When Lucy Edwards was 17 years old, she went blind. Due to a rare genetic disorder, the British teen began to lose her vision at the age of 11. In the two years that have passed since the now-19-year-old lost her sight, Lucy has graduated from high school, been accepted to law school, and become a popular YouTube beauty blogger.
Yes, Lucy is blind and a beauty vlogger, and she’s a pretty damn good one at that (check out her YouTube channel, YesterdaysWishes, here). After losing her vision, Lucy told BuzzFeed that she turned to her sister Alice for help doing her makeup. With Alice’s guidance, Lucy spent an entire year relearning how to apply the foundation, mascara, and eyeliner that she’d always enjoyed wearing.
“At points, I’ve been like, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore,’ because it’s been so frustrating,” she told BuzzFeed. “Like when I’ve done my eyeliner, and Alice has said, ‘It’s heavier than you would have liked when you were sighted.’ And I’m like, ‘How do you know!’ But I have to calm down and trust people. That’s a factor when you go blind–you have to put your trust in people a lot more with the way you look.”
Lucy’s videos are fun, cheerful, and super informative for people with and without sight. She favors L’Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mascara for its small brush–it’s “easier to maneuver”–and the Urban Decay Naked palette because the eye shadow particles don’t fall from your lids to your cheeks. When Lucy applies her foundation, she feels around on her face for blemishes. Oh, and her red hair is so gorgeous, she could easily pass as the second Weasley sister.
Doing her own makeup has helped Lucy’s self-esteem, and she hopes her videos will encourage other visually impaired people to regain a bit of independence.
“That’s the thing about being blind: you are very dependent on other people,” she said. “Makeup for me, personally, means that I don’t have to ask anyone about how my face looks anymore. 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.”