ABOUT
-Rifat Syed
Makeup for Men Although the entire concept may come across as something new or unheard of, it’s actually something that has been practiced since a long time. From ancient Egyptians with dramatic eye makeup till the British warriors who contoured their faces with blue, the idea of men applying makeup has always been around. In fact, in South Korea, all pop stars have been wearing eyeliner and eyeshadow since ages. Girls are still shamed for putting on ‘too much makeup’, so accepting that men can do it too becomes too much for some people to take. But this hasn’t stopped men. In fact, if anything, it has encouraged them to go bolder and more dramatic with their makeup. So, in this week’s issue, we stand with the Beauty Boys and their bold looks. More power to them.
Rifat Syed & Aayushi Parekh
Kinjal Mehta & Suraj Subramanian
Notes from our classmates
On The House
A small note by our editors
Editorial
CONTENTS
Rifat Syed & Ilhaam Motlekar
Aayushi Parekh
Handpicked recommendations of the best books, movies and shows ever!
Ink Recommends
News at its best!
Much Ado
EDITORIAL
-Aayushi Parekh
Glitter cut crease, blinding highlight, on-point contour, he has it all Wait… He? Yes, he! For the people who religiously follow makeup bloggers on all the social media, it is pretty normal for them to see these gorgeous guys wear makeup and pull it off like it’s no big deal! And why should it even be? Why is it okay for girls to wear makeup, while when men wear it they are judged as if they are doing something very wrong. Don’t be fooled when you hear the word ‘boy’, these boys have amazing talents which will leave you awestruck. Many girls in the same industry tend to play safe with their makeup and believe in the ‘natural’ look. Although these guys are anything but natural. Their looks range from blue eyeshadows and pink lips to character recreations which are bang on point. Even in this progressive world, there are people who find them gross because they wear makeup. They seem to have no concern about their feelings when they post their hatred on social media. “Stop making those videos!!! Makeup is for women!!” “Why has YouTube not put a ban on these gay men still?” “Don’t try to deceive the world like this!! Men cannot wear makeup!” “Ugly” – These were some of the most decent comments picked from their videos. There are no rules written anywhere where it says that boys cannot wear makeup. It is the choice that these boys and girls make for themselves and nobody has the right to stop them from doing this. Makeup is not an identity that is given to a woman. Makeup is a form of art and anybody is allowed to practice it just the way any other art is. That’s enough of talking about the hate. These bloggers have millions of followers on YouTube! YouTuber Jeffree Star has a whopping 4.7 million followers and a total of 5 billion views on his channel! A million likes on each of their videos are pretty normal for them. Girls and boys all around the world are inspired by these artists and show them, immense love. Not only the people but also the brands are appreciating their work. Maybelline, the very famous cosmetic brand company recently launched their very first campaign with beauty boy MannyMua. The brand Covergirl recently made 17-year-old boy James Charles their very first male brand face. With almost 10 boy bloggers with more than a million subscribers, the number is just increasing by the day. Recently, a 10-year-old boy known by the handle @makeupbyjack went viral on social media for his groundbreaking skills in makeup. You wish you had those skills at that age? This issue is about praising all these men who have the courage to go all out and break the gender-specific norms of the society. Because they deserve it. Hope you enjoy this issue and encourage these men with all your heart!
BRANDED BOYS
ON THE HOUSE
Where brand neutral zon en, there cific. Many The brand Milk ma Beverly Hills debu blogger and YouTub Armani released a
There is an entire sep men. Several beau
Another highly rec The brand has now tion of poise and so produces makeu than 20 countries. C what women have specifically for m duced in labs in natural looking eye
ARK, a British ski The makeup indu has become one o influenced and in videos which hav boundaries, no st Makeup brands h Maybe not the socie
ds are considered, the industry is moving ahead and becoming more open towards nes. Instead of focusing on the traditional thought of emphasising makeup for womis a revolution with the introduction of neutral products which are not gender spemajor beauty brands are looking into the market with a gender neutral approach. akeup which was launched in January, adopted a genderless approach. Anastasia uted its Moonchild Glow Kit campaign featuring male models. Sephora teamed with be sensation Patrick Starr on collaboration for its Formula X nail polish line. Giorgio range of tinted lip balms with the tagline “For HIM/HER” as a part of its fall makeup collection.
parate makeup brand called “FORMEN” which has products specially designed for uty products such as concealer, CC creams and other skin products are available which are formulated towards men’s beauty.
