F E AT U R E
MAKEUP FOR EVERYONE How the beauty aisle is evolving into a safer space for all genders By Lora Grady Like most preteen girls growing up in the suburbs, I went to the mall with my friends at least once a week. But as the biggest, tallest girl in the group, I wasn’t always able to shop at the same clothing stores. I’d hold my friends’ purses while they tried things on, feeling like an outsider. When we stopped by the makeup aisle of the drugstore, though, everything changed. Mascara, blue eyeshadow and Lip Smackers didn’t have any size tags. I loved poring over all the different textures and shades, and I experimented endlessly. Makeup made me feel like I could express myself in a way that my clothing couldn’t. Today, an entire wave of young millennials and Gen Z-ers are proving that there are no rules when it comes to makeup— and all are welcome. Toronto-based model, actor and TV personality Mina Gerges grew up in Abu Dhabi. He attended 20
an all-boys boarding school, where he was taught how to “be a man” from a young age—something that never felt right to him. His first experience with makeup was when he was eight years old. “I have a specific memory of this red lipstick my mom wore. I looked at her and thought, ‘This is what beauty means to me,’” he says. “When she wasn’t home, I would put it on and look in the mirror. It felt right.” After moving to Canada at age 12, Gerges would go to Sephora with his girlfriends. He pretended like he was there for them, even though he was really looking for himself—but he didn’t have the confidence to go for it, for fear of being judged. The moment things started to change, he says, was when he fully embraced his sexuality. “As I learned to accept myself, I realized that makeup is not a gender thing.” Support on his social media gave Mina the confidence
to keep going and in 2019, Gerges worked with Sephora on the brand’s We Belong to Something Beautiful campaign. “Makeup is such a beautiful and powerful way to make a political statement. For me, it has been a way to say, here I am: I’m openly gay, and I’m Egyptian, and I’m comfortable with who I am. I’m creating my own rules around how I’m going to express myself,” he says.
“I’m comfortable with who I am. I’m creating my own rules around how I’m going to
express myself” Michelle Silverstein, a Torontobased makeup artist and hair stylist, grew up in the dance and theatre
COSMETICSMAG.COM | WINTER 2021
