war paint

 

Struggling with blemishes or dark under-eye circles?
See how War Paint can help: https://t.co/X0xaeIOBsV pic.twitter.com/1TkWzye2FE

— War Paint (@warpaintmufm) May 8, 2019

So when they do decide to sell makeup for men then they decide to go toxic masculinity all the way. Really? In 2019? War Pain managed to rack up more than two million views in a video and that's not a small feat for a makeup brand with 500 followers on twitter. My beef? That they decided to demonize make up at the same time that they attempted to sell it. How? By making sure that the sissy boys would not buy their brand. You see, War Paint is for the dudebro. The gay man that only watches Bromo porn. For the dude who just happens to suck dick and take it up the ass. But he's no sissy. He would not be caught dead with a pink case of concealer. You see, the guy who wears War Paint has tattoos and a beard and a.... skull ring? Trust me, I have nothing (NOTHING) against half naked big bruisers covered in tattoos, but using them to sell makeup? Really?

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@enfantsauvage_ using our Bronzer 👌

A post shared by War Paint (@warpaintformen) on Nov 16, 2018 at 2:41am PST

War Paint is for men. REAL men, you know. Not little sissies. They go as fas as to say that the 'other' makeup is bad for men, who have tougher skin, and that the average beauty product in the market can be harmful in the long run. Yeah, men do have thicker skin than women and produce more sebum -see testosterone-but there's no science behind the assertion that 'other' products can be harmful. Very thinly veiled femmephobia and homophobia right in your face. What they don't say is that traditional cosmetics come in 'girly' packages and no 'real' man would be caught dead leaving Sephora with a bunch of pastel-colored boxes and tools.

I call bullshit. Chanel and Tom Ford have had makeup for men for YEARS, literally, and most makeup brands even thought they heavily market towards women, are used by all the beauty vloggers you find every seven seconds on YouTube. Only problem, most of these 'influencers' tend to be slightly or right on Fem or non-binary. And that seems to be a big no-no for WarPaint. By claiming they make makeup for men because women have makeup for women does nothing for gender neutrality. If anything, it seems counterintuitive. Both men and women use make up because they want to look good. That's the final and common goal: being perceived as beautiful. Men do not need their own products: men need to know how to apply the products so the desired effect is achieved.

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@sean9pratt using his “Foundation and Sponge Set”, have you got yours? All the modern man needs to look and feel his best.

A post shared by War Paint (@warpaintformen) on Dec 10, 2018 at 3:59am PST

Do I think it's a good idea to come up with makeup for men? Hell yeah. I need to learn to work that concealer yesterday. Do I agree with their (toxic) rabidly masculine (and overwhelmingly white) approach? Not really. I bet they would have done much better have they included some less dudebro dudes in their marketing and maybe one or ten men or color and it would have been more balanced. Will I buy their products? Maybe, if they sell them at Sephora or Ulta, with all the other pastel-packed beauty products. I don't need to be assured of my masculinity while applying foundation or bronzer. I know I am a man. I just wanna look better. Be the best that I can be, like in the army.

XOXO

P.S. nothing my man would ever do, be it drag, make up, gender neutral clothing, camping it up to high heavens, crying (or any other thing considered verboten to men by a society obsessed with a senseless binary) will make me think of him being less-than. My man will always be my man when we are both naked. And that's what matters to me.