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News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Aussie woman's broken hand sparked huge beauty business
A woman who broke her hand and was left crying on the floor because she couldn't do her makeup has launched her own line of beauty accessories to help others. Storm Menzies has mild cerebral palsy, saying she has always lived with 'very few barriers' and has been able to adapt to living life with the use of one hand. But, when the 30-year-old broke her dominant hand in 2023 it made her realise 'how bad' her right side was. In that moment, she finally understood how much she'd been overcompensating. 'You normalise your struggles, so it just becomes your everyday,' she told Initially, she didn't think much of her broken hand. She was getting ready to go out one day, and tried to put makeup on, and she realised how difficult the task actually was. 'It was this moment of, 'Oh my god, how am I going to do this'. Everything else, I could find a workaround but you need a lot of dexterity to apply makeup,' she said. 'There was a tube of mascara and I couldn't pick it up from my makeup bag. I eventually managed to manouver it out, had it open and in my mouth and there was mascara everywhere. I couldn't put it on. It was so hard.' She sat on her bathroom floor and cried, wondering how she'd leave the house for three months without makeup. So, she started to Google accessible makeup. She couldn't find a single thing — bar one business that didn't ship to Australia at the time. Ms Menzies was confused, thinking maybe she was searching the wrong terms. She called a friend, who is also disabled and always looks immaculate, according to the Newcastle-based woman. She wanted to know how she did her own makeup. 'With great difficulty, why?,' her friend responded. Her friend said it sucked, often needing the help of a support worker. Ms Menzies was stunned, thinking she was about to give her a boatload of information on accessible beauty options. 'She said, 'Storm, makeup isn't made for people like me. Why would it be? No one thinks we're beautiful.' That moment, I realised it wasn't about the physical accessibility of makeup but what not having accessible makeup meant,' she said. 'There was also a mix of shame of having a disability and being 'lucky' for it not affecting me, and I worked in the disability sector for a long time and never asked.' Ms Menzies decided to fix this problem herself, and ByStorm Beauty was born. Initially, she started with the idea of creating accessible makeup. She bought some modelling clay and attached it to her makeup. She said she needed more surface area to grip with, and she was thrilled that the attachment helped. The young woman did a survey of 100 people with disabilities to discover what their beauty needs actually were. 'One of the resounding things that came through was people just wanted to use the same products, they didn't want to have 'special' makeup,' she said. 'Which wasn't what I was thinking.' So, she printed some 3D designs that essentially work as attachments to already existing makeup products. Ms Menzies noted it was lucky that a lot of makeup was cylindrical, and so far has made two attachments - a ball shape and a paddle shape, to help cover as many needs as possible. She said it's the 'coolest thing' to watch people use the products for their different needs. For instance, a male friend who was injured in a sporting accident who can now paint his daughter's nails with the help of her accessories. She commented that there have been some trolls, but she said in her mind it comes from a place of not seeing people with disabilities in spaces such as this before. She said more often than not, disability is portrayed in an incredible infantilising way — and her brand is bucking that trend. The big goal for Ms Menzies is to not only land in stores such as Mecca — as well as offering training to help staff cater to people with disability — but also prompt other brands to follow suit when it comes to inclusivity. And the brand sure is starting to take off; she's already got a supporter in Australian comedian Celeste Barber. Ms Menzies contacted Barber's brand BOOIE about a partnership and she replied instantly. 'I've been rejected by so many investors, I can't even count. But I sent her my pitch deck,' she said. 'She literally said to me, 'Holy f***ing sh*t balls, I was trying to make my products accessible and I thought accessibly priced but I never thought about how people use the products. I feel like such a d***.' 'I never expected her to reply,' the beauty founder admitted. Now, BOOIE is selling Ms Menzies' products in its signature colours on their website. Ms Menzies said it was the dream outcome. 'It's all I ever wanted to do,' she said.
