It is a fact that 15% of heterosexual men (aged 18 to 65) in the US currently use male cosmetics and makeup.
In addition, 17% of the surveyed males said they would consider using makeup in the future; assuming this is correct, it would double the size of the market.
The current use or potential interest in males and their cosmetics appears to be age related as 73% of men 51+ said they would NOT consider using cosmetics; however, this NO NO NO position was expressed by only 37% of men 18-34, so it seems that the younger men are open to using skin enhancing products including creams, mascara, foundation, bronzer and concealer.
Finding men wearing makeup
While research finds that men are buying more cosmetics than ever before, I do not know where these men are living…do not see them on the streets of Manhattan, at my gym or my club. Although American men have been slow to embrace makeup, attitudes are changing because of the pressure to live up to unrealistic beauty standards. To deal with this new reality they are spending increasingly larger portions of their income on lipsticks, powders and creams.
image courtesy of @seoulcialite
According to blogger David Yi, Founder, Very Good Light, makeup and skincare for men is used “to practice self-care, but also just to look and feel better.” A study reported in TIME and Cosmopolitan found that men are likely to be as unhappy with their looks as women. If cosmetics can help men as it is “reputed” to help women, it is a quick and easy way to deal with a problem that has few reasonable and realistic solutions. Danny Gray, founder of War Paint, (a UK company founded in 2019) states that, “Makeup isn’t only for women…. It’s for everyone that wants it. And if you want a men’s brand that speaks to you, look F**king cool in your bathroom, and stands for something more than just products, we’ve got your back.” Gray credits makeup with helping his body dysmorphic disorder.
Men, makeup and history
image courtesy of wikipedia
The use of makeup by men is not new. Ancient Egyptian men, as well as women, wore kohl around their eyes which, research offers, may have had antibacterial as well as decorative properties. The cat eyeliner design started in Ancient Egypt and was a sign of wealth. Men would wear eyeliner around the entire eye and wore pigment on their cheeks with lip stains from red ochre.
Wearing makeup was a way to showcase masculinity.
In Rome, men put pigment on their cheeks and paint on their nails that was made from pig blood and fat (1st century AD). King Louis XVI (18th century) was obsessed with wigs when he started going bald in his early 20s. Rockstars frequently line their eyes with black liner. Boy George wore makeup in the 1980s. In India men wear eyeliner and the Maasai’s in Africa paint red ochre over their faces and bodies. Black men and makeup link to African traditions in Chad where the Wodaabe men cover their faces in lavish makeup to attract females.
