By Erin McCurry
Makeup artists, drag queens, and beauty gurus. It’s no longer only females running the beauty industry. Jeffree Star, Patrick Starr, Reuben de Maid and Lucky Martinez are some of the many men (yes, men!) of the industry. They are here to teach us their makeup skills and tricks online.
More and more guys are becoming prominent in makeup and the beauty industry. They all started small and some now have more than a million subscribers on YouTube with their videos about beauty routines, reviews and their lives.
Charlotte Jimmons, cosmetology instructor at Fullerton College, has seen more change in the beauty industry than anyone over her years here at Fullerton.
“When I started here we had maybe one guy in the entire program, then it grew a little bit each year, and now we have at least one or two in each class you walk into.”
They have gone through bullying, stereotypes, criticism. They haven’t given up on themselves and haven’t wanted to quit.
Lucky Martinez is one of these new wave of beauty gurus. He has been doing Youtube for about a year now.
“I had to gain enough courage and confidence to come out to my parents and then eventually start wearing makeup out in front of my peers and strangers,” said Martinez. “This big step was the hardest for me to overcome.”
Martinez has been recognized by companies for his skills, goes to beauty events, and also hit 45 thousand followers on instagram.
James Charles as a Covergirl and creating Sister’s Apparel, Jeffree Star creating his own makeup company and becoming one of the most known YouTubers, Patrick Starr having collab after collab with MAC cosmetics. Though all of the stereotyping and hardships, these men are doing something they love and are amazing at.
Though, no matter how well known they are now, they all had to start somewhere.
“It is mainly a female industry so they have had to work harder to get in then we would,” said Becca Wyneken, an Ulta employee. “They will push until they reach their goal and then will go farther than that. They won’t stop,”
A lot of these men started by watching YouTube, some started by going to events, and some were introduced to makeup by friends.
Lucky was introduced to lipstick at VidCon and he claims it was then he fell in love with makeup. He then started his YouTube channel and promoted himself on social media.
Some people assume that it is easier being a male makeup artist or hairstylist, saying that based on their rarity alone, they’d be in high demand. This is not that far off the mark.
“I noticed at salons female clients would ask for the males more than females and most of the time they do get a better tip,” said Jimmons.
These men have the strongest personality and outstanding work ethic. When they walk through the streets you notice them for how high they hold themselves. They’re comfortable in who they are and won’t let any of us bring them down.
