Lydia O’Leary

Lydia O’Leary was born with a red-wine birthmark that covered half of her face. She spent much of her time hiding from her classmates. During recess she hid in the restroom. She hid when other children wanted her to answer questions about the birthmark. Her parents were concerned and took her to doctors, but none of them had a solution. If they had tried to remove her birthmark, her face would have been terribly scarred. She even tried getting a tattoo that matched the color of her skin, but it did not work. Even though the birthmark was upsetting to Lydia, she set goals and tried to achieve them. She finished high school and graduated from college. She then started applying for jobs in New York City. However, her birthmark was unsettling to others. The job interviewers did not think she should work with the public. The only job she was able to get was as a painter of placards.

When she tried to cover it with makeup available in the stores, it did not cover her birthmark. She realized that the makeup she needed did not exist. So she went to the corner drugstore,bought some makeup products, and began experimenting with them. She also talked to a
chemist. After she concocted a makeup, she put it on her face and it covered the birthmark! Wearing the makeup, Lydia applied for a job as a salesperson in a department store. She was tired in the hat department. After three weeks, she was the top salesperson.

Lydia’s life was changed. She told an interviewer for Reader’s Digest that when she communicated her excitement to her doctor, he encouraged her to share her makeup with others. She decided to produce it as a product that could be sold in stores. While most makeup foundation is less than
10% pigment, Lydia’s was 40%. That is what made the difference. It was specifically designed for people who wanted to cover unattractive marks. Lydia chose a name for it that described the effect: Covermark. “Covermark” is the original brand of corrective cosmetics from Lydia O’Leary designed to give the look of a perfect complexion. When Lydia applied for a patent, she was turned down. The government did not grant patents for cosmetics. Cosmetics were thought of as applications that added to one’s beauty. That was the point of Covermark, according to the examiner. Lydia did not see it that way. Covermark did not just make her more beautiful, the product made it possible for her to function in society. She appealed the decision.

When Lydia presented her case to the eight judges in the Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., she was again refused a patent. It was then that she realized that the judges did not understand. She asked to be excused. When she had returned, she had removed her makeup and revealed her face. The judges were shocked by the change in her appearance. They realized Covermark’s value: it could help others with birthmarks or scars. They granted her a patent. She is the only person who has ever been granted a patent for a cosmetic. Lydia started a company to produce and market her product. Although she died in 1957, her company still exists today. Lydia never forgot the childhood embarrassment caused by her birthmark, and because of this, if children with birthmarks or scars contact Covermark, they will provide them with free makeup and instructional videos on how to apply it. Lydia O’Leary became an inventor because she needed a product that had not been made yet, and her invention continues to help people today.