MakeUp — Articles — Centric Magazine

By Selina Seesunkur

Makeup for men has made a huge comeback. Some of you may ask “when was it ever in fashion?”

The men of Ancient Egypt wore a black pigment to highlight their eyes, creating a cat’s eye effect, as a sign of status and wealth. In the 1st century AD, Roman men were said to have applied red pigment to their cheeks, lighten their skin with powder, and paint their nails using a stomach-turning elixir of pig fat and blood. Like the Romans, Elizabethan men and women whitened their faces with a lead-based powder, but who could beat the French Aristocrats with their painted-on beauty spots, pink lips, ostentatious wigs, and heels. But then makeup seemed to have just gone out of fashion, perhaps because no-one relished the thought of having their heads removed just by standing out with makeup. Research suggests that the Victorians did in fact frown upon men wearing makeup and the trend ended.

Makeup re-emerged with the invention of the television. Movie stars, both men and women, would use powder to take off the sheen and to emphasise their best assets. During the Eighties and Nineties, makeup was not as mainstream as it is now, it was a privilege normally reserved for the bold and flamboyant like Prince, Boy George and David Bowie.

However, it was only during the last decade that the makeup brands began to give more focus to male makeup. Yves St Laurent launched the male version of Touché eclat, whilst brands like Chanel launched their men’s line Boy De Chanel, Danny Gray launched War Paint, a complete collection of makeup for men, and MMUK MAN now sell foundations, concealers, guyliner, and mascara aimed solely at men.

Why is makeup for men so popular now?

3.69 billion people use social media worldwide, equivalent to 58.11% of the world’s population. Male makeup artists use social media as a platform to gain exposure and have been successful in collaborating with brands to make money. Manny MUA has a following of over 4 million on Instagram alone. You-Tuber Jeffree Star has over 13 million followers, with his makeup brand Jeffree Star Cosmetics, now estimated to be worth $1.5 billion. Companies use social media to talent spot, selecting those users with the widest reach to promote their products which, by the time you hit the big time, are provided for free.

What about the non-makeup artist? Men, like women, seem to have a need to look beautiful and flawless, again a pressure born out of social media. It is easy for us to say don’t use social media if it makes you feel ugly, that would be like telling children to just not go to school if they are being bullied., just excluding yourself should not be the necessary option. Social media is an integral part of modern life. The beauty industry has helped women for centuries by remedying their perceived flaws and imperfections, so why not men in this gender fluid society? According to Priya Elan for the Guardian, “Euromonitor predicts the men’s grooming and beauty market will be worth more than £49bn this year, a quadruple rise from what it generated in 2015”. Is this the end of the rugged man look that women are perceived to love so much? We will be competing with men to look pretty and feminine? For some of us, yes.

Read more articles by Selina Seesunkur

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By Pauline Lewis

When we scour the shopping centres today, we are spoilt for choice with the array of make-up brands available. Brands are wide and various, offering us so many choices of sizes, colours, and quality that we can often become overwhelmed by what is on offer.

However, this can sometimes not quite be the case when it comes to BAME makeup. Make-up has evolved generally and really has grown up, but make-up for women of colour is sometimes found to be a few shades behind.

The reason might lie in the history. The first time Immigration into the UK began in any significant numbers was during the 1950’s and 60’s. At that time the world was a very different place. The UK was the head of a much larger Commonwealth than today. Many countries who were former colonies had not yet claimed independence from the UK, whilst countries such as Ghana, India, Jamaica, Mauritius, Nigeria, Zambia, and many more gained their independence around that time. The make-up industry had been designed to serve a market which did not include women of colour. ‘Barbie’ and ‘Cindy’ dolls were white skinned and blonde or brunette. All of these factors led to there being a status quo and stereotype of what “beauty” was defined as. That definition did not include women of colour and this was reflected in the make-up counters around the UK.

The good news was that brands started to come through that catered for darker skins. One of the earliest brands available in the UK was Flori Roberts, an early US brand. This was swiftly followed by US brand Fashion Fair. For the first time there was a mainstream brand taking space in concessions around the UK alongside the more established mainstream brands such as Chanel, Revlon, Estee Lauder, Max Factor, and Rimmel. This was an exciting time for women of colour, and many other beauty industry benefits began to follow. In keeping with economic trends, competition ensued in the form of other mainstream companies bringing out makeup ranges aimed at diverse women.

Revlon launched a range for women of colour, expanding their range of foundation colours to suit darker skins for the first time, which led to a steady climb in women of colour “firsts”. According to research, in 1970, Revlon became the first cosmetics company to feature a woman of colour, Naomi Sims, whilst Beverly Johnson became the first Black woman to feature on the cover of Vogue magazine. These ‘firsts’ opened the door for models such as Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell to become leaders in the fashion and beauty industry. We have also seen other industries benefitting. The actress Lopita Nyongo became the first woman of colour to feature for beauty brand Lancome in 2014, and former Miss World Pryantha Chopra endorsed beauty brand, Obagi in 2019.

The result of these milestones was that the cosmetics counter changed. In the old days only cosmetics that supported the stereotype image of beauty were to be found. Barbie was the archetypal stereotype and everyone, regardless of their own colour, was expected to use her colours. Light Brown to Dark skinned women were wearing pale pink lipsticks and American Tan tights. When the former US First Lady Michelle Obama asked for a gown to wear to meet the Indian Prime Minister in 2010, she was offered a gown described as the colour ‘nude’. This sparked a controversy about what ‘nude’ or ‘flesh coloured’ really meant. Little girls from immigrant communities across the UK were introduced to Barbie with the message that she was the ideal to aim for. The message was universally reinforced with school paint palettes referring to the beige paint as ‘flesh’ coloured, and almost all leading ladies on TV being blonde including children’s cartoons.

Today, we have brands who cater exclusively for women of colour, the leading ones being Fenty, Bobbi Brown, Mac and Nars. We also have brands who cater for all skin colour including Revlon, Rimmel, Dior, Covergirl, Lush Makeup, Estee Lauder and Yves Saint Laurent. The landscape looks much better than it was. Despite our great progress, obtained at great cost to those who have been the change makers, we still need to aspire to equal consideration for the needs of all. This must include women of colour to the same extent as everyone else. We all need to aim to reach a goal where not just women of colour are the ones who complain about finding the right shade or colours. We all need to be in the same place, with everyone catering for everyone.