DID YOU KNOW THAT CELEBRITY BEAUTY BRANDS ARE KILLING THE INDUSTRY?

There’s a long list of celebrities delivering beauty and skin care lines that no one asked for yet here we are, and Evan Mock is the latest addition. Evan Mock has become a cultural icon who we love for his contributions to skating as well as modelling and acting, but, genuine question, why go into beauty?

From Brad Pitt to Jared Leto, Evan Mock has joined the long list of male celebrities whose beauty brands are breaking barriers to open up a conversation on men’s beauty or pushing for a gender-neutral perspective on the industry. This is not a personal attack, but with 0 industry experience, it’s fair to question whether these efforts are genuine or if these celebrities are just sticking their name on a product that benefits off a couple of buzzwords.

The pipeline is simple: it all started with celebrity perfumes in the early 2000s. It was in 2004 when JLo launched Glow, the first celebrity perfume, which ensued a slew of celebrities selling a fantasy to their fans that they could smell just like them. From Britney Spears to Ariana Grande, everyone was putting out fragrances. It’s a clear choice, considering anything celebrity endorsed will highly likely end up in massive profits. Even now that the celebrity perfume craze has died down, companies that produce fragrances are still enlisting celebrities for their ad campaigns – think of Dior Sauvage, one of the highest selling perfumes, using Johnny Depp as its face.

Now, celebrities have found a new niche: the beauty industry. One of the first beauty brands launched by a celebrity dates back to 1994 when supermodel Iman launched Iman Cosmetics, a sensical business move considering Iman’s career is based on her beauty. As the beauty and skincare industry has grown over the years, so has celebrity involvement, from Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop to David Beckham’s House 99.

While some are considered flops that have already been discontinued, others have flourished, including Kylie Cosmetics, a brand that started by distributing the Lip Kits in line with Kylie Jenner’s personal branding. Another uber successful example is that of Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, which quite literally shook up the industry by becoming the most inclusion beauty brand with, initially, 40 different shades of foundation.

Turning millionaires into billionaires, allegedly, the beauty market has peaked the interest of many celebrities since, even if beauty does not necessarily fit their own brand. Kind Science by Ellen Degeneres, Idris and Sabrina Elba ’s S’ABLE Labs, Hailey Bieber’s Rhode skincare line, Pharrell’s own Humanrace and most recently, Evan Mock’s Good Weird are just a few examples from an already saturated list. But with all these new names coming up with their own ranges, we wonder what they actually know about beauty and skin care? Or rather, how involved are they in the making of these products?

In a recent episode of the podcast Chicks In The Office, beauty guru Jeffree Star was asked to rate celebrity makeup brands, to which he called out Ariana Grande’s r.e.m. for not even being owned by the singer. This opened up a wider conversation about the involvement of celebrities in their own products. While some celebrities have shown themselves inside labs, testing out products and actually working behind the scenes, others not so much. It seems as though certain celebrities are only using their name to promote a range of products they had no previous experience with, which can either lead them to either massive profits or terrible PR when fans receive bad quality products.

A specific facet of the beauty industry which has been taken over by celebrities is that of the men’s or gender-neutral sector. Massive efforts have been made to show men that their involvement in beauty does not need to end at after-shave, creating a more inclusive environment that is also questioning why beauty products are gendered in the first place. While this progression should be encouraged, does this necessarily mean every male celebrity needs to have their own brand that profits off this current market trend?

Afterall, what does Harry Styles really know about the effects of antioxidants and amino acids on different skin types? Can Jared Leto tell us how kaolin powder is detoxifying? Can Brad Pitt explain to us about the science behind GSM10® and ProGR3® used in his £272 serum?

While some celebrity skin care and beauty lines actually make sense for them, and have seen its owner and founder being involved in the creation of its products, others simply feel like any other brand except it has a celebrity’s name slapped on the packaging for some good cash turnover. At the end of the day, we must ask ourselves whether we would rather consume from actual beauticians and skin care experts who have worked tirelessly to make a name for themselves in the industry or the 9-year-old North West whose beauty trademarks have already been filed for her.