Style

35 Photos Of Men Wearing Makeup Because Beauty Is For Everyone

For decades, the makeup aisle and vanity mirror was only bookmarked for women. Now, things are beginning to change. With the help of social media, photos of men wearing makeup are starting to take over our feeds and timelines, bold red lips and sharp cat eyes becoming accentuated with trimmed beards and baseball hats.

The beauty industry is slowly becoming genderless, opening up its palettes and lipstick options to anyone who has the curiosity or interest to play with its supplies. In the past couple of years there's been a bigger push to make more room at the table, creating space for people other than women to feel included and welcome in avenues dedicated to beauty.

In the past, a man might have dabbled cautiously in concealers to hide a rogue pimple or wipe away tired under-eye circles. Now, more and more guys feel open enough to try on a poppy red lip or stick on some faux-eyelashes, a fact that only makes the beauty industry more exciting, interesting, and inclusive. With more people creating and experimenting with cosmetics, there are now more opportunities to learn, grow ideas, and create more amazing beauty trends. Below are 35 photos of men wearing makeup, because beauty is for everyone.

by Marlen Komar

Manny Gutierrez

Gutierrez believes makeup is genderless and boys deserve just as much cosmetic recognition — and for good reason. Both his YouTube channel and Instagram are a wealth of makeup know-how, teaching his followers everything from creating the perfect smoky metallic eye to penciling on your dream eyebrows.

Bretman Rock

What 17-year-old Rock proves is that your gender doesn't matter when it comes to wearing, teaching, and vloging about makeup. He has over 6 million Instagram followers and a million YouTube subscribers for good reason: The guy knows how to work an eye shadow palette and contouring kit with the best of them.

Jeffree Star

If you don't know Star the makeup artist then you probably know Star the makeup line. Contributing lipsticks, eye shadows, and highlighters to people's makeup bags everywhere, he has turned himself into a makeup mogul. But, Star shares on his website, his love for palettes started young. "I discovered makeup at the age of 13 and have been obsessed with it ever since. I used to copy looks from fashion ads in my mother's Cosmopolitan magazines and steal her eye shadows." This just shows that makeup was never inherently a girls thing!

Marvyn Macnificent

A makeup artist in Berlin, Marvyn Macnificent enjoys the transformative power of palettes and paints. A quick cruise through his Instagram shows that whether he's dressing up for a weekend out or merely stepping outside of his apartment on a weekday, a bold lip belongs just as much on a man as it does on a woman.

James Charles

James Chalres is Covergirl's newest face, making history by being the brand's first male ambassador and an industry leader at shaking up confining stereotypes. His YouTube channel is chock full of subtle and avant garde makeup tutorials alike, showing his subscribers how to pull off glitter tears and Kim Kardashian-level eyelashes like it's NBD. Most of which is accentuated with his almost ever-present backwards baseball cap.

Angel Merino

Merino is a professional makeup artist based out of SoCal, with a snappy tagline of "Big dreams, small pores!" He's creating a shift in how our society approaches gender by proving that a highlighted cheekbone and long lashes don't have to be inherently feminine qualities — they can be enjoyed by everyone.

Victor Ramos

Ramos is a makeup artist and lifestyle guru, one that runs a blog touching on all things beauty and lifestyle. At first, his journey into the beauty world started with his eyebrows. He wanted to make them fuller, and then fell head-first into all things makeup. "As time progressed, I got better and brows turned into concealing, concealing turned into contouring and highlighting, and that turned into everything you see today," he shares on his blog. He's helping pave the path where it's no longer "unacceptable" for men to rock a contoured cheekbone or razor sharp eyebrow. The makeup aisle is now up for grabs.

Jean Francois

Francois is a French-Canadian makeup artist and YouTuber that will get in front of a camera and teach you how to create the boldest red lip or dewiest complexion. With a makeup brush in hand, he knocks down the barriers that a man can't teach you how to pull off the newest beauty trends.

Stahr Milan

Milan is a man with a lot of personality, which he uses to not only show his YouTube subscribers how to create an amazing eyebrow, but how to feel and acknowledge that you're beautiful. From creating Barbie glitter makeup tutorials to answering readers' personal relationship questions, Milan delivers more than just makeup: He also teaches acceptance and self-love.

Ben Le Douarin

Le Douarin is a French makeup artist that is particularly known for his colored beard. He breaks down gender barriers by teaching beauty lovers how to rock unexpected lipstick shades and creative eye shadow pairings, encouraging people to explore all the different facets of their personality.

Patrick Starr

Starrr's slogan is "makeup is a one size fits all," which can't be anymore true. On his channel he says he wants to see more boys in beauty, and what better way to see that change happen then to pave the way yourself? With nearly 2 million YouTube subscribers and over 2.5 million Instagram followers, it appears many people love what he has to say.

Gabriel Zamora

Known for his amazing blue hair and bold makeup tutorials, Zamora inspires many people with his out-of-the-box artistry. Not being shy stepping out with gold lipstick or flirty eyelashes, his makeup looks can inspire people in any gender to go and have fun with their palettes.

Edgar Martinez

A firm believer that makeup has no gender, this self-taught talent can teach you how to get your concealer looking right and how to perfect the art of putting fake eyelashes on yourself.

