How To Market Makeup To Men
Many beauty brands share the ambition of appealing to guys. Their tactics differ drastically.
If you follow celebrity news, then you'll already know that makeup for men is officially a thing. Get Out actor Daniel Kaluuya looked fresh and dewy thanks to Fenty Beauty at the 2018 Oscars. Harry Styles looked equally resplendent on the cover of Beauty Papers thanks to lipstick by Gucci. And G.Q. recently tapped a broad range of talent (Luka Sabbat, Gabriel Luna, et al.) in their first beauty shoot for men.
It's difficult to assess the trajectory of the men's cosmetics industry because it's often lumped together with broader categories like "men's grooming" (valued at $67bn in the U.S.) and "men's personal care" (set to hit $166bn globally by 2022). However, a recent survey reported that one-third of young American men would consider using cosmetics, suggesting that we will soon see significant growth.
But let's not get too deep into all the fussy number stuff. Instead, let's talk about some different approaches to gender and masculinity that beauty brands are currently using to appeal to men.
Makeup For Everyone
The unisex approach has worked well in many other categories (apparel, in particular ). Plus, it offers more conservative brands the opportunity to say to previously ignored customers, "well, this is for you, too, if you want."
Armani Beauty recently dipped its toe in the water with its Neo Nude collection, a range it calls "invisible makeup." And while it hasn't advertised it explicitly as "gender-neutral," the brand cast model and photographer, Jacob Bixenman, in its online campaign.
Note the inventive language in the caption (which no doubt was crafted with the brand's approval).
“I’m not a makeup guru but I believe in self-creation and finding ways to reveal our individual beauty.”
"Self-creation" is a clever turn-of-phrase that leans into personal expression, empowerment, and growth. This makes using the product feel like a route to becoming more of who you already are. And it stands in contrast to the traditional luxury marketing strategies which position a consumer aspirationally toward a type of person (rich, glamorous, etc.) they're not likely to be.
LAKA takes a more direct approach, describing itself as "Korea's first gender-neutral makeup brand." As the home of hyper-groomed stars like Jackson Wang (also featured in the G.Q. shoot mentioned above), it's no surprise that the land of K-pop is the leading market for men's cosmetics.
In describing its approach, the brand writes:
LAKA is addressing gender-neutral Philosophy with our collection, rewriting the script that only a specific gender would be interested in playing with colors.
This kind of revolutionary tone places LAKA among the consideration set for men who view gender constructs as illusory or antiquated and seek individualistic ways to free themselves for their oppression.
Makeup for Elegant Men
In 2017, Rihanna took some time off from minting #1 singles to launch Fenty Beauty. The brand initially took a more humorous approach to male inclusion when it cast comedian, Kwaylon Rogers, in a sketch posted on Instagram.
Perhaps the outpour of praise for Daniel Kaluuya's Oscar appearance (mentioned earlier) motivated Fenty to adjust its approach because, since then, the brand has been all business.
While the packaging appears to be similar (if not the same) as their female-focused products, the website describes the Gentleman's 5-piece set as well-suited for guys "hitting the red carpet." The brand also publishes Youtube tutorials featuring cosmopolitan male models to convince men that using makeup should be just another tool for looking their best.
In 2018, Chanel launched Boy De Chanel, which features a limited-line of products such as foundation, eyebrow pens, and lip balm.
"BOY" actually stands for "Be Only You," which is the kind of syntactic-strangeness you'd expect from Parisian creatives translating themselves into English. The sentiment, however, is similar to LAKA's gender-neutral messaging and is also very much aligned with the kinds of things that men's fashion brands are saying these days. (e.g., Bottega Veneta in this recent Youtube film, "In your eyes, what qualities make a man….You can be whatever you want, can't you?").
Make Up for Manly Men
Perhaps the most interesting (and sometimes confusing) approach comes from two new entrants to this growing category. Unlike Armani and Chanel, for whom male beauty products have little impact on their core business, Formen's entire ethos focuses on making cosmetics appealing to men.
To explain why the brand chose an antlered-logo and a less-than-subtle play on words, you need look no further than a quote that founder Andrew Grella offered to cosmeticsbusiness.com.
