Why LILIXIR Embosses Braille on Every Product: The Detail Most Skincare Brands Skip

Pick up any premium skincare product right now. Turn the box over. Run your fingertips across it.
Chances are, it's completely silent.

No raised dots. No tactile cues. No way for a person who cannot see to know — without asking someone else — what they're holding.

At LILIXIR, we decided that wasn't good enough. That's why Braille is embossed on every product we make — from our award-winning Ageless Serums to our Awakening Essence and Gua Sha tools. Not as a limited edition. Not as a PR initiative. As a permanent design standard, applied from the very first product we ever produced.

This article explains what Braille packaging is, who it serves, why the beauty industry has been slow to adopt it, and why we believe it belongs on every premium skincare product as a matter of principle.

Every individual, regardless of their background or abilities, should have equal access to resources and opportunities. Unfortunately, many people still face exclusion and discrimination due to their disabilities, particularly those with visual impairments. This is where braille comes in.

At LILIXIR we took a step forward to make our packaging accessible to visually impaired individuals by including braille on our product packaging. This simple but thoughtful gesture shows that LILIXIR is committed to making our brand accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities.

What is Braille, and how does it work on packaging?

Braille is a tactile writing system invented in 1824 by Louis Braille, a French educator who lost his sight at age three following a childhood accident. His system uses a grid of up to six raised dots arranged in specific patterns to represent letters, numbers, punctuation, and even musical notation — allowing people with visual impairments to read and write independently using their fingertips.

Today, Braille remains one of the most widely used tactile communication systems in the world and is recognized across dozens of languages and alphabets.

On cosmetic packaging, Braille is most commonly embossed — meaning the dots are physically raised into the material rather than printed or applied as a label. This makes the information:

• Permanent — it cannot peel, fade, or wash off
• Tactilely distinct — clearly detectable by touch even in low light or complete darkness
• Language-independent in its physical form — the system works the same way regardless of the country of origin

At LILIXIR, we emboss the product name in Grade 1 Braille (uncontracted Braille, which is the most widely readable form) directly onto each outer carton. This allows a visually impaired customer to reach for a product and immediately know — by touch alone — whether they're holding the Day Serum, the Night Serum, or the Awakening Essence.

The scale of the problem the beauty industry ignores

According to the World Health Organization, at least 2.2 billion people worldwide live with some form of vision impairment — including 43 million who are fully blind. In Canada alone, approximately 3% of adults over 15 live with visual impairment.

These are not marginal numbers. They represent tens of millions of people who use skincare products every single day — cleansers, serums, moisturizers, eye creams — and who navigate their bathroom cabinet through touch, memory, and, far too often, by asking someone else to help them identify what they're holding.

That last part is worth sitting with. Having to ask for help to identify your own skincare products is a loss of independence. In a category whose entire value proposition is self-care, ritual, and personal confidence, the irony is uncomfortable.

The beauty industry has made real progress on many fronts: shade range expansion, gender-neutral formulations, sustainable packaging, clean ingredient standards. Tactile accessibility — the ability to physically identify a product by touch — has received comparatively little attention. Most premium skincare brands still ship products that are completely inaccessible to visually impaired consumers.

LILIXIR is one of a small number of brands globally to have addressed this directly by embossing Braille on product packaging.

By choosing to include braille on our packaging, at LILIXIR, we demonstrate our commitment to accessibility and inclusivity. Let's hope more brands will follow our lead and embrace diversity and inclusion in all aspects of their business. We want LILIXIR to be a shining example of a brand that's committed to inclusivity and diversity in the beauty industry. From our marketing to our product formulations to our packaging, LILIXIR strives to create a skincare experience that works for everyone.

By taking these steps, LILIXIR is helping to create a more inclusive and diverse beauty industry, one that reflects the diversity of our customers and celebrates everyone's unique beauty.

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Why so few beauty brands have done this — and why that needs to change

Despite the clear need, Braille packaging remains rare in beauty. A 2024 industry overview found that only a handful of brands — most notably L'Occitane (which has included Braille since 1997), Bioderma, Dr. Jart+, and Humanrace — have made it a consistent part of their packaging.

The reasons cited by brands for not acting are usually variations on three arguments:

1. Only about 10% of visually impaired people can read Braille
This is a frequently repeated statistic, and it's worth examining carefully. Braille literacy rates are lower than they once were, partly due to the rise of screen readers and audio technology.

But this argument misses two things: first, the millions of people who do rely on Braille for product identification specifically — particularly in environments where audio assistance isn't available or appropriate. Second, the argument that a feature doesn't serve 100% of a group is not a reason to exclude it entirely; it is a reason to combine it with other accessibility measures. LILIXIR's Braille packaging works alongside our accessible website and digital tools, not instead of them.

