THE celebrity beauty brand train has become standing-room only, including Rihanna’s Fenty, Rare Beauty from Selena Gomez, SKKN by Kim (Kardashian), and Haus Labs by Lady Gaga, to name just a few. Until recently, the majority of stars launching lines to help us glow up were women.

But after Pharrell Williams and Harry Styles’ early entries into skin care and cosmetics (with Humanrace in 2020 and Pleasing in 2021, respectively), a wave of male A-listers with good skin — and a lot of money to keep it that way — hoped to sell us their secrets over the past year.

The news releases in 2022 came in quick succession: Idris Elba and his wife, model Sabrina Dhowre Elba, launched an ethically sourced skin care routine from S’able Labs in July, then Travis Barker — perhaps influenced by his new bride Kourtney Kardashian — released CBD-infused skin care products via his wellness brand in September. In the following weeks, Jared Leto and entrepreneur Jonathan Keren debuted Twentynine Palms, working with Aesop’s Kate Forbes to deliver “products inspired by the majesty and myth of the desert,” while Brad Pitt announced his anti-aging collection Le Domaine, a collaboration with winemaker Marc Perrin — the co-owner of Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s vineyard — to harness the antioxidant power of their winery’s leftover grapes.

Some of these lines have been met with mixed responses, in part for their product pricing — Leto’s tiny eye cream is US$97, while Pitt’s antiaging serum costs a wrinkle-inducing US$370 — but they still arrived at a time when the market for men’s skin care products is soaring. In July, Future Market Insights reported that the sector’s global worth was around US$13.5 billion in 2022 and is estimated to reach US$28.3 billion by 2029. Last month, the AI-powered software and data analytics company Launchmetrics analyzed keywords around men’s and genderless beauty products and found that ad placements and social media mentions featuring those terms saw a 74% increase in Media Impact Value (MIV) in 2022 versus 2021.

“I think the rise of men’s beauty — especially backed by celebrities — is because there is a big margin in beauty right now. And there’s always been a big margin,” said David Yi, author and founder of digital beauty publication Very Good Light and personal care brand Good Light cosmetics.

And while beauty and skin care products are genderless — proven by a generation of popular male and nonbinary YouTube influencers, many now with their own successful brands — their marketing hasn’t been. Opening up the market to everyone, beyond men’s “grooming” products, has been both a social shift and a lucrative business strategy.

Though K-Beauty in South Korea has catered to men for over two decades, the West has been late to the party. Clinique for Men began ramping up its global campaign efforts in 2015, while Chanel spun off a new cosmetics line called Boy de Chanel in 2018. In 2021, Hims tapped baseball star Alex Rodriguez (one of its investors) to collaborate on a concealer stick.

Now, the culture around beauty has changed: “Genderless” collections are no longer considered radical — they’re expected. Celebrity-owned lines aren’t novel these days, either, as more continue to edge into a crowded field.

“Beauty is a hot market. People see what Rihanna has been able to do with Fenty ... and I think that a lot of celebrities want to jump onto that bandwagon because it is such a viable business,” Yi said. “But it’s also challenging, because there’re just so many brands.”

“The bar is high and getting higher,” said Jenny Bailly, executive beauty director of Allure, of what consumers have come to expect. “(With) the earliest celebrity beauty brand outings, I think it was a little more about their mystique,” she said, pointing to fragrances from stars like Elizabeth Taylor in the 1980s, which paved the way for the celebrity perfume bender of the 2000s.

Yi said there is an “air of skepticism” when it comes to high-profile launches from famous figures — “and rightfully so.”

“Consumers in today’s age want to know: What does the brand stand for ... Why is it necessary?”

Fenty was revolutionary for offering a line catering to 40 different skin tones. Jessica Alba launched Honest Beauty at a time when “clean beauty” products were increasingly in demand but still harder to find.

And if the collection isn’t groundbreaking, it needs to be good. Hailey Bieber’s Rhode — which promotes her highly imitated minimal, dewy look — has won industry accolades including an Allure Best in Beauty Award, as has Machine Gun Kelly’s crowd-pleasing nail polish line UN/DN LAQR. Williams’ simple, affordable skin care kits through Humanrace have received nods from Allure, Essence and Elle.

Humanrace and Pleasing, which launched as digital direct-to-consumer businesses, have partnered with major companies to bring their products to shop floors. Last fall, U.K. department store Selfridges launched its own exclusive edit of Humanrace products (Humanrace has also sold clothes through Adidas), while Pleasing partnered with American Express to open up holiday pop-up-shops in New York, London and Los Angeles.

While A-List status is sure to garner publicity around a new collection’s launch, aspects like quality, price points and brand authenticity will come into play once the starlight from celebrity association has faded.

Given how many celebrities have recently launched beauty and wellness brands, it’s unlikely that 2022 was the bookend of the era. (SD-Agencies)