Gen Z is Blowing Open the Market for Men’s Makeup

By: Lisa Du
Source: Bloomberg Businessweek (July 11, 2019)

When Yota Nakamura’s girlfriend said he should spruce up his look, he went shopping. The
22-year-old university student in Osaka purchased toner, moisturizer, and a tinted face
primer—yes, makeup—made by a Japanese brand called Fiveism x Three. Now Nakamura, a
neuroscience student, is thinking ahead to next year, when he’ll start a job as a consultant in
Tokyo. He wants to make sure he has the right foundation and concealer lined up. “When I
start working, I’ll be meeting with clients a lot, so I think I would like to use makeup,” he says.
“Maybe it would be embarrassing to say you’re using lipstick, but things like face primer or
foundation? No one would think anything of it.”

Nakamura is on the leading edge of Generation Z, the postmillennial cohort that’s grown up in
an era when the boundaries of gender and masculinity are less rigid than ever. He’s not the first
of his friends to use makeup. For several years in parts of Asia, guys have been dabbing on
color cosmetics and buying products such as BB cream—or beauty balm, a tinted moisturizer.
Now such products are slowly catching on with men in big cosmetics markets such as the U.S.
and China, creating a potentially massive opportunity for beauty companies.

Established names such as L’Oréal, Shiseido, and Estée Lauder, as well as smaller brands and
startups, are beginning to develop and market color cosmetics aimed specifically at men as
attitudes around gender evolve. “Make no mistake, Generation Z will make men’s makeup a
thing, and the older consumers will follow,” says Yasushi Ishibashi, chairman of Acro Inc.,
which developed the Fiveism brand for parent Pola Orbis Holdings Co. “For the older
generations there’s still some resistance,” he says. “They think it’s embarrassing, so you need
to give them that push.”

$1.14 billion: Estimated value of global men’s makeup market in 2019, a fraction of
the $71 billion in cosmetics sales

Almost two decades after the term “metrosexual” entered the lexicon, young men are growing
up surrounded by male entertainers and online influencers who have millions of Instagram
followers and treat makeup as just another part of their daily grooming regimen. So while
men’s use was once confined mostly to artists trying to look pretty or provocative—think
Prince and David Bowie—it’s now becoming mainstream for some men in jobs where
appearance counts. French President Emmanuel Macron had a makeup-related scandal in 2017,
but it developed from his spending more than $10,000 a month on a makeup artist at taxpayers’
expense, not the fact that he was wearing the products.

Still, it’s a fledgling business: Market researcher JUV Consulting pegs the value of the global
men’s makeup market at about $1.14 billion in 2019, a smidgen of the $71.1 billion cosmetics
industry. “We believe that this is a fairly reasonable estimate and may actually lean slightly
conservative,” says Jacob Chang, head of research at JUV, which specializes in Gen Z
marketing.

Beauty companies are hopeful male makeup sales could follow the trajectory of men’s skin-
care products. That market, which includes moisturizers and facial cleansers, is forecast by
Euromonitor to grow 24%, to $5 billion, in the next five years. While younger consumers may
be breaking down traditional ideas about masculinity, megabrands remain careful about their
sales pitch. Their male products aren’t about heavily painted faces or making men look like
they’ve had a complete makeover. Instead, they typically come in neutral colors in only a few
shades. The idea is to ease men into the idea of makeup by helping them improve their
appearance—slightly.

Chanel SA launched its Boy de Chanel line for men last fall with two skin-care products,
foundation, an eyebrow brush, and lip balm. Pretty tame. They’re priced at the higher end of
the market—$40 for an eyebrow pencil, for example. In March, Shiseido Co. began limited
sales in Japan of men’s BB cream, which comes in light gray packaging and costs about $12
for a 30-gram container. The company declined to give sales numbers. “As we feel out the
men’s makeup market going forward, we’ll also decide on new product development,” says
spokeswoman Jun Sato.

Some brands are offering products that men can wear, but it’s not necessarily “men’s makeup.”
New York-based Milk Makeup’s YouTube clips use androgynous men and women to advertise
its Blur Stick foundation with slogans such as “blur the lines.” And Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty
brand, owned by LVMH, sells a Gentlemen’s Fenty Face set that pulls together five
complexion-focused items from its regular line.

Japan’s Fiveism is the furthest along in the pursuit of male customers, with more than 80
products—from eyeshadow to nail polish—selling for $18 to $50. Ishibashi says part of the
motivation for releasing such a large line was that he wanted to be at the vanguard of the
industry and already established when competitors inevitably expand in the segment. “It’s the
changing times,” he says.

Attitudes have shifted even in the short time since Frank Juarez, a 23-year-old from Los
Angeles, started using the products at age 16 to feel more confident, he says. At the time, he’d
deny wearing makeup if anyone asked. No longer. “It’s becoming more and more acceptable
now,” Juarez says. On an average day he draws in his eyebrows, adds a little bronzer to define
his face, and curls his eyelashes. Juarez says once-female-focused grooming trends are catching
on with men in L.A., regardless of their sexual orientation. “They are microblading straight
men now,” he says, referring to the use of semi-permanent tattoos to create fuller-looking
eyebrows. “Nowadays you can’t bully someone for being themselves,” he says. “It doesn’t
work that way.” —With Grace Huang

Discussion:
Please analyse this article using the concept on Consumer Motivation and Personality (Chapter
2).
1. Consumers have both innate and acquired needs. Give examples on men’s makeup of each
kind of need and show how the same purchase can serve to fulfil either or both kinds of
needs.
2. Why are consumers’ needs and goals constantly changing? Explain how needs and goal in
market for men’s makeup change.
3. What factors influence the formation of new goals? What factors influence most for men in
Jakarta?
4. Find two examples of ads that are designed to arouse male consumer needs on makeup and
discuss their effectiveness.