How Beauty Boys are taking over the makeup industry

2017 has seen a huge change in the beauty world. Male beauty influencers are changing the industry and showing the world that makeup is genderless. Male makeup artists are finally being recognised for their talent and have been rewarded some of the most incredible roles in the beauty industry.

In October, CoverGirl was the first cosmetics company to announce their first male brand ambassador, also being the first brand to embrace the latest social shift. Since then Maybelline, and Rimmel London have followed suit and announced their own male brand ambassadors too.

James Charles for CoverGirl, Manny Gutierrez for Maybelline, and Lewys Ball for Rimmel London, have all been discovered via social media channels such as; Instagram, YouTube and their own personal blogs. Each of them have immense talent as shown across their various platforms and recent advertising campaigns.

James Charles, whom is only 17, had at the time of the CoverGirl announcement near half a million followers on Instagram; this has now risen to 1.5 million in less than six months. This is a significant achievement considering James had only begun his Instagram account in late August with only a few hundred followers to his name, showing just how influential he is.

Lewys Ball, whom goes under the user name lookingforlewys, has nearly 53,000 followers on his Instagram account and is more well-known for his vlogging channel on YouTube with over 161K subscribers. Just like many female beauty guru channels, Lewys features hauls and makeup tutorials on his channel. The only difference being he is a 17 year old male.

Although each mainstream brand has very different male influencers aesthetic wise, they all are portraying the same message. Rimmel’s latest ad #livethelondonlook, featuring Lewys Ball, stresses that “there isn’t one London look; it is whatever you want it to be”. Emphasising that it’s ok for men to wear make-up and own it.

CoverGirl sent out a similar message in support of their latest Cover Boy saying, “role models are boundary-breakers, fearlessly expressing themselves, standing up for what they believe, and redefining what it means to be beautiful”. “James Charles is no exception”.

Gutierrez also explained his reasons for wearing makeup to Marie Claire stating, “It’s an art form for me. I’m still confident as a boy and I will always be a boy. I can be confident with bare skin and with a full face.”. He said this in response to the influence drag makeup has had on his aesthetic. Like many of the “beauty boys” they are not performing as women, but are embracing and wearing make-up as men.

Male influencer ambassadors are not the only exciting thing to happen to the beauty world, with brands such as Tom Ford and Menaji creating lines specifically for men. Tom Ford’s collection will feature, a skin revitaliser, lip balm, concealer, face cleanser, bronzing gel and much more. Once again reiterating that there is nothing wrong for men to want to wear make-up and take pride in their appearance.

The beauty industry is definitely being reshaped and for once it is for the better. Instead of sending out messages that are often misconstrued as you needing to better yourself using their products, they are truly emphasising for people to just be themselves on the outside and within.