Does a loss of hearing prevent you from listening to or playing a musical instrument? It’s a question I hear all the time.

The answers can be quite surprising, but before we jump in too far, let’s examine the phenomenon of hearing loss first to understand what it means.

What Is Hearing Loss?

Hearing loss is a very common problem globally.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Hearing reports that one in eight adult Americans report some degree of hearing loss. According to the World Health Organization, by the year 2050 it is expected that 1 in 10 people will have disabling hearing loss.

Hearing loss can range from mild or severe (‘hard of hearing’) and can prevent people from hearing others in conversation or hearing loud sounds. Profound hearing loss implies little or no hearing (‘deaf’) and often means that sign language is the main form of communication.

It may come as a surprise to you that many musicians suffer and cope with mild hearing loss.

Even profound hearing loss does not prevent people from playing music and performing concerts. Obviously, with more severe hearing loss, the nature of hearing music and playing with others must be adapted – but it is still possible.

Key factors to consider in order to enjoy listening to or playing music:

• Being honest about your condition
• Researching the type of hearing aid that works best
• Using your other senses
• Choosing your instrument wisely

Being Honest with Yourself

Some musicians describe their reaction to hearing loss as following the stages of grief (denial, anger, grief, depression, acceptance). Others describe the process of telling other people as being similar to ‘coming out’.

You need to be honest about who you are in order to express what you need. This can help other musicians, teachers, and friends to help you. If you can’t hear something well, being honest about that is the first step to change and indeed to collaborating with other musicians. If you need something in order to hear or understand music better, say so.

Research the Type of Hearing Aid That Works Best

Many people with hearing loss will get a hearing aid. This works to help the ear hear sounds by using compression technology – making low sounds louder and loud sounds quieter. Most hearing aids are optimized to help hear other people talking.

Anyone using a hearing aid will tell you that this improved volume is helpful – but that everything sounds different. It takes time to ‘learn’ what sounds are coming in. The sounds of birds singing, the chime of an alarm clock, and the sound of a kettle may sound so different that it takes some time to know them. That’s how different sound can be with a hearing aid.

That’s why it’s important to address hearing loss with a positive attitude. Hearing loss doesn’t define us, and honesty and positivity are massive factors in dealing with it.

Music tends to be louder than speech. For this reason, musicians will get a special type of hearing aid called a cochlear implant. This is a more advanced hearing aid that is implanted in a part of the ear called the cochlea.

Tuning the implant to the specific musician can be done by an audiologist – a professional who will help you to ‘tune’ the settings of the implant to your specific needs. Musicians suffering profound hearing loss (i.e., deafness) can perform concerts to audiences due to the wonder of modern technology.

Use Your Other Senses

Musicians with hearing loss emphasize the importance of the other senses, particularly sight and touch.

You can use a pulsing metronome (like this one) that you can strap to your leg or chest or wear as a wristwatch. This helps you feel the beat instead of having to listen for it. Incidentally, I use one of these myself (even with no hearing loss) as I prefer to feel the beat rather than listen for it as a practice.

You can ask your music teacher to face you, speak in a low pitched voice, and use gestures or visual aids. Adjust lighting so that lip reading and sign language can be effective. Always sit so that your hearing aid faces other musicians and ideally arrange yourselves in a semi-circle for this reason. The so-called ‘small things’ often make a big difference.

Choose Your Instrument Wisely

Instrument selection is a very important factor. Music professor Ruth Zinar recommends harp (because the strings are close to the ear) or guitar (because it is held close to the body allowing vibrations to be felt).

Note that other stringed instruments such as violin and cello should not be considered because the intonation difficulties may be too difficult for hearing loss students to master.

Conclusion

Hearing loss can be a traumatic experience for those who suffer it. Yet for those determined to listen and play music, many possibilities exist.

Guitar is an ideal instrument for those with hearing loss. If you wish to learn more about the health benefits of learning a musical instrument, I have put some resources here and even a half-price discount on my beginner guitar course.

Many musicians continue to play and enjoy playing with others even with profound hearing loss. Their positivity and resourcefulness should be an inspiration to us all.

Are you suffering from hearing loss? Has this stopped you from enjoying music or playing a musical instrument? Knowing what you now do, will hearing loss continue to be a hurdle on your path to learning a musical instrument? Please share your thoughts!