Colin Jay

Jay creates weekly videos on all things hair, beauty, and fashion, where he thinks of new ways to push boundaries with his eye shadow choices and express his creativity through all artistic avenues — not just traditionally male stamped ones.

Jesse Arreola

Arreola believes makeup is a genderless business, a motto that he adopts wholeheartedly as he uses his Instagram to create magic with a blending brush. Not only does he inspire people to be confident in their own skin and follow their passions outside of tired gender norms, but he also creates a flawless bold lip.

Spencer Clause

Claus is a 16-year-old makeup artist that's on his way to being an influencer. Among his bevvy of impressive makeup tutorials is an underlying message that glossy lips aren't just for women to learn and copy. A guy can benefit from a perfectly applied pout just as much as a female.

Miguel Ghalichi

A makeup artist residing in Florida, Ghalichi not only will tell you which products are the best for your beauty needs, but will also create such stunning full-face tutorials that you'll trip over your feet running towards your own makeup case.

Jake-Jamie Ward

A male beauty vlogger, Ward will teach you the subtler art of makeup. While he's not afraid of a bold pop of color, you can look to him to teach you how to blend your concealer flawlessly and bring out a more natural looking face. If you always wanted to know which highligthers are best and how to get your eyebrows just so, he's your man.

Zachary Edward

Creating a setting where makeup is considered gender-neutral, Edward shares tutorials that would look amazing on any person. From helping his subscribers pull off a goth glam look to teaching them how to strobe, Edwards helps to show that anyone is open to interact with makeup.

Rowan Young

Young is a male makeup lover that turned his interest into a talent. His Instagram is full of matte lipsticks and incredible eye shadow designs, changing people's preconceived notions about makeup and who it belongs to.

Arabia Felix

Felix is a Middle Eastern Visual/Makeup Artist that not only specializes in bold lip colors but also gender bending. He helps to break the stigma attached to men enhancing their appearance with the help of shadows and creams, and instead turns his looks into works of art. Ones that he encourages anyone can create at home.

Badboosh

Badboosh is a makeup artist by day and drag queen by night, one that champions a glamorous makeup spirit that isn't biased between genders. Male or female, there's enough room for everyone when it comes to faux-eyelashes.

Ben J. Pierce

Pierce is an actor and musical artist — one that wears eye catching makeup that is no different from what his female counterparts wear. While in the past having men rock a colored shadow or a dark liner would either be seen rock n' roll or taboo, nowadays it's just an expression of self. If you're in the mood to wear it you wear it, if you're not you don't.

Paul Zedrich

Zedrich is a makeup guru from Vancouver that believes a person can choose to express themselves however they see fit. If that includes Barbie pink lipstick, then have at it.

Gord George Milward

Gord George is a professional makeup artist from the UK that can help you put your most glamorous foot forward. With his glitter-heavy, smokey eye YouTube tutorials and his fun penchant towards the dramatic, Gord George shows gender has nothing to do with yielding a makeup brush.

Will Cook

From showing you how to make fierce Khloe Kardashian like talon nails to breaking down 35 plus swatches in a heavy eye shadow palette, Cook is no amateur when it comes to cosmetics. He helps bring an equality to makeup one video at a time.

John George

A makeup artist from Paris, George will show you how to do insanely creative Halloween masks out of makeup one day, and then follow up on how to pull off a metallic lip the next.

Wesley Carter

While in the past makeup was marketed at men in terms of hygiene and acne (if at all,) people like Carter are helping to change that language. From rocking rust-heavy eyes to a glossy black lip, he's here to slay.

Ryan Aures

Aures is a beauty king in his own right, and, in his own words, he's a "boy that could never be defined." Rocking a beard and the hottest beauty trends, he's helping to move the idea of "makeup for men" away from the minority and into the accepted mainstream.

Cade Jones

Jones is known to wear a dewy, no-makeup makeup look one day, and then full on glam the next, contributing to the narrative that certain beauty trends are only acceptable for certain occasions — and specific genders.

(Photo by Eric Espana)

Anthony Parisi

Looking fierce in a beard and fake eyelashes, Parisi loves the transformative power of cosmetics. His Instagram curation perfectly shows how the makeup aisle isn't earmarked for only women — a man can look just as great in a shimmery lip if he so chooses.

Jacob Stella

Jacob Stella is a 19-year-old self taught makeup artist that makes makeup videos to teach anyone interested how to pull off the latest and hottest beauty trends. When you watch him explain the ins and outs of contouring or lining a lip, there's no difference between his skill and a woman's.

Alex Martinez

Martinez is a self-taught beauty blogger that helps spread the message that makeup should be accepted and celebrated on everyone — not just a specific group of people.

Tynan Sinks

Not only is Sinks a beauty columnist at xoJane, ELLE, Nylon, and Racked, but he's also a real-life beauty guru. Not only can he tell you how to store your plethora of beauty supplies in a small bathroom, but he can also rattle off how to make your liquid lipstick more comfortable, proving he has some major makeup chops.

Daniel Valdez

Valdez can inspire you to get creative and loud with your makeup like in this example, or teach you how to do a razor sharp cat eye. Whatever the inspiration you need, you no longer have to limit yourself by only looking to female beauty lovers to lead the way. We know have the likes of Valdez and his contemporaries pitching equally amazing ideas.

135