2. It's technically difficult on small packaging
This is a legitimate constraint. Braille requires space, and small-format packaging — tubes, sachets, individual pods — presents real design challenges. However, for carton packaging of the kind used on premium skincare, this challenge is manageable. It requires intentional design consideration from the outset, not retrofitting. When accessibility is built in from the start, it's not difficult. It's just a design choice.

3. The cost isn't justified
This argument deserves the least sympathy. The Global Braille Cosmetic Label market was valued at $224 million in 2024 and is projected to reach $541 million by 2033. Consumer demand for inclusive design is measurable and growing. The 2025 SeeMe Inclusivity Index found that "Certified Inclusive" beauty brands grow 3 percentage points faster than their less inclusive competitors.

Accessibility is not a cost centre. It is a competitive signal.

The regulatory landscape is shifting — and fast

For brands still treating accessible packaging as optional, the regulatory environment is changing in ways that remove that optionality.

In the European Union, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) came into full force on 28 June 2025. While the Act primarily focuses on digital services and e-commerce interfaces, it establishes a clear legal direction of travel: products and services sold into EU markets must be made accessible to people with disabilities.6 Separately, Spain's proposed Royal Decree on Accessible Labelling (notified to the European Commission in June 2025) specifically mandates Braille, tactile markers, or equivalent accessible technologies on cosmetics sold in the Spanish market — a sign that EU member states are beginning to legislate at the product packaging level.

In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and its evolving interpretation by courts and the Department of Justice continues to hold brands to increasingly high standards of accessibility — across both physical products and digital touchpoints.

In Canada, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and the federal Accessible Canada Act reflect the same trajectory: accessibility is a legal expectation, not a voluntary commitment.

LILIXIR was not motivated by these regulations. We made this decision before any of them were in force. But we believe this context matters for brands that are still waiting for a mandate before acting.

If you sell into the EU, or to Canadian or American consumers, the question is not whether accessible packaging will eventually be expected of you. The question is whether you want to lead or follow.

What's embossed in Braille on LILIXIR packaging

Every current LILIXIR product ships with its product name embossed in Braille on the outer carton.

This includes:

As we expand the LILIXIR collection — including upcoming launches — Braille is a non-negotiable requirement for every new product brought to market.

How this connects to LILIXIR's broader philosophy

LILIXIR was founded on the principle that skin is a living, adaptive system — and that skincare should work for the full diversity of people who inhabit it.

Our Climate-Adaptive Botanical Skincare™ philosophy is grounded in the recognition that no two people experience the same environment, the same skin state, or the same exposome. A product that isn't formulated for real-world diversity isn't a premium product — it's a limited one.

The same logic applies to packaging. A product that a visually impaired customer cannot independently identify is not a complete product. It is a product that has simply decided certain customers don't count.

Our Diversity & Inclusion framework is not a values statement in a footer. It is embedded in formulation decisions, in marketing choices, in the design of our packaging, and in the accessibility of our website. You can read more about our broader digital accessibility commitments — including our WCAG 2.1 Level AA work — on our Accessibility Statement.

Braille on our packaging is one expression of a consistent position: every person who wants to use LILIXIR should be able to do so independently, with dignity, and without needing to ask for help.

A note to other brands

We are not writing this to position LILIXIR as uniquely virtuous. Others brands have already made meaningful commitments to tactile accessibility. The community of brands doing this well is real — it is simply far too small.

The argument for Braille packaging in premium skincare is not complicated:

• The need is significant and well-documented
• The technical barriers are manageable for carton packaging
• The regulatory direction is clear
• The consumer expectation for inclusive design is growing
• The cost of inclusion, when designed from the start, is modest

What has historically been missing is not ability. It is intention.

We hope more brands will make this a standard part of how they design products — not because it's legally required, not because it generates press, but because it's the right baseline for any brand that calls itself inclusive.

FAQs

Does Braille on packaging benefit people who don't read Braille?
Yes. Embossed packaging with tactile differentiation — whether Braille, raised symbols, or textured zones — helps anyone who navigates their environment by touch: people with low vision (who may use some Braille but also rely on partial sight), people with cognitive conditions who use tactile cues, elderly users with declining vision, and anyone reaching for a product in a dark bathroom at 2am.

What Braille standard does LILIXIR use?
We use Grade 1 Braille (uncontracted English Braille), which is the most broadly readable form and does not require knowledge of the abbreviated contracted Braille shorthand. Embossing conforms to standard Braille cell dimensions.

Will LILIXIR expand the Braille content beyond product names?
This is something we are actively exploring. Product name identification was the most critical starting point — it enables independent product selection. Future iterations may include usage instructions or key ingredient callouts as tactile labelling technology evolves.

Read more from our Diversity & Inclusion series:

LILIXIR Diversity & Inclusion Blog

LILIXIR Mental Health Awareness Blog

LILIXIR Beauty Tips & Skincare Blog

LILIXIR is a Montreal-based Climate-Adaptive Botanical Skincare™ brand committed to inclusive, sustainable, and science-backed formulation.