Lula’s self-warming eye masks were launched during the Covid pandemic, which literally turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving for many Aussies.
Chatting to Giftguide at Life Instyle, co-founder Aisling Cunningham says a lot of people were using the eye masks during lockdown.
“We launched in July 2021 and they were using them during lockdown and gifting them to friends who were in lockdown or had Covid,” she says.
The eye masks are all about self-care and Cunningham and her sister Margaret became their own best customers after they were both diagnosed with breast cancer within six weeks from each other.
“As we received the first samples my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and six weeks later I was as well. It meant we were testing the eye masks ourselves throughout our treatments, we were using them in hospital and during our recovery, and I guess we fell in love with the product even more because we really needed them.
“However, the whole reason behind our business is to convince women to rest guilt free and not rest because you’ve got a terrible illness. Take time for yourself, that’s what we are very passionate about.”
The concept is simple, once you open the eye mask there is a natural reaction when it meets the air and it instantly warms up. There are five in a box and while it only warms up once, you can still use it as a regular eye mask.
“Margaret and I had seen something similar in Japan and Europe and we couldn’t find anything like it in Australia, so we decided to make it ourselves. Lula means warrior which we thought was very apt given the circumstances.
“They come scented with lavender, jasmine, rose, making them suitable for relaxing. Women do something like 21 more hours of housework on average than men and that has increased during Covid. We take on so much, so taking a little bit of time out is OK.”
The sisters are currently working on a Lula body warmer for people that have, for example, sore shoulders, period pain, etc. Same heating concept although slightly different temperature as it needs to be a bit warmer for the body.
“We’ve also had many customers saying their children love the eye masks, it helps them sleep, so we are releasing a kids version, which will be a bit smaller than the adult size. And we have a few other products in the pipeline that are all about self-care.”
