Aerin Glazer on Founding TILT Beauty and the mission of accessible and creative design

Preparing our talk at Paris Packaging Week panel, "Packaging and consumer experience: when design becomes a lever of desire," I sat down with Aerin Glazer, the visionary Founder of TILT Beauty. Born out of a deeply personal need, TILT is redefining what it means for a beauty brand to be both accessible and highly coveted. Below is our conversation on the five-year journey, the power of community, and her ambitious vision for the future.

Tilt Beauty launched in the US in February 2025 with lip products and mascara, and the brand has now released a lip liner with a handle that makes it easier to hold and apply. The entire mission is to make beauty staples that are desirable, easy to use, or to hold and that enhance consumer experience intuitively. In her journey, Aerin, explains how mobility or dexterity issues are not just targeted at a small portion at the population, but that actually anyone may have a need for more inclusive design. Indeed in our previous report we reveal that "One billion people around the world live with some form of disability - that’s 15% of the global population."

Our Interview

Eva Lagarde, re/sources: Aerin, you’ve built a brand that focuses on accessibility and design. Why develop a beauty brand specifically? You could have gone into fashion or another industry.

Aerin Glazer: It really stemmed from my personal experience. Growing up with psoriatic arthritis, I struggled to use products that my friends enjoyed effortlessly. That frustration sparked the idea for TILT: how could I create something accessible and covetable? 

While beauty can sometimes be perceived as superficial, it gave me an outlet to express myself. It truly helped me with my mental health. At the core, I couldn’t find a product that worked for me, so I had to create one.

Eva Lagarde, re/sources: Could you tell us more about the journey to launching your own brand and crafting something completely new?

Aerin Glazer, TILT Beauty: The initial spark was about five or six years ago. When I was 17, during high school ceramics class, I just really wanted to try making something different, a product that would stand out on the shelf and in the digital space. So, I shaped a product that would work for me and also be aesthetically pleasing. That's when I knew I was onto something.

Eva Lagarde, re/sources: You were very young when you started this journey. How did you approach the monumental task of launching a brand?

Aerin Glazer, TILT Beauty: I started simply by testing with friends and family. From there, I moved on to cold calling and reaching out on LinkedIn to industrial designers to find the right people. It was a massive effort. I had about 60 calls with different people to find someone who would actually take on the project. It takes time, and honestly, persistence.

I eventually found Sam from "Established," a NewYork-based design agency, pretty early on. We talked about design ideas for only 5 to 10 minutes on the phone, and he was convinced and wanted to take on the project. We immediately connected on the core idea of inclusivity. 

After that, it was a really long process that took five years. We looked at every single detail: the easy-tear strip, the braille on the packaging, the magnet's force to open, and how we cut down the time it took to incorporate it into a routine.

Eva Lagarde, re/sources: During that extensive development process, where did you take your inspiration from?

Aerin Glazer, TILT Beauty: Mostly by the community. Talking to people and consulting with them. We worked with organisations such as the National Arthritis Foundation and the National Psoriasis Foundation, conducting testing and focus groups and drawing inspiration from real people with real pain points. I wanted to help them do everything they wanted to do. I also looked at amazing products on the market, like Fenty Beauty lip gloss. I wanted to be able to open a product as easily as anyone else.

In fact, the brand is "Arthritis Foundation, Ease of Use" certified because I have been working with the Foundation since I was 18.

Eva Lagarde, re/sources: You started with colour cosmetics (lipstick treatment and mascara), rather than skincare or body care. Why this focus?

Aerin Glazer, TILT Beauty: I wanted a makeup bag with all the essentials. I started with our grip lipstick treatment, which I also use as a blush, and then the mascara. It was about creating the essentials of makeup and building what you love and know, as well as what anyone can use or want.

In the messaging, it was crucial to shift how we view disability to attract beauty lovers. The messaging was just as important as the product. It shouldn’t feel patronising or look like it’s only made for the disabled.

ABOUT THE PRODUCT RANGE

The Grip Liptsick offers "hydration and sheer, comfy color in a patented, refillable case for easy application. Silky, fragrance-free moisture cocoons lips, visibly smoothing and plumping, leaving behind a demi-shine finish."

The Lashscape mascara offers a "long-wearing, refillable mascara puts you in control with patented packaging designed for comfortable, easy application. Get 12 hours of smudge-resistant lift, length, and curl in a single swipe."

Going beyond dexterity, the brand also talks to neurodivergent people, or at least people looking for comfort with a COMFY make-up pouch. It is "a handy little pouch that holds all the TILT essentials plus extras like a wallet, keys, or candies. Comfy rubber zipper for easy open and close. Made to fit inside a bag or clipped to your keychain."

Eva Lagarde, re/sources: What is your vision and plan for the future of the brand?

Aerin Glazer, TILT Beauty: I’m excited for the future; we plan to expand more into the beauty space and keep stacking that makeup bag high! We’re also looking at accessibility and inclusivity from every angle, including potentially creating an adaptive sweatsuit with special features in the materials and clips. Our main focus, though, is to drive home accessibility. It’s a major trend, but we want it to become the standard. It should just be easy to open and use. This is a global issue, and I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t know someone with dexterity issues.

The packaging is designed with sustainability in mind, since TILT lipsticks and lipliners are refillable. The formula is also made for sensitive skin, with a restrictive ingredient list, and is Credo Clean. The brand has developed its own proprietary blend to ensure that it performs as good or much better than what most people love and use

With TILT Beauty, Aerin’s journey highlights how an authentic founder, solving a very personal issue, can actually speak to the masses. It shows how a community-focused approach can not only create a successful product but also lead the charge toward greater inclusivity in the beauty industry. It’s not that difficult. It just takes creativity and resilience.