commended and popular brand is Tom Ford, well known for its stylish men’s apparel. stepped into the makeup world with products for men and has become the definiophistication, a job no other brand could do better. Menaji is another brand which up for men. It was founded by a celebrity makeup artist in 2000 and is sold in more Considering the fact that men have facial oil which is 20 % thicker and is more than e, they have developed an Anti-Shine powder and other similar products which are men’s skin. MYEGO offers natural skincare products for men. These products are pron the U.K. Products like their eye liners & eye pencils are well known for giving a very line. Jack Black, another brand, is well known for its lip balm. The lip balm is packed with Vitamin C, cocoa butter and jojoba oil.
incare brand propagates the treatment of skin by using active natural ingredients. ustry has grown tremendously. With the introduction of newer ideas and concepts, it of the biggest industries that exist today. People from all over the world are getting turn are influencing others by blogging, releasing makeup tutorials and other short ve inspired many men to be who they want and find their true identity. There are no tereotypes. We live in a world where women and men both are getting empowered. have played a vital role by endorsing & putting effort in becoming gender neutral. ety, but the makeup world has definitely opened up doors to lots of equal possibilities and opportunities for both men and women.
-Kinjal Mehta
PAINTED MEN OF THE GLORIOUS PAST
We often asso glance at a man men has a strong a hancement. While it and well-document of this In 2010 The Unive years ago. The te sels– housing yello fresh this mixture wou es. At a time where
Even in the civilised up. Eye makeup is s tians are known for red ochre lip stai tians also used green Sky and Sun, Horus. It before leaving for w tiona Midway through the men were renowned applied to cheeks, a
During the reign of E abundance of bea Although male gro reign of Queen Vic gious values unque men who wear makeu considered an abo
Due to the stigma
In a society that is e increasingly liber an interesting one, made in the f
ociate men with femininity. For this reason, you may be forgiven for taking a second wearing it. While it may seem unusual, the use of aesthetic enhancing cosmetics by and well-documented place in history, whether it be for expressive or aesthetic ent may seem unusual, the use of aesthetic enhancing cosmetics by men has a strong ted place in history, whether it be for expressive or aesthetic enhancement. The aim s article is to briefly inform you of the use of cosmetics by men throughout the ages. ersity of Bristol found evidence suggesting Neanderthals wore makeup over 50,000 eam unearthed seashells in Spain that later revealed themselves to be makeup vesow and red pigments mixed with a reflective black material. They claimed that when uld have created a stunning black surface, undoubtedly used for cosmetic purpose men were the ‘hunter gatherers’ it is undeniable that the use of cosmetics did not affect their natural masculinity. d Egyptian society, males’ masculinity was never compromised by their use of makesaid to have been used within their culture as early as 4000BC. The Ancient Egypr their regal and elaborate eye enhancement. Furthermore, It was not uncommon for ins to be applied, accompanied by rouged cheeks and dramatic highlights. Egypn eye decoration. The green pigment was believed to induce or evoke the God of t was not uncommon within ancient Egyptian society for a man to beautify his eyes work or an evening meal – the most famous example being King Tutankhamen. Addially, the length and colour of one’s nails often indicated social status within society. 1st century AD, Men using makeup was commonplace within Roman society. Roman for their cosmetic use – powder was used for lightening the complexion, rouge was and nails were painted using a blend of pig fat and blood…a look that would be referred to as ‘gender bending’ within contemporary society. Elizabeth I, men’s grooming was very popular. Makeup included. Men partook in an auty treatments including the use of egg and honey masks to smooth away wrinkles. ooming remained popular for a time after, it faded into the background during the ctoria I. The Church held much more power than it does within today’s society. Reliestionably played a part in the decline of male cosmetic use, and may explain why up face ridicule – even within modern society. During the Victorian era makeup was omination and to be the work of The Devil. Queen Victoria I also declared that the use of cosmetics and makeup was vulgar and impolite. a against men who use makeup during this period, the link between vanity and the feminine associations of homosexuality may have formed. ever evolving, gender roles become blurred and our outlook upon fashion becomes ral- makeup included. Our brief journey into the history of male cosmetics has been however, I believe there are areas untouched and many more developments to be future that will make our makeup history more exciting than it has ever been before.