La Mer’s iconic and beloved Crème de La Mer cream has long been touted as one of the best skincare products to ever exist by countless celebrity fans, including Crissy Teigen, Jennifer Lopez, and Kim Kardashian West. Naturally, it’s also been named a holy grail skincare staple for a laundry list of notable makeup artists and beauty editors who maintain that the luxe formula’s unrivaled performance undoubtedly justifies the lofty price tag.

The $190+ face cream is known for delivering next-level hydration to repair the skin’s barrier while leaving behind a velvety-soft canvas that sits beautifully under makeup. Other loyalists have taken to Reddit to wax poetic about the rich cream’s ability to soften fine lines, heal acne scars, and cure chronic dry patches in just a month or so. Of course, given the luxury cream’s steep price point, the vast number of queries I encountered searching for an affordable alternative to help break the “La Mer habit” is pretty understandable.

Thanks to La Mer’s proprietary concoction of soothing and active ingredients including seaweed extract that undergoes a special fermentation process — also referred to as their “miracle broth” — this “healing elixir” not only offers corrective benefits, but it also soothes topical inflammation and calms redness, not to mention the fact that it softens the skin like a literal dream.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

Courtesy of Weleda.

Weleda Original Skin Food Cream

Frankly, it’d be pretty hard to find an exact replication of this iconic cream, but after scouring the web for skincare junkie-approved dupes, it looks like the budding cult-favorite, Skin Food by Weleda comes pretty damn close. While Skin Food lacks fermented Sea Kelp, La Mer’s all-star ingredient, it is infused with a slew of plant-powered ingredients including Beeswax (a natural exfoliant and humectant), as well as Pansy extract, which helps to soothe redness and boost microcirculation.

Buy: Weleda Original Skin Food Cream $18.50

Skin Food has a super thick—almost balm-like—texture and a little goes a long way, whereas Creme de la Mer is more creamy and easier to blend. However, once applied, the two products yield a similar finish—a healthy, dewy glow that can be intensified or played down depending on your skin type. Makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes even likes to use it as a natural-looking highlight on her clients, adding a touch of the product to the high points of the face.

Courtesy of Weleda.

Weleda Skin Food Light Nourishing Cream

Some find the original Skin Food to be a little too heavy—especially if you have oily skin—but fortunately, there’s a light version to try if you find this to be the case. There’s no doubt that people seem to love Creme de la Mer for a good reason (myself, included) but you just can’t fathom dropping $200 (you can get the travel size for just $95, but still) on skin cream (and hey, we definitely don’t blame you) this inexpensive, all-natural, and multipurpose product is probably the next best thing.

Buy: Weleda Light Nourishing Cream $18.88

As one of Tom Ford’s newest fragrances in his Private Blend collection, Lost Cherry has certainly amassed quite the cult following in a relatively short period of time. The warm and spicy scent has a candy-like sweetness to it, yet the notes of tobacco create a dynamic, more sophisticated aroma—it’s anything but juvenile. The price, too, of course, is also not suited for youth. At about $350 a pop, falling in love with Tom Ford’s alluring Lost Cherry scent is a pricey love affair to get hooked on, and because the fragrance profile is so intricate and nuanced, finding a Lost Cherry dupe that doesn’t smell cheap or overly fruit-forward is most definitely not an easy feat.

The sweet fragrance features top notes of Black Cherry Accord, Bitter Almond, Griotte Sirup Scenttrek® and Rose Absolute Orpur,® and Tom Ford describes the fragrance in the following poetic description, “Like the plump fruit waiting to be eaten, Lost Cherry is powerful and insatiable. Notes of Cherry Liqueur and a touch of bitter almond drip into its heart, glossing it with candy-like gleam.”

Frankly, I couldn’t have described it better myself. While my favorite Tom Ford fragrance is—and will always be—the iconic Tobacco Vanille Eau de Parfum, I recently ordered a sample bottle ( I got mine on eBay from a trusted and top-rated seller) of Lost Cherry to see if it could be duped. It’s definitely sweet, but rather than being headache-inducing, it’s sultry—which is thanks in part to the sandalwood notes that balance out the sweetness gracefully. If I had to describe it in three words, I’d say it smells like sex and candy (and yes, I am borrowing that from that one well-known Marcy Playground song by the same name).

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

Courtesy of Tom Ford.

