Color-blind TikToker Natasha Caudill calls for more accessibility in the beauty industry

Natasha Caudill is a TikToker who is color-blind. Online, Caudill is best known for posting makeup tutorials with a monochrome filter to symbolize her experiences navigating the beauty industry while being completely color-blind.

In January 2022, Caudill shared a now-viral video demonstrating her makeup skills. The video has received over 2 million likes and 18 million views. The TikTok ends with a “color” reveal to showcase Caudill’s impressive artistry while not being able to see color.

Becoming a beauty influencer while color-blind hasn’t been an easy journey for Caudill, but she is determined to pursue her passions.

“Color-blindness is really rare, and a lot of people just don’t know that much about it. But I want people to realize that it’s not stopping me from doing anything,” Caudill told In The Know. “I can do my makeup. I can go shopping. I can enjoy all the things that I know I enjoy even if I could see color.”

On her TikTok profile, Caudill regularly shares vlogs to depict how she experiences her daily life with her disability. By doing so, Caudill can normalize the color-blind experience and show the world that the color-blind community can live normal lives and complete everyday tasks such as grocery shopping and driving.

The need for inclusivity in makeup and self-expression

As makeup is one of several tasks that heavily rely on one’s ability to see color, Caudill wants to prove to viewers that color-blindness isn’t an obstacle blocking her from self-expression.

“I started making makeup videos for my TikTok because a lot of people just assumed that because I can’t see color, I couldn’t do my makeup,” Caudill said. “But that’s just not true.”

With makeup specifically, Caudill taps into her resources, such as having her foundation and concealer shades professionally matched at cosmetics stores. However, certain makeup products are not as accessible to color-blind individuals, such as eyeshadow, blushes and bronzers. Caudill expressed to In The Know that when she goes about buying eyeshadow palettes, she chooses palettes that “look cool,” but the contents of each palette can be confusing due to each shade’s having a vague name.

“A lot of brands, they love to name the colors of their products after fun and quirky things,” Caudill explained. “They’re cute, but they don’t tell you the color of any of the makeup.”

For these reasons, Caudill calls on the beauty industry to make its products more inclusive and accessible to the color-blind community.

“I would love for the beauty industry to put color descriptions on their packaging, on their websites, just somewhere so that it’s accessible to anyone who may need it, and anyone who may want it,” Caudill said.

A dedication to color-blindness representation and disability awareness

With over 1.3 million TikTok followers, Caudill is proud of the global reach she has made through her online platform. She is glad to represent the color-blind community, especially color-blind women.

“I really love being able to make videos about my disability because I’ve connected with a lot of other disabled creators,” Caudill told In The Know. “But I think even more so than that, I’ve just reached people who have never heard of color-blindness or don’t know that it exists or think that only men can be color-blind.”

Caudill also hopes her platform can inspire others with disabilities to feel comfortable in their bodies. She aims to make a positive difference in the world through her work. She dedicates her work to increasing color-blindness awareness, disability education and accessibility for all bodies in creative spaces.

“I think my biggest message in my videos is that you don’t need to do things the same way as everyone else to enjoy them,” Caudill explained. “I don’t need to see color to enjoy makeup or shopping or art. And I hope that people realize that there are multiple ways to enjoy things, and there are also ways that we can make things more accessible and inclusive.”

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