With male grooming on the rise, and male beauty bloggers becoming gender-fluid muses for the likes of L'Oreal Paris and Covergirl, it’s difficult to deny that boundaries are being broken and brands are embracing the rise of genderless beauty.
While men wearing makeup and taking care of their skin is nothing new (Glam Rock heralded men wearing eyeliner for decades to come), a current Mintel beauty retailing report notes: “Consumers are moving away from traditional gender stereotypes, in part driven by the increased visibility of gender diversity. As such, the traditional gender boundaries associated with fashion and beauty trends are becoming progressively blurred.”
In terms of Mintel’s advice for beauty brands, it recommends a more inclusive stance to take into account the increased demand for specialist and informed beauty advice: “With young men being the most likely to agree that they value the advice of beauty bloggers more than store staff (47% of male 16-24s), UK retailers could benefit from diversifying their brand collaborators to capitalise on the rising male beauty trend, the promotion of gender diversity and the influence of social media celebrities.”
With the world taking note that beauty is gender-inclusive, here are 10 brands embracing genderless beauty.
Katy Perry
Katy Perry’s INDI is a fragrance designed to be worn by everyone. The eau de parfum has top notes of white tea, oriental plum and Italian bergamot; heart notes of fresh muguet, cyclamen and white cedar wood; and base notes of amber sultan, vanilla tonka and seductive musks. The fragrance is housed in a sleek sophisticated opal glass bottle. Two sides of the modern bottle contain a special embossed message of empowerment from Katy Perry, 'Put the U in Individual', finished with a matte black cap featuring an embossed KPINDI.
Maybelline New York
In January of this year Maybelline announced that Manny Gutierrez (known online as Manny MUA) would be the first man to ever star in one of its campaigns. He was the face of its Big Shot Mascara by Colossal.
Rimmel London
Rimmel London joined the ranks of high-profile beauty brands extending their advertising inclusivity to men with 17-year-old British YouTube star Lewys Ball featuring in advertising.
Batiste
Batiste Dry Shampoo - Fresh features a unisex fragrance, so that it can be used by both men and women. The dry shampoo is scented with a fruity twist of pear, citrus and florals, as well as with a base note of woody musk and sandalwood.
M.A.C
In 2015, M.A.C (which has always said it is for all ages, races and sexes) collaborated with model Stephanie Seymour’s sons, Harry and Peter Brant, on a collection of gender-neutral products. The brothers, who have been wearing makeup since high school, launched a second collab with M.A.C—which included brow gels, lip stains and eyeshadows in 2016.
L’Oreal Paris
L’Oreal Paris has made significant strides in this regard too courtesy of its True Match campaign. Conscious to showcase beauty in as inclusive a way as possible, one of the campaign’s stars, makeup artist The Plastic Boy (aka Gary Thompson), hopes his casting will help inspire others who perhaps have felt isolated by beauty brands in the past. “Previously looking at makeup campaigns, I never ever saw a guy, so for them to make me one of the first was such an exciting moment for me,” he told us. “For all the young boys out there, feeling the way I did, for them to see me in a makeup campaign could be the light they need to see change.”
Covergirl
Covergirl made headlines when they last year announced 17-year-old James Charles would be their first ever ‘Coverboy’ — fronting advertising for the beauty giant.
Hermés
The Hermés colognes collection is made up of musky, bittersweet, unisex fragrances.
Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein ck2 is a unisex fragrance that embodies the thrill of life and celebrates the diversity of connections between two people. It is formulated to unite and create an experience that can be shared together in love, lust and friendship. The dual-faceted scent has top notes of spicy wasabi with mandarin and violet leaf absolute. There are middle notes of wet cobblestones, orris concrete and rose absolute to generate electric freshness, and dry base notes of vetiver, incense and sandalwood. Natural and fresh accords merge together to create a contrasted connection.