The success of makeup company, MMUK Man, speaks volumes about the growing interest of men to wear make-up. Nearly five years since British young entrepreneur, Alex Dalley, launched the brand, the said cosmetic business is now reaching almost a £1-million turnover a year and helping change how society perceives male grooming.
Redefining Traditional Male Grooming
According to a survey by a marketing communications company as reported on The Huffington Post, more men from the U.S. and U.K. feel pressured to beautify themselves. The study researchers asked 1,000 men, and make-up products were among the topmost items these respondents owned.
Male beauty blogger and founder of the #makeupisgenderless Twitter campaign, Jack Jamie-Ward told The Telegraph, "Having to put up with a serious skin condition every single day is emotionally draining for sufferers, and the requisite confidence they need can be generated through cosmetics."
Because of various skin conditions suffered by men, Joe.co.uk enumerates the best selling products of MMUK Man according to Alex Dalley include concealers, foundation and beard fillers.These products are used by their customers to cover skin problems.
In fact on a Mail Online article, Alex started MMUK Man because of his own acne problems. When he was still in college, he stole his mom's foundation to hide his facial breakouts. He was amazed by the spotless result and after also using his girlfriend's make-up products, he decided it was time to invest in his own set. With the limited cosmetics available for men, he, with his uncle Stuart Dalley, then opened MMUK Man in 2011. The make-up brand aims to provide options for men who are looking to conceal their flaws and enhance their features.
The Existing Stigma of Men Using Makeup
However, in spite of the growing sales of male make-up products, there is still a stigma in society that using cosmetics makes men feminine. Make-up brands target more than half of their products to women, if not all of their items. Naturally, this creates the normalcy that make-up is only for women. It is for a man to buy make-up on a store for himself and why most customers of MMUK Man hide their identities when ordering.
"Twenty or 30% of our customers still want their names removed from parcels and their products put in plain packaging. It's definitely a journey to acceptance," Alex Dalley told Mirror.
MMUK Man helps in the fight against gender inequality by providing a choice for men that they can also use makeup like women do. It describes its company as "masculine, captivating and unparalleled," stressing that using makeup does not change the identity of a man, whatever he labels himself as.
In the next few years as the company continues to increase its sales, other cosmetic brands are likely to follow through with their own masculine lines. Do you believe that make-up should be genderless? Share us your comments below.