Tom Ford Private Blend Lost Cherry Eau de Parfum

While you used to be able to find smaller sizes starting at $95, right now the most affordable I can find is the standard, 1.7-ounce bottle, which goes for $350.

Courtesy of Alexandria Fragrances.

Alexandria Fragrances Fructus Virginis

With a little research and help from some eagle-eyed Redditors, I stumbled across this Lost Cherry alternative, which features top notes that are almost identical to Tom Ford’s: Black Cherry, Bitter Almond, and Cherry Liqueur. I would say it’s about 90 percent similar to its $350 counterpart, and definitely smells as luxurious. It also comes in a smaller size (one ounce), which is only about $42.99 instead of $62.99.

Buy: Fructus Virginis $62.99

I’m pretty discerning when it comes to advocating viral TikTok products and trends, generally speaking, but when I discovered that my favorite $5 Mascara from the drugstore was getting the spotlight on social (not to mention ranking as a top Amazon best-seller in the beauty arena), I had zero doubt in my mind. While I’ve been using this volumizing and lash-lifting mascara for years, it never occurred to me to a full Essence Lash Princess review.

While there are undoubtedly a few prestige mascaras on the market that I stan (Urban Decay’s Perversion comes instantly comes to mind), I always find myself returning to my good, old Lash Princess False Lash Effect tube. And TikTokers aside, I’m definitely not alone in my loyalty to this mascara—it’s got thousands of glowing reviews, tons of jaw-dropping before-and-after pics, and a near five-star rating on Amazon. There a few different types of Lash Princess Mascara: the O.G. Lash Princess False Lash Effect Mascara (black and green tube), the Lash Princess Sculpted Volume Mascara (purple and black), Lash Princess Volume Mascara (black and orange tube), and their waterproof versions of each. Each of the formulas has a different shaped wand—but more on that later.

“Omg best mascara I have ever brought, and I have brought a lot. I like lengthy lashes. I like the look of false lashes without having them, and this delivers,” says one customer. I couldn’t agree more, but for me, the best part of this mascara is that it doesn’t dry instantly, which allows you to build up the product without it clumping and flaking—I call my method “lash sculpting,” and Lash Princess allows me to achieve this. This same testament is echoed in another five-star review too. “This has [become] my favorite mascara. It lasts & doesn’t dry super fast so you can build it as much as you want,” she says.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

Courtesy of Mia Maguire.

Another reviewer brought up an additional (and often underlooked) reason why I ~also~ love this mascara so much—the wand. The original formula has a conic-shaped fiber brush, which allows you to build and extend multiple layers without it flaking, while the Sculpted Volume comes with a tapered brush that coats each individual lash for a more defined and separated effect. Finally, the regular Volume version features a curved applicator which allows you to easily get from root to tip for major fullness, all without losing precision and control. This one happens to my favorite of all the Lash Princess varieties, though I do love and use each of them on the reg.

As you can see in the images of me above, I’m using the original Lash Princess False Effect Mascara in waterproof (hence, the blue lettering) and I applied two coats to get the effect on the right eye. I do have naturally long lashes and have been using an incredible Lash-enhancing serum for the past month, so I do have a good base to work of, but the result is undeniably more voluminous, curled, and lengthened. Obviously, the $5 price tag is a major selling point for the Lash Princess mascara, but TBH, I’d use this even it was $25—so yes, it really is that good.

Courtesy of essence.

essence Lash Princess False Lash Effect Mascara

The original formula—backed by over 100K positive reviews.

Buy: Lash Princess False Lash Effect Mascara $4.99

Courtesy of essence.

essence Lash Princess Sculpted Volume Mascara

For the extra volume and a super dramatic curl.

Buy: Lash Princess Sculpted Volume Mascara $4.99

Courtesy of essence.

essence Lash Princess Volume Mascara 3-Pack

You’ll definitely want back-ups around of this volumizing mascara.

Buy: Lash Princess Volume Mascara 3 Pack $14.99

Courtesy of essence.

essence Lash Princess False Lash Effect Mascara – Waterproof

For extra-staying power and smudge defense.

