Gender Bender! A Beauty Brand Breaks The Rules

It’s no secret that the beauty market – which is saturated with cream blushes, eye gels and anti-aging-everything – speaks directly to women. And when the latest “It Model” is featured in the newest ad, all of a sudden buying that lengthening mascara feels somewhat urgent. The impact that the beauty biz has on female consumers is huge – even industry insiders aren’t immune to marketing tactics.

So when a cosmetics and skincare company uses a man for their newest campaign, it’s hard not to wonder, what were they thinking?

MAKE, a socially conscious beauty brand with sophisticated, yet moderately priced products, is a company that you’ll be hearing more about due to their sense of purpose and a unique creative vision. MAKE chose to shoot their spring campaign using male models with the goal of removing the immediate gender association the public has with a beauty companies.  

“The photographic collaboration was a break from traditional beauty photography, distilling the portrayal of beauty as feminine, or feminized. To me, beauty is about being healthy and taking care of one’s self from the inside out, so we made a series of gender-neutral, technology-driven skincare products for both sexes.”

To accomplish their goal of creating elegant images, they collaborated with photographer Vasilis Karadis  who co-founded the magazine Dapper Dan, a cult men’s fashion and philosophy biannual. Fittingly, Karadis’ signature work offers an evolved perspective of masculinity, so he was able to channel this concept to create a series of clean, bare-faced looks that speak to just about anyone despite gender.

Due to the number of men that have been purchasing MAKE’s transforming products, Ariana and her team felt it was the right time to explore the idea of beauty by using an unexpected face to tell this skincare-inspired story.

“Yes, it’s a beauty line that celebrates the individual wearing them. But marketing a beauty brand on a man’s face challenges gender stereotypes, which has the power to create a tectonic shift.”

Ariana feels that many beauty campaigns use a rotating list of photographers and celebs that can result in a stereotypical depiction of gender and ultimately dictates an idea of beauty that can feel patronizing. MAKE comes at it all from a different angle, offering a unique and alternative interpretation.

Ultimately, MAKE celebrates creative self-expression, above all else.

We believe there are no beauty rules. But we also want to collaborate with others to build a new type of luxury brand in this crowded landscape – one that inspires, creates something different and is ultimately sustainable.”

 GLAM4GOOD is thrilled to participate in the conversation they are helping to create.

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