ABC News
9 hours ago
- ABC News
Gwalia resident works to save century-old home in 'living ghost town'
Vanessa Williams feels lucky to call Gwalia home. She has lived in the ghost town, 800 kilometres north-east of Perth in WA's northern Goldfields, for just over a year. But her family's connection to the community goes back generations. "I think that's probably been the main factor for me coming home," she said. "But it's also just a really amazing place to live, there's no road rage, there's no traffic lights — very calm." She said she was pitching in to help preserve her historic neighbourhood after a freak microburst storm sent tin sheets flying earlier this year. The storm, which rolled through the town and nearby Leonora in a matter of minutes, caused significant damage to several of the near-century-old buildings. While Leonora Shire remains committed to rebuilding the historical precinct, one of the former miner's cottages was so badly damaged it was earmarked for demolition. With the shire's budget limited, Ms Williams and her father, Norm, saw an opportunity to help, offering $2,000 for a 99-year lease on the cottage. "But my dad and I thought we may as well approach the shire [and see] if we can slow down the plans to demolish it," she said. "Let's see what we can do." Leonora's councillors unanimously accepted the offer, and the pair got to work. Despite securing what is likely one of the cheapest rents in Australia, Ms Williams and her father have a big job ahead of them. The storm tore off most of the roof. "We had to do a bit of work getting out the insulation that fell on the floor." The town site grew alongside the Sons of Gwalia gold mine from 1897. It was the home of former US President Herbert Hoover, who took up a position as the mine's first manager. A once-thriving community of 1200 residents became largely abandoned in just weeks, when the mine closed in 1963. Almost a decade later, it was the vision of a Goldfields couple to preserve the town as a museum precinct. But despite its "ghost town" label, Gwalia still has a handful of residents. "It's actually really exciting, I've had a couple of neighbours move in recently at the street I live on," Ms Williams said. Historian Chris Harris has been developing a database of Western Australia's ghost towns in the lead-up to the state's bicentennial in 2029. She said a ghost town was one with a population of less than 10 per cent of what its population was in its heyday. She said a ghost town might have been formed for a specific purpose, and when that purpose ended, the community dissolved. "A ghost town can cease to exist right up until the current day," she said. "The most recent one that everyone knows about, of course, is Wittenoom." Ms Harris said the label could also be a tourist drawcard. She said the list of towns in the project was ever-growing as records and family histories uncovered previously undiscovered ghost towns. The project has grown from a list of 251 towns to more than 500. Sections of the Williams's cottage's seemingly untouched charm can be found among the rubble of the storm damage. Ms Williams said there were sections of pressed tin a previous resident had painted over in the shape of flower petals. "We'll see what we can do to make it solid, but also respect it's history." "Once it's gone, it's gone." Ms Williams said the restoration had given her and her father a chance to bond, saying she was fortunate to have his help. "There's not much he can't fix," she said. The town's small number of permanent residents have plenty of visitors for company. Ms Williams said people occasionally wandered into the wrong houses. "I think sometimes they're just so enamoured with the place that they're head down, walking around, looking at everything," she said. "And they actually forget sometimes when they stumble into people's yards." But she said there was plenty of room for everyone. "It's a unique opportunity that we've got tourism, we've got the community that live here, and we've also got mining," Ms Williams said. Another cottage sits empty at the other end of Ms Williams' street. She said she hoped someone else would join in the work to preserve Gwalia's living history.
SBS Australia
9 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Win a Harvey Norman Gift Card valued at $10,000.
The Major Prize provided by Harvey Norman to the winner will consist of: One (1) Harvey Norman Gift Card valued at $10,000 (RRP) subject to Harvey Norman's Gift Card terms and conditions . To be in the running to win, simply enter your details and opt-in below. Maximum of one (1) valid entry per person over the age of 18. Note: The entry form is unavailable in incognito mode Maximum of one (1) valid entry per person over the age of 18. The Competition opens on Saturday 5th July 2025 at 09:00 AEST and closes on Sunday 3rd August at 09:00 AEST . The announcement will be published on the SBS Website and in The Australian on Friday 8th August 2025. Please read the full competition terms and conditions here before entering.
