Male makeup brand War Paint is being accused of "toxic masculinity" in its ad

10 May 2019, 17:12

By Nicky Idika

People are calling out cosmetics company War Paint after they said they couldn't find a "brand formulated specifically for men's skin". Internet users are pointing out that many men already use cosmetics and the problematic nature of marketing everyday items to men, specifically.

A makeup brand for men, called War Paint, is being criticised on the internet after the company posted an ad for the product on Twitter.

In a recent tweet, the company teased the product by saying it "couldn't find a makeup brand formulated specifically for men's skin" and people had a lot of THOUGHTS about that.

The criticism of the product's marketing taps into a wider conversation about gendering products that don't necessarily need to be gendered. For example, the difference between men's razors and women's razors in supermarkets usually comes down to the packaging and marketing of each product. Not an inherent difference between quality or how one would use the item.

People had a lot to say about the concept of "makeup for men" and the tone of the ad.

And there were plenty of jokes about marketing everyday items specifically to men.

Folks also had questions about the difference between men and women's skin.

On War Paint's About Us page on their website, the company laid out what they say are the differences between men and women's skin.

"Men's skin is naturally tougher, the skin on a man's face is 25% thicker than a woman's, men’s skin also has bigger pores and a lot more of them which produces more sebum than a woman. The difference in men’s skin to woman’s skin is caused by hormones, specifically testosterone."

The creator of War Paint took to Twitter on Friday to address his reason for starting the brand, presumably because of all the attention the marketing was receiving.

He explained that he suffers from body dysmorphia because of childhood bullying and that he started the brand to create something he felt "confident" in wearing.

What do you guys think? Is a man's skin so fundamentally different to a woman's that there is a need for cosmetics specifically formulated and marketed to them?