What CoverGirl’s CoverBoy Means For Gendered Makeup

Iconic cosmetic brand CoverGirl has had a slew of famous faces as their brand ambassadors. On Tuesday, they announced their new, boundary-breaking spokesperson: James Charles. The 17-year-old makeup artist and beauty vlogger is the first-ever male ambassador--the first CoverBoy. The appointment has stirred up a lot of buzz and excitement about what this means for both the cosmetic industry and society as a whole.

THE SECRETS OUT.. so beyond excited to finally announce that I am the new face of #COVERGIRL and the first ever coverBOY. 😱 I am so thankful and excited and cannot wait to show you all what we have in store. Make sure you go check out @covergirl on Instagram for more info! AND YES I know I have lipstick on my teeth 😬😂 it was a looonnnnggg day.

See this Instagram video by @jcharlesbeauty * 41.8k likes

Christian Maness, STITCH’s very own Director of Photo Shoots, weighs in on being a male makeup artist and what this step means for the industry. Maness, a 20-year-old Journalism major from St. Louis, Missouri, developed an interest in makeup a few years ago and has been wearing it ever since. Hearing the news that a male makeup artist landed the CoverGirl gig made him scream out loud (literally). Maness told us about his experiences with makeup and his thoughts on what the new CoverBoy means for the future of gender norms and the cosmetic industry.

When did you first start experimenting with makeup?

I was probably around 16 years old when I realized, "Hey, I could cover up my teenage puberty face with foundation," and so I started to correct what I saw wrong with myself. Foundation led to primer which led to color correcting which led to contouring. It's an obsession that basically fed itself and the more I taught myself, the more interested I became in makeup and the more I wore makeup.

Did you ever feel uncomfortable about wearing makeup?

There were days when my confidence sort of faltered and I would think, "What do people think of a boy wearing makeup?" On those days, I'd wear sweatpants and no makeup and feel like crap. Eventually, I learned that that self doubt would only ruin something that made me happy, so I stopped caring about the opinions people might have about me.   

What was your initial reaction to hearing about James Charles as CoverGirl's ambassador?

Let me just say, eat your heart out Katy Perry. I audibly screamed when I first saw the news. I think this is a massive step in the right direction for a society that is moving towards the breakdown of gender norms. I feel like James is in a very powerful and influential position right now to remove the stigma from wearing makeup and in turn, to remove the stigma from being feminine. Femininity is beautiful and the expression of it does not belong to biological females alone. He can show people that anyone can express whatever they feel empowers them.  

Had you heard of James Charles before this?

I did know him! I pay a lot of attention to drag queens and drag culture (a lot of my inspiration comes from them) and I saw a collaboration between James and Willam Belli that made me interested in James and his makeup skills. I think he's a fantastic artist and a genuine person.  

How do you think this will impact the cosmetic industry?

This is massive for cosmetics. Absolutely massive. Recently I've seen the advent of makeup targeted towards men (spot correcting, concealer, color correction), but with James at the masthead of a world wide makeup company, I feel like there won't need to be "Men’s" or "Women’s" cosmetics. There will just be cosmetics for people in general and I think that's a really beautiful thing.

Do you think this will have a big effect on the visibility of male makeup artists?

I think it's going to throw a lot of light onto the fact that a lot of men have skills in this form of artistry and that it's not as gender locked as people have previously thought.       

Is there anything you're disappointed by or concerned about the new male ambassador?

There are some pitfalls that CoverGirl is going to have to watch out for. Mainly, they cannot play up or allude to the fact that James is gay. The last thing the gay community needs is more visible separation between them and anyone else. He is a person wearing makeup and performing an art. He is not a gay man wearing makeup. Drawing distinctions between identity and materialistic processes is a good way to ruin this progress that's being made.