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Once upon a time, there was one specific type of person who bought beauty products. They were white, female, never over the age of 35 and almost always straight. Except, that person never actually existed.
Thankfully, the outdated, cis-gender limited fairytale of who buys and wears make-up, and therefore, who beauty brands market towards, has finally been replaced by a rainbow reality.
From Fenty Beauty to Fluide, the industry has been hit with a long overdue wave of gender neutral beauty brands that are changing the game for inclusivity. More than just 'we whacked some make-up on a dude' tokenism, these companies are true pioneers for the changing face of beauty.
Because whether you're male, female, non-binary, transgender, gay, straight, young or old, make-up looks epic on everyone.
Read on for the best gender neutral beauty brands waving the flag for broader beauty standards (and leaving old school attitudes in the dust).
Panacea
Summing up the notion of genuine inclusivity is skincare brand Panacea. The Korean-made brand didn't actually start out with intentions to be classed as gender neutral, rather, they simply (and rightly) assumed that moisturiser can be used by anyone and thus tailored their marketing and products to fit that belief.
Panacea's cruelty-free products feature inclusive language (you won't find a 'Pussy Whipped' liquid lipstick here) and are reviewed by a wide range of consumers (not just cis women) at every stage of development.
Jecca Makeup
Make-up artist Jessica Blackler founded her brand Jecca Makeup after receiving instagram messages from followers that were transitioning from male to female and felt at a loss as to where to buy make-up. 'They wanted someone that was accepting of the community, and they couldn’t find this at beauty counters in the local shopping centre,' Blackler told Refinery29.
Cue a wildly successful series of make-up classes teaching transitioning clients how to contour and cover stubble, an inevitable dedicated studio space and eventually a make-up range designed for everyone to use.
'If I was just to focus on the trans community, then I wouldn’t really be inclusive of everyone,' says Blackler.
ASOS Face + Body
The most refreshingly peppy beauty campaign of 2018, the ASOS Face + Body relaunch set the bar for mass market inclusivity. As one of the most influential online retailers in the world, when ASOS controversially chose to opt out of using the word 'beauty' altogether, we paid attention.
Deciding 'beauty' was too reminiscent of the cis marketing of yore, ASOS presented a collection that was deliberately gender neutral and non-judgemental, with imagery to match.
Unarguably optimistic, the brand champions bold, rainbow bright make-up worn by male, female and non-binary models of all ages, races and backgrounds. The message? You do you.
Fluide
Having launched just one year ago, vegan and cruelty-free brand Fluide has made a major splash in the beauty space. With the tagline, 'Make-up for everyone', Fluide's mission statement is to acknowledge every customer possible. More than just sound business sense, their aim has led to a make-up range conceived from a queer perspective, for a queer community. Although, of course, everyone else is invited to the party as well.
With beaut gender non-conforming actress, Freckle, as the face and a palette of Crayola bright products (adorning lips/eyes/wherever you want it), Fluide is proving there are literally no rules when it comes to beauty.
Oh, and did we mention they donate 5% of sales to LGBTQ health and advocacy organisations?
Illamasqua
One of the first beauty brands to champion make-up simply being worn by men and women, Illamasqua were at the forefront of an inclusive movement other brands had yet to even hear about.
Since then they've been speaking out against everything from animal testing to the lack of diversity in the industry, and were the first brand to snap up transgender model Munroe Bergdorf when L'Oréal unceremoniously dropped her from their campaign.
In-store courses designed to educate transitioning customers on how to apply their make-up, gender inclusive Instagram posts and seriously pigmented products have made Illamasqua a must-have on the gender neutral scene.
Fenty Beauty
Whether she's shaking up the fashion industry by sending a heavily pregnant Slick Woods down the runway in naught but a pair of nipple pasties, or clapping back at brands 'who think dark shades [of foundation] won't sell well', when it comes to representation, Rihanna is constantly forcing the rest of the world to up their game.
Enter Fenty Beauty. Determined for everyone to feel included, Rihanna's commitment to a whopping 50 shades of foundation was unprecedented for an industry whose benchmark for 'extensive' rarely exceeded 9.
Add to that thoughtfully designed packaging that aims neither at men, women or otherwise, and an Instagram account that regularly regrams its male customers, and Fenty Beauty is hitting the gender neutral beauty game out of the park.
Break the mould. Discover more at Fiat
George Driver was the former Senior Beauty Editor - Digital at ELLE UK.
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