Buy: Lash Princess Volume Mascara Waterproof $4.99

You can literally buy almost anything on Amazon these days, from basic household staples like toilet paper and cleaning supplies to sex toys and supplements and of course, luxury beauty essentials. You can also buy some of the most hard-to-find and downright weird beauty products that you wouldn’t find at Sephora, Ulta, or even your local drugstore. There are plenty of international gems to discover on the mega-retailer, especially in the Japanese, French and Korean beauty categories.  K-beauty staples like 24k gold sheet masks, serums infused with snail mucin, and even needled derma rollers would’ve been filed under the bizarre beauty folder in the past, but they’ve now become totally mainstream in recent years.

With that being said, there is still plenty of out-of-the-box skincare, makeup, and hair products lurking among the vast selection of household names in Amazon’s virtual beauty aisle. Some of which will surely make you do a double—even triple—take. Sure, some of these bizarre products are straight-up gimmicky and may offer very little potential to actually be effective—even if they’re ridiculously cheap. Others may be totally Instagram-story-worthy (i.e. the hilarious bubble mask), but their potential to wow ends exactly there.

However, some of these odd-ball items actually are surprisingly useful, offering solutions to problems we didn’t even know existed. While there will never be a replacement for bread-and-butter staples like Retinol serums and gentle moisturizers, sometimes it’s fun to switch things up a bit and (potentially) find a new holy grail product you can’t live without—however unlikely it may be. We’ve rounded up some of the craziest (and potentially the most promising) beauty finds we’ve stumbled upon recently below, and however novel they be, they certainly left us intrigued.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale. 

Courtesy of Unicorn Snot.

Unicorn Snot Bioglitter Sunscreen SPF 30

Why not “shine responsibly?” questions the off-beat brand Unicorn Snot. Well, now you can with this biodegradable (eco-friendly) glitter-infused sunblock. And, yes, it’s formulated for adults, not children.

Buy: Unicorn Snot SPF $19.99

Amazon.

Hask Placenta Hair Mask

While slapping on a mask containing um, placenta doesn’t sound quite as appealing as coconut or keratin-infused options, there is some research that suggests this um, unconventional hair mask may actually revive compromised hair and promote hair re-growth. For the record, this mask uses sheep placenta–not human.

Buy: Placenta Hair Mask $17.95

Courtesy of Lauer Cosmetic.

V-Line Lifting Mask

This v-shaped sheet mask claims to lift, sculpt, and well, touts itself as a “double chin reducer.” We can’t attest to such virtues, but judging by the fact that it’s backed by over 2,000 positive reviews and an almost five-star rating, we’re guessing it does something good.

Buy: Double Chin Reducer Mask $14.99

Courtesy of TTKLYN.

TTKLYN Scalp Massager Brush

This little brush-massager hybrid may look like some sort of cartoonish sea creature, but according to my mom (along with a slew of positive customer reviews), it actually can help boost hair growth by promoting better circulation and tackling clogged hair follicles.

Buy: Scalp Massager Brush $5.99

Amazon.

Nooni Marshmallow Whip Maker

Don’t let the name fool you; this weird-but-cute product will not make marshmallows. It will, however, turn your typical cleanser into a “cloud-like foam,” which apparently allows for a deeper cleanse and more gentle experience.

Buy: Nooni Marshmallow Whip Maker $7

Courtesy of Benton.

Benton Snail Mucin & Bee Venom Serum

Alright, these two ingredients may sound bizarre (even scary) for a face serum, but both snail mucus and bee venom have shown to offer some convincing anti-aging benefits.

Amazon.

Bial Facial Massager

While it may look like some sort of torture device, this strange tool is actually a facial massager. According to the product listing, it slims the face and removes double chins by promoting better blood circulation in the face and strengthening facial muscles for a sharper jawline contour. We’re not exactly sold, but curious nonetheless.

Buy: Bial Facial Massager $8.95

Amazon.

 Purederm Purifying Bubble Mask

Bubble masks may look seriously wild on the face, making them a stellar beauty prop for silly selfies. But despite their comical appeal, they actually are pretty effective at giving congested pores a solid deep clean. This one is also infused with charcoal, which further helps to draw out toxins, dead skin, and other impurities without leaving your skin feeling tight and bone-dry.

Buy: Bubble Mask $9.99

Courtesy of Gears Out.

Gears Out Dill Pickle Lip Balm

Look, I love pickles, but do I want my lips to taste and smell like them? Well, actually I’m not sure. Let’s just say I’m intrigued.

Buy: Pickle Lip Balm $11.95