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Grace De Alvaro
Sports HAI is the revolutionary smudge-proof cosmetics brand, designed for and tested by athletes. So whether you’re training for a marathon or pumping iron in the gym, the Sports HAI product range is endurance-ready and gender neutral.
Athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike can all testify to the struggles faced and battles fought, and often lost in keeping their makeup from sliding off their faces mid-workout. Its founder, Grace De Alvaro has cultivated an illustrious career in publishing working for names like Conde Nast and others in Ireland - where she grew up, across sports, fashion and everything in-between. Grace, who has long since been a lover of sport, began part-taking in sponsored triathlons she had been invited to by peers, and shortly after realised there were no products offered to people who sweat.
“I wasn't a makeup artist, but I was doing a lot of water sports and outdoor activities, so I could understand it from the user's point of view.'' She also realized that although the women and men she knew needed these products, they weren’t willing to invest time finding products and learning to apply them. “Some of them had been wearing the same makeup from their youth. They wanted high quality products but didn’t know where to get them.”
In the making of the Sports HAI, Grace and her team spent a substantial amount of time getting the formula right. “When we [first] tried stuff we found that it was either difficult to get off or didn’t actually stay on. We've really done a relaunch - almost a rebrand where we've really concentrated on anyone suffering from sweat stress.” The brand also caters to both women and men in sports. “I felt that if I was a man and I wanted to wear a bit of under eye cream, a sports brand would be a good place to start.”
The Sports HAI collection offers everything from lip wear to highlighter, with cult favourites including its Mattifying Moisturiser & Miracle Balm. Its SPF 50 High Protection sunscreen, considered “a sports player’s dream,” won The Attracta Beauty Awards 2021.
Shop the range now via sportshai.com