This Tool Just Upgraded Your Makeup Process

Whether you’re glamming up for a virtual prom, a stoop wedding, or (now) music-free social media DJ set, you need to protect your work. We’ve all had those incidents where we’ve made up our faces like we invoked Pat McGrath herself, only to ruin it trying to put on a fitted top.

But necessity is the mother of invention and Mona Lisa Crossway took that to heart when she created the VanityHood, a mesh makeup shield hood that protects your makeup, hair and clothes.

The 41-year-old Brooklyn native understood the struggle of getting dressed after applying one’s makeup and wanted to create a solution that was smart and reusable. No more plastic grocery bags or showercaps over the face, ladies. The nylon mesh is washable, breathable and pulls over easily to fit every size head.

“I wanted to create practical products that could assist the everyday woman in her daily makeup routine,” Crossway tells ESSENCE. “I needed support with bringing my idea to life, so I went to a factory in New York and sat down with the manufacturer to choose the fabric and created a way to bring my vision to reality.”

“I’m a mother and I was putting a plastic bag on my head [to keep my makeup intact] and didn’t want my daughter to repeat that behavior,” she continues. “It was really important that it was able to fit on every person no matter the hairstyle or size of head. It took a lot of research, failures and many ups and downs to get to where I am now.”

While this isn’t the first makeup protector hood to ever hit the market, Crossway’s is an upgrade to the short all white hoods typically marketed to brides. It’s long enough to cover the entire neck and also slips over the head easily, eliminating the potential of getting your curls caught in the zipper teeth like they can with other hoods.