Selma Blair said makeup tools with skills helped her feel alive again after her MS diagnosis

Selma Blair said makeup tools with skills helped her feel alive again after her MS diagnosis

Selma Blair is undoubtedly a style icon of the 90s. She starred in classic films like Legally Blonde and Cruel Intentions, and who could forget her chin-length bob? When she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2018, a chronic neurological disease that can disrupt communication between the brain and other parts of the body, Blair began providing much-needed disability representation by walking red carpets and posing in photo shoots using her cane as a fashion accessory.

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But that doesn't mean her experience with the autoimmune disease hasn't influenced her relationship with style and beauty. "After I had [a stem-cell transplant], I honestly stopped looking in the mirror," Blair said in a recent interview with InStyle. "My hair was short, I was bloated, I had hair loss on my eyelashes and my face. And it was all so much effort - I don't see well sometimes - so I just stopped and I don't think I missed it.

Now the actress is reclaiming her love for beauty and style — and she's helping other people living with disabilities and chronic illnesses do the same. In June this year, Blair announced her role as Chief Creative Officer of Guide Beauty, a brand that creates beauty products and tools with all the capabilities designed to guide your hand as you use them.

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The star spoke about how much the brand, its mission and commitment influenced her in the recent InStyle interview. For Blair, discovering the brand, which was founded by celebrity makeup artist Terri Bryant after she experienced loss of dexterity in her hands due to Parkinson's disease (a brain disorder that causes uncontrollable movements), was a turning point. “It was a real turning point for me,” Blair said. "It was like, 'Okay, let's wake up again.'"

Guide Beauty's focus is accessibility and universality: the brand was made for everyone, including makeup newbies and experts. Of course, special consideration was given to those with mobility issues like Bryant and Blair. The product range includes mascara, brow gel, eye shadow brushes and other tools that are easier to hold and use thanks to their ergonomic design.

Instead of adapting to using mainstream products, Bryant, Blair and their consumers are now discovering what it's like to use products made with entirely new considerations. "When something like this comes up, you think, 'Oh, actually this is easier," Blair said.

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For the actress, fashion and makeup have always had a deeper power than it might seem on the surface. "I've never found fashion, makeup — really any of our ways of self-care and self-expression — to be frivolous," Blair told InStyle. And now Guide Beauty's tools, which have allowed her to reclaim her ability to apply makeup, appear to be having a transformative effect on her attitude. “I really started to come alive,” Blair said. “And that’s what we love about makeup.”