Para-Athlete Oksana Masters Says This Tool Will Change The Makeup Game For Those With Limited Mobility
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Do you remember the first beauty product you ever bought? American Para-athlete Oksana Masters does. She was 14-years-old and had saved her allowance to purchase a tube of lipstick. And with that one act, a lifelong love of makeup was born. "It was this instant transformation that helped me finally reflect on the outside how I felt on the inside," Masters, now 34, tells Women’s Health. "It was as if I'd finally earned the right to feel beautiful—even though my body looked different."
Quite different.
Masters was born in Khmelnitsky, Ukraine in 1989, three years after the Chernobyl catastrophe, when a reactor at a nearby nuclear power plant exploded and released a dangerous cloud of radiation into the atmosphere. It remains the worst disaster of its kind in history, and her biological mother’s repeated exposure to the fallout caused Masters to suffer several birth defects. She was born with one kidney, a partial stomach, six toes on each foot, webbed fingers, and no thumbs. Her left leg was six inches shorter than her right leg—a medical condition known as tibial hemimelia—and she was missing weight-bearing bones in her calves.
Her disabilities required nearly non-stop medical care. Medical care that became so expensive, Masters was left at an orphanage by her birth parents. She was eventually adopted at age 7, settling in Louisville, Kentucky with her new family. And by the time she purchased that first lip color, Masters had already undergone several reconstructive surgeries on her hands and had both of her legs amputated. Yet in spite of these challenges, she became determined to pursue sports. "When I tried adaptive rowing for the first time at 13, it felt as if I suddenly belonged somewhere," Masters recalls. "It really brought out my competitive side, and by the time I was 21, I was rowing for team USA."
She hasn't slowed down since.
Rising star
In 2012, Masters competed at the London Paralympics and took home a bronze medal with her partner, Rob Jones. She gave up competitive rowing shortly after due to an injury, but refused to press pause on her athletic career. Masters soon moved on to cross-country skiing, for which she won a silver and a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Paralympics. She competed once more at the 2018 event and took home her first Paralympic gold in the women's 1.5 kilometer sprint classic.
By 2016, she'd also mastered hand-cycling, taking part in the Summer Paralympic Games in 2016 and 2020, where she took home two gold medals. With 17 medals to her name, she’s currently the most decorated U.S. Para-athlete in history—and there may be more accolades on the way as Masters prepares to compete in the Paris Games later this summer.
Making makeup joyful
Even with that laundry list of athletic accomplishments, simple tasks—like applying her beloved lipstick—remain a challenge for Masters. “Everything about the process of putting on makeup requires subtle movements that make a massive difference,” she says. “I struggle with getting a perfect cat eye because I can't really hold eyeliner. It's difficult for me to keep a lipstick in my hands without fatiguing. A lot of times when I'm do my makeup, I have to stop and shake out my hands and give myself time.”
These struggles are what inspired Masters to partner with Lancôme as one of the faces of the brand's HAPTA device, a handheld smart makeup applicator designed for users with limited hand and arm mobility. Developed by scientists and engineers at L’Oreal and first unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2023, HAPTA—derived from the Latin word “haptic,” meaning “science of touch”—allows users to precisely and steadily apply lipstick and mascara.
The device harnesses the same technology used by Verily, a health tech company that once created specialized eating utensils for people with limited mobility. It’s a game-changing invention for beauty lovers like Masters: Not only does HAPTA make seemingly mundane tasks feel easier to accomplish, but it sheds light on challenges that are foreign to a majority of the people. “I never once felt included in the messaging or in the visuals of beauty advertising,” Masters says. “Beauty products are usually designed for people who don't look like me.”
HAPTA, which will be available for consumer purchase in 2025, aims to change all that. It's crafted using self-leveling technology (meaning it can adjust its own position and remain level while your arm twists to apply product) and can rotate up to 360 degrees and bend up to 70 degrees. At 115g, it's also lightweight and features an easy-to-grip handle. In short, it's a game-changing innovation to Masters. “This device is enhancing what I want to do," she says. "I'm able to be more precise without overthinking. It's made applying makeup fun again, and not a constant reminder of, 'If I only had this,' or 'If only I could do that.'"
Owning her story
For some, makeup is about concealing a pimple or hiding a spot of hyperpigmentation, but Masters sees it differently. "I use makeup to enhance what I have, not to cover up or camouflage anything to try to look 'normal,'" she says. "I'm perfectly comfortable letting people see the real me—my legs, the scars on my hands. I want to inspire people to be comfortable and confident in their own skin."
And makeup isn't the only way she tries to do that: Like an intricate tapestry, her tattoos tell the tale of Oksana Masters too. "I never got to choose my scars, so I felt like I came to America with a story written for me," she says. "I wanted to reclaim those scars, not to have the memories own me. My tattoos are part of how I rewrite the history of me—by showing its okay to be bold and different."
One of her favorite pieces of ink is a rose that's wilted on one side and thriving on the other, a reference to the Aretha Franklin song A Rose is Still a Rose. "To me, the song is about the fact that it doesn't matter what stage of healing you're in mentally or physically—a rose will always be a rose," she says. "Even if it's dried up and has no more life, it will always be beautiful."
And like the ubiquitous perennial, Oksana Masters continues to bloom, too.
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