Discounts on Makeup Services Help Visually Impaired Women Look Their Best

Just because Patti Pruitt can't see well doesn't mean she doesn't want to look good. "My whole life I've been the kind of person who would never go to the store without my makeup on," she says. "It's just a comfort zone for me. I'm not a vain person - I just want to always look my best."

Diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa 20 years ago, Patti has had to give up a lot with her progressive vision loss, including tennis, softball, driving, and her 14-year career at Home Depot. But relinquishing her daily makeup routine - a beauty ritual practiced by a vast majority of women in our society - would mean giving up some basic dignity.

Unsurprisingly, though, as Patti's vision faded, the process of putting on makeup became more and more challenging. Her family and coworkers began noticing smudges of mascara on her nose and mismatches in eyebrow coloring. On one occasion, her husband thought that she was ill, because of redness around her eyes. Four days later, Patti figured out she was using red lip liner around her eyes. "That's what set me over the edge," she says.

To help ensure that her makeup was being applied accurately, Patti began going to a beauty spa every few weeks to have her eyelashes darkened and her eyebrows darkened and waxed. She also entered a contest in her hometown of Atlanta to receive permanent makeup from a paramedic aesthetician - a certified and trained permanent make-up artist. When Patti filled out the contest entry form, she included a note to the aesthetician, Evie Delaney, asking that she consider the idea of giving discounts to visually impaired women. Though Patti didn't win the contest, Evie contacted her to tell her how great the discount idea was, and began offering 50 percent discounts on permanent eyebrows and eye liner to women with visual impairment.

Patti decided to take the idea a step further and approached Moda Spa in Atlanta, and they agreed to offer a 20 percent discount on select make-up-related services. Soon thereafter, Patti made it a mission to identify a beauty spa and paramedic aesthetician in every major city throughout the U.S. to offer discounts on make-up services for their visually impaired clients. "We women with visual impairments have to worry about every step we take, so it would be nice not having to worry about how our makeup looks, as well," says Patti.

The Pruitt family is no stranger to supporting vision-related initiatives. Over the last ten years, they’ve raised over $200,000 for the Foundation Fighting Blindness through the Blind Wine Tasting and Silent Auction and VisionWalk in Atlanta.

Patti also enjoys spending time with her six grandchildren, has had two novels for young people published, and is working on three more books.  She loves writing and speaking to schools, churches, and civic groups. During her speaking engagements, she talks about being an author and her life with retinitis pigmentosa.  She also acquaints people with the Foundation Fighting Blindness and their mission to find cures and treatments for the 10 million people with retinal degenerative diseases.  Her audience enjoys learning about the aids and adaptive resources she uses to compensate for her vision loss. Patti explains to children that it is okay to be different, to do things in a different way, and instructs them on how they can help visually impaired people.

She adds that awareness about vision loss is important, because there are many people losing their vision who do not know of all the help that is available.  She believes that no visually impaired person should ever be without mobility and technical training to enable them to lead an independent and fulfilling life.

Patti can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and she welcomes your help to find participating salons in your city or to set up speaking engagements.