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Yota Nakamura, a 22-year-old neuroscience student in Osaka, was once told by his girlfriend that his looks could use some sprucing up. So he went out and bought a moisturizer, toner, and tinted face primer, items that previously only girls bought.
As Nakamura prepares to graduate next year, he wants to make sure he’s presentable to prospective employers. “When I start working, I’ll be meeting with clients a lot, so I think I would like to use makeup,” he says. “Maybe it would be embarrassing to say you’re using lipstick, but things like face primer or foundation? No one would think anything of it.”
And Nakamura is not alone. After the millennial generation has come Generation Z and the lines between gender identity and masculinity have become even more blurred than ever. While the trend of guys using makeup has been prevalent in Asia for the past several years, the trend is picking up with males in larger markets such as the US and China. Obviously, this represents a tremendous opportunity for beauty companies.
Traditional brands such as L’Oréal, Shiseido, and Estée Lauder are responding but so are startups and smaller brands.
Yasushi Ishibashi, chairman of Acro Inc., said, “Make no mistake, Generation Z will make men’s makeup a thing, and the older consumers will follow. For the older generations, there’s still some resistance. They think it’s embarrassing, so you need to give them that push.
” His company is responsible for the Fiveism brand of parent company Pola Orbis Holdings Co.
While the term “metrosexual” has been there for the past two decades, men of today’s generation grew up in an era when male entertainers and online influencers with millions of Instagram followers have treated makeup as just another part of one’s daily routine. Whereas makeup for men was once seen as the province of entertainers and artists, now mainstream men see it as essential for jobs where one’s appearance counts.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s makeup-related scandal in 2017 wasn’t about the fact that he wore makeup at all but that he spent $10,000 a month using taxpayers’ money for a makeup artist.
In 2019, the global men’s makeup market was valued at $1.14 billion which is only a small percentage of the $71.1 billion cosmetics industry. Jacob Chang, research head at JUV, which specializes in Gen Z marketing, says, “We believe that this is a fairly reasonable estimate and may actually lean slightly conservative.”
However, the promise of growth is there. Euromonitor expects that in the next five years, men’s skin-care products will grow 24%, to $5 billion.
Still, megabrands are still careful about how they make their sales pitch. Neutral colors using only a few shades is the name of the game instead of trying to make men look like they went through a complete makeover. The overall idea is to ease men towards accepting makeup as an everyday item like toothpaste or mouthwash.
The market is ever-changing and companies are ready to respond whenever that happens. Still, attitudes have already changed. Frank Juarez from Los Angeles started wearing makeup at 16 to gain confidence. But back then, he’d deny he used them if anyone asked. Now 23, it doesn’t matter if people know. “It’s becoming more and more acceptable now,” Juarez says.
Grooming trends that were once the province of females are now catching on with men in L.A., regardless of sexual orientation. Juarez, who is gay, says, “They are microblading straight men now. Nowadays you can’t bully someone for being themselves. It doesn’t work that way.”