42 LIFESTYLE COSMETICS
Beauty for everyone: where we are and where next?
Kira Drabble, Matthew Anderson, Karen Ryan, Emily McCann – Croda Europe, UK
Over the past few years, the awareness of gender and its increasing non-correlation with the sexes has soared. Generation-Z has driven us towards the belief that gender is in fact a spectrum made up of behavioural, psychological and cultural traits. It is different from person to person and for some people it is different day to day. Gender is no longer considered binary, in fact Facebook has over 70 gender options to pick from on their profile editor. To learn more about these definitions, visit
www.stonewall.org.uk/help- advice/glossary-terms.
This article will discuss gender non-
conformity and gender fluidity, summarising the key influences on the shift and blurring of gender norms and the impact this has on the personal care industry. Traditional gender norms mean that men and women would shop on different aisles for personal care products. Men would predominantly purchase just a few functional items such as deodorant, shower gel and shaving products, whereas women tend to have a more complex beauty routine including colour cosmetics, moisturisers and hair colourants. However, over the past few years, we have seen a shift in purchasing habits.
Gender fluidity in society The personal care industry is not revolutionary in the practise of shifting gender norms and creating social change in a gender fluid community. Non-conformity has been actively pursued in fashion and sport for decades. The rise in females participating and competing in male- dominated sports has continued to increase at a rate that we can no longer ignore. Women’s rugby is now broadcast live on TV in England and female basketball is now a professional sport in America. The increase in professionalism within female sport, has seen a cultural shift in what we perceive to be a feminine appearance. Women being active and pursuing competitive sporting activity on TV helps to normalise this concept, meaning they do not lose their sense of femininity or female ‘label’. Sport is
PERSONAL CARE EUROPE
for all and it is challenging the perceptions of traditional gender roles in society. Societal pressures and influences are often portrayed through fashion, as clothes are often a major statement of our gender. Dressing baby girls in all pink from birth, limiting trouser options for women and designing men’s clothes to be neutral and colourless, can all reinforce gender stereotypes. The fashion industry has used its platform to loosen the gender boundaries and embrace non-conforming. In 2017 alone, we saw lots of brands creating unisex clothing lines for adults and children, opening changing rooms without gender segregation and even having non- binary models on their catwalks. In general societal terms, the evolution of genderless beauty has been rather lengthy. One of the most common association between men and makeup
stems right back to the 20th century with the
rise of the drag queen. Drag queens originally emerged because women were banned from performing on stage, so men would have to dress as women to fulfil all roles. As drag queens evolved, through pop culture, they have become a popular source of entertainment, most recently on TV programmes such as ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’.
Gender fluidity as we recognise it today,
century, the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) movement reached new heights, with transgender rights in western society moving forward exponentially since the millennium.
Here come ‘The Beauty Boys’ Social media’s mammoth rise to power in society is heavily responsible for the movement of one-way exchanges to two- way exchanges between brands and customers. Consumers are savvier than ever before, and are thoroughly researching before having purchase intentions. They now seek impartial recommendations, with expensive TV advertisements or glossy magazine spreads no longer enough to drive sales. This has led to the rise of ‘The Beauty Boys’ (see
https://tinyurl.com/ycz5sx7h), a group of male bloggers with vast talent when it comes to makeup artistry, who mostly identify as gender non-conforming or gender fluid. One YouTube influencer, Manny Gutierrez, often sports a short beard with a full glam makeup look – something that challenges gender stereotypes.
Bloggers and vloggers are now making
careers out of reviewing and critiquing products. Colour cosmetics has one of the largest followings of product reviewers. Talented makeup artists, male or female,
April 2018
remerged through music from around 1970- 1990, championed by influential musicians such as Boy George and Prince. These artists often wore makeup to express themselves and their music, which was more visible and widely accessible due to the rise in colour print and TV. Moving into the 21st
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184
