Mass media serves equally as a platform to express and entertain ourselves as much as it does to sell us goods and lifestyles. It’s not at all unusual for companies to target our insecurities as a method of peddling their products. In fact, that’s how the majority get you to buy stuff you probably don’t need in the first place. Is buying a new mascara that promises to lengthen my lashes by 500 percent going to make me a nicer person? Of course not! But it will at least make me look pretty, if the ads that are selling it are any indicator.
For this reason, I’m hesitant to praise any cosmetics company based on their advertisements alone. After all, aren’t they just serving to sell me stuff to fix my physical imperfections and get me closer towards an accepted beauty standard? Probably. But that’s not all that advertisements are capable of doing! Enter Anastasia Beverly Hills, a mid-priced cosmetics company to whom I thank daily since their Dipbrow Pomade became one of my holy grail essentials a couple years ago. Trust me, I’m not sponsored, but that stuff is killer. And their latest Modern Renaissance eye shadow palette? I’m lusting so hard that it’s on my Christmas list and it isn’t even August. So really, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I find myself every now and then on Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Instagram page, digging for makeup inspiration. I really struck gold earlier last week when I landed on their latest series of advertisements.
The campaign, which is beautifully editorial, features male models to highlight their new Moonchild Glow Kit. While these models, half of which are men of color, are regally accessorized with crowns and armor, the real focus is on their striking beauty. These men are straight up handsome, thanks to a little bit of photo retouching and a whole lot of Moonchild Glow Kit. Any man or woman who looks upon these photographs is highly at risk of also wanting their cheekbones to shine and shimmer all the way to the International Space Station.
I think it’s kind of awesome that in an industry so heavily focused on women, there’s room to accept all genders without too much thought towards their associated norms. Men have always held a share of the makeup market – check Instagram one more time and the hashtag “MUA,” aka makeup artist, will bring you to plenty of examples (barbiegutz and jcharlesbeauty are two of my favorites). While I usually save this phrase for ironic gestures only, it’s 2016! Anyone can wear makeup! Anastasia Beverly Hills’ portrayal of men wearing makeup is also beneficial for women. In the past, whenever men have been featured in cosmetic advertisements, they’ve served as a prop to accentuate the desirability of a woman’s appearance from a (presumably heterosexual) man’s perspective. The male model in the average beauty advertisement is there to say “Now that you’re using this product, men will want you!” Getting rid of that trope is a step towards reinforcing the fact that women aren’t wearing makeup to gain the approval of the opposite sex.
Beyond all those great things, the execution of Anastasia Beverly Hills’ campaign is elegantly progressive. It’s different, yes, but it doesn’t look out of place and the beauty of the made up men isn’t presented as a novelty. Looking at these advertisements, we see men in makeup as something that’s normalized. I came across a quote recently that struck me: “In a society that profits from your self-doubt, liking yourself is a rebellious act.” I think Anastasia Beverly Hills is one company that’s inching closer towards creating a society that profits from our self-acceptance too. No matter how we define our own gender, we all have the opportunity to do so with a face that’s contoured and highlighted by the gods themselves. Now isn’t that beautiful?