“Though gender-neutral can appeal to more people, I think it is more difficult to actually convert them to customers right out of the gate"
It's an interesting point of view that upholds the old business adage that a new company attempting to appeal to everyone risks appealing to no one.
It appears, however, the founder has reconsidered the brand's approach. Formen just launched a "Unisex Fluid Foundation." It’s somewhat surprising that the product is ensconced in a small, black skull. But only time will tell whether its appeal will extend to both women and men.
The brand War Paint takes Formen's masculine approach one step further. The brand name likens a man's everyday life to combat. And, considering the brand is UK-based, the product team (I assume) drew design inspiration from the phalanx of celeb footballers driving around London in sleek, matte black luxury cars.
However, War Paint’s origin story is actually quite compelling. Founder Daniel Gray cites a troubling childhood and body dysmorphia as the raisons d'etre for creating the brand.
Vulnerability is both an admirable and effective trait in male founders because it clearly articulates why the brand should exist. (Zachariah Reitano, the founder of online pharma brand Roman, often talks of his past experiences with E.D.).
"Giving men a choice," is Gray's stated ambition and seemingly admirable goal. However, War Paint encountered some trouble when a 2019 ad provoked accusations of "toxic masculinity" after featuring hard-looking, tattooed lads.
The brand shot back, claiming that a male-focused brand in the space actually promoted gender neutrality in the category as a whole.
In the end, the War Paint took its lumps and pulled the ad. But, considering it has just expanded into Ireland and signed a sponsorship deal with a U.K. football club, the brand appears to be doing just fine.
The Question of Gendered Marketing
The controversy around War Paint’s advertising calls to mind the broader debate over the use of gendered-marketing. This is a topic that will appear over and over in this newsletter because it's quite tricky to pin down.
In the past, there have been many egregious attempts by brands to use this technique to their advantage. The tactic of making women’s products more expensive than men’s (known as the "pink tax") has been widely studied and rebuked. Another method that invites particularly fiery wrath from critics is the use of the colors pink and blue in children's toys (best documented by Korean photographer JeongMee Yoon).
Regarding the latter, my view is that the wrath is warranted because, after many years of exposure, those colors become imbued with unhelpful significance. Boys, in particular, begin responding to pink and blue like red and green (Pink: Stop, that’s girly stuff; Blue: Go! That’s for me). Needless to say, that’s not a great start if our society intends to raise curious and confident men.
But with products geared toward adults, I'm still working out my view. I'm uncomfortable with products that outwardly mock feminity because they reinforce hypermasculine stereotypes by effectively saying, "I'm SO BRO that I can pull this off."
It gets trickier with brands like War Paint, which are super manly in posture but also earnest and inclusive in their approach. Yes, the brand's marketing does rely heavily on a specific kind of masculine iconography (skulls and tattoos). And while it may not be my preferred expression of masculinity, I'm not so sure that it was worthy of the ire it incurred.
The men in their ad, we assume, are representative of harmful masculinity (bad boys, players, etc.). But that's not actually what we saw. They exhibited no behavioral traits that suggested they weren't anything but kind and sensitive guys (as many men who rock tattoos and skull rings are). Instead, they were just putting on makeup.
Plus, War Paint's objective (to break down the barriers that prevent men from wearing makeup) seems a worthy endeavor. To that aim, using these kinds of “hard” archetypes may be justified, even if does a poor job of representing average masculinity.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d much prefer to many more brands that project a softer vision of manhood. But I do want to live in a culture where it’s ok for guys to wear makeup. And these War Paint models make it more difficult for your average guy to say "this is just a soft product make is for soft boys."
That's not to say the ends justify the means, but War Paint is clearly striving to change deep-seated-perspectives. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. But I enjoy thinking about it, and I hope you do too. Do you have an opinion? Leave a comment below or send me an email.
About The Mandate Letter
I use this newsletter as a journal to work through my ideas and collect examples of broader trends that reflect how masculinity is evolving in culture. I would very much appreciate your input. If you come across interesting examples of this trend or others, please email me tips at Jason [@] jasonrogers.co. If you're reading this in your inbox, just hit reply, and your response will go directly to me. Also, keep up with me on Twitter & Instagram or text me at 310-299-9363.