The male beauty industry gets a win as L'Oreal hires first male spokesmodel

The UK is finally living up to the States in terms of diversity within the beauty industry. We’re not talking women’s cosmetics either.

Male beauty is a growing sector fuelled by Instagram stars and vloggers who aim to show that make-up isn’t just for girls.

One such face has just scored a major win for make-up loving men. Jake-Jamie Ward – known on YouTube as The Beauty Boy – has been snapped up by L’Oreal UK to help diversify their audience and appeal to more men.

The YouTuber came to the cosmetics giant’s attention after launching the viral #MakeupIsGenderless campaign. Believing that everyone has a right to have fun with their face, Jake will now be L’Oreal’s first male spokesperson with the task of promoting products including a new foundation and concealer palette.

He will also star in campaign images that will appear in major UK retailers including Boots and Superdrug.

After suffering from acne as a teenager, Jake began to use make-up to cover up his flaws. Now, his male make-up tutorials are watched by over 16,000 people.

“I clearly remember standing in the make-up aisle being surrounded by advertisements featuring only women and initially this made me feel wrong and ashamed of myself for even entertaining the idea of using cosmetics to boost my own self-esteem,” he told Metro. “I very quickly realised that I wasn’t alone and that I wanted and needed to make a change to the industry.”

This follows US L’Oreal’s similar move in January when Darnell Bernard became the company’s first male American spokesmodel. A couple of weeks ago, Rimmel broke barriers, hiring Lewys Ball as their first male face.

Jake believes that this is just the start of the male beauty revolution, telling Mic: “Awareness is the key. I think we’ll look back in five years and say, ‘I can’t believe that was ever an issue.'”

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