The HAPTA device has been developed by Lancôme’s parent company L’Oreal and is set to launch later this year
We founded mamabella because we wanted to help make the beauty industry more inclusive and accessible. Our Editor-in-Chief was fed up with feeling excluded because of her age and the fact she didn’t fit the traditional mold in terms of weight, skin, and hair.
Yet she found that she was actually one of the luckier ones. There are entire skin tones that are rarely catered for; there are hair types that are ignored or underserved; and that’s before you factor in a whole section of our society that physically can’t access makeup at all.
We’ve previously written about Guide Beauty, an indie makeup brand inspired to help people with Parkinson’s Disease and limited mobility access certain makeup products, and now it seems that Big Beauty has caught up after L’Oreal debuted its HAPTA lipstick applicator.
L'Oreal USA Unveiled at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, the HAPTA is described as a “handheld, ultra-precise smart makeup applicator for users with limited hand and arm mobility.” It promises to make it quicker and easier to steadily apply lipstick by using the same technology found in Verily utensils.
Verily specialises in tech that helps stabilise and level cutlery to give people with limited mobility more independence at meal times.
It features built-in motion controls and magnetic attachments, designed to give people an improved range of motion. These attachments help to open the packaging, for instance, as well as help with the application of the lipstick. These attachments have 360 degrees of rotation and 180 degrees of flexion and a clicking sound helps them set the intended position, stay in position during use, and let the user save customised settings.
It’s battery-powered and is said to last for three hours on a full charge.
The device is due to be launched later this year, although an exact date or even ballpark is not yet known. L’Oreal will be selling the HAPTA under its Lancôme brand but that’s all we know for the time being.
“Inclusivity is at the heart of our innovation and beauty tech strategy,” said Barbara Lavernos, Deputy CEO in charge of Research, Innovation, and Technology at L’Oréal. “We are dedicated and passionate to bringing new technologies powering beauty services that augment and reach every individual’s ultimate desires, expectations, and unmet needs.”
L'Oreal USA L’Oreal also used the CES event to unveil a device that makes shaping and styling your eyebrows easier. It’s similarly positioned at people with limited mobility, but could also benefit anyone who – like us – has no idea when it comes to brows!
Called Brow Magic, it offers “precise, natural microblading at home.”
The handheld device starts by mapping your face and eyebrow shape, using Modiface AR tech, before 2,400 tiny nozzles “print” your eyebrows in place.
L’Oreal claims Brow Magic creates brows with a resolution of up to 1,200 drops per inch (dpi) and the non-permanent design can then be removed, with regular makeup remover, at the end of the day.
L'Oreal USA Brow Magic has been developed by L’Oréal in partnership with tech company Prinker. Prinker specialises in printed, non-permanent tattoos.
Like with the HAPTA, L’Oreal has been vague with the release date of Brow Magic, claiming that it’s coming in 2023. We’ll keep you updated as and when we know more.
Victoria is founder and editor-in-chief of mamabella, freelance journalist and Mum. She has a passion for empowering people to feel beautiful whatever their age, size, skin type and budget
