touch-ups.
According to the company’s press release, “VMA identifies any areas on the face that may require more accurate application and audibly describes where touch ups may be needed.”
Industry recognition with business implications
“Winning the Innovation Award at the 2025 World 50 Impact Awards is a proud moment for ELC and a testament to our commitment to inclusivity and accessibility,” Pak shared. “This recognition acknowledges the halo effect of our work,” she added, ”not just in empowering our blind and visually impaired users, but in setting a precedent for industries to reimagine inclusion-driven innovation.”
Held on March 12 in Miami, the World 50 Impact Awards recognized nine category winners selected from over 100 entries representing 65 companies across 15 countries. ELC’s award reflects the growing influence of inclusive innovation on brand equity and consumer loyalty.
Product leadership and future influence
Shum has been part of the VMA initiative from its early stages and helped guide the technology’s user research, development, and design. “It’s an honor for this important work to be recognized through the World 50 Impact Awards,” Shum told CosmeticsDesign.
“I hope this encourages other companies to build inclusive solutions and inspires leaders to ask how they can empower technology and design teams to create universally accessible features.”
ELC first launched VMA in the UK and Ireland in January 2023, followed by the US in April 2023 and Mexico in May 2024. With its continued rollout, the company is signaling to manufacturers, packaging suppliers and technology partners that accessibility is now part of the luxury experience.