-Suraj Subramanian
Make up all there is, ever was or will eve the rough brown canvas lightens up That’s the make u As I look at its reflec he is the masterpie
er be with the smooth strokes of my brush, p with the spirit of the light crimson; up of my choice. ction, I say to myself; ece of my ideal self. -Suraj Subramanian
THEY DO THAT, DON’T THEY?
We sat in the tra picked up from Mc D used to be open days. Now there are It used to be kind o
The ladies comp many people knew a
As we gossiped ab
“Aloe Ve He pulled one o down showing the b bly didn’t notice
In school Nikhil us some sort of a pow
It came as a surpris off, probably
We skipped the te
He sat opposite me, bushy hair. His hair
I could see a hint o anything too loud. Fo
Back when he ha most people do. H with the idea of her
ain after the show at Prithvi, sipping our sodas and disavowing our burgers that we Donald’s on our way to the local railway station. Mc-D was the only food joint that at 11:30 pm. Here in Vile Parle West, shops used to shut earlier than they do these a bunch of other food joints that have come up which are open for a longer time. of a tradition, to grab a bite from Mc-D and board the ladies compartment of the 11:45 Borivali slow local.
partment is open to men who accompanied their lady companions post 11 pm. Not about this and so the compartment used to be comparatively empty. We won’t miss a chance to avoid the chaos of the city now, would we?
bout our love lives and newly discovered sexuality, Nikhil pulled out some wet wipes from his bag and offered it to us era face wipes anyone?”. He had a way of doing that and it always cracked us up. out and wiped his face and we watched as layers and layers of foundation came bumps on his face, the existence of which we had completely forgotten. We probae the change in the completion of his skin because of the dim lights at the theatre.
sed to really obsess over the idea of a fairer skin tone, it made him feel like he had wer over us. It was kind of adorable I guess, watching him complain about the acne on his chin and the pimples on his forehead. It used to drive him crazy.
se to us when he showed up under-dressed for the farewell. He also seemed a little because his mom said something or something that must have happened at home. It wasn’t really our place to ask, he would say something if he had to.
errible food that was being served and grabbed some ice-creams instead. Tender coconut, chocolate chip and kala jamun, that was the usual.
next to the window. The wind was crazy that night but it had no effect on his frizzy r was terrible but it wouldn’t look like that in the picture though, he was really good at hiding it in pictures. of beige from the foundation near his side locks. He wore minimalistic makeup, never oundation, concealer and highlighter which was just enough to make him look presentable ad just introduced himself to make up, he learnt it by watching YouTube tutorials as His mum once found out about it and threw all of it away. She was not comfortable son using filters on his skin. It was an impulsive decision which she always regretted. .
THEY DO THAT, DON’T THEY?
It was not that no on
Nikhil was insisting he just wanted to
This time I said no
He got up a We often went to
During the rains once
As they helped him c a girl. For the res
I remember the time
We always knew a
He was so confide
We got off at the st et to his mum and da his body. He also
We were so happy problem of his life wa a ma
As we walked out o
ne had ever challenged his womanhood before, it was his mum. This is always challenging when the family is involved. on going and standing at the door, he said he was feeling claustrophobic. All lies, o hop on the footboard and do something funny. Everyone always encouraged him and laughed on the stupid things he would do. o. In the train, I always treated him like a 9-year-old who was a big responsibility to me. Even he never resisted too much. He loved the attention. and went there anyway, so I went along to make sure he doesn’t land up in trouble. “Three more stops to go before I finally get rid of you,” I said to him. this park in Borivali. We loved going there because we met the most adorable kids from the nearby slum. e, Nikhil fell in a puddle of muck when he slipped down from one of the slides in the park. It was the funniest thing, the kids at the park couldn’t resist laughing. “Bhaiyya fell in the muck” they giggled. clean up under the nearby tap, Nikhil asked them to call him “Didi” because he was st of the day, they called him Didi as if there was nothing wearied about the whole thing. Nikhil couldn’t have been happier. e Nikhil told us about this. We were hanging out at the beach, did that quite often during those days. He was wearing his usual concealer and foundation. He told us that he wants to get a sex change operation done. “I am a woman trapped in a man’s body,” he said.
about it, we knew since school. We never questioned him about it, why would we? It was for him to figure out by himself.
ent that day, it was remarkable. He was so relieved to have finally told us what was inside him for so long. He was really happy, I could see that.
tation and as we walked towards the exit, he told us that he came out of the closad. They had finally accepted him for who he was and what he wanted to do with told us about how he cross-dresses to college from time to time and nobody ever harasses him for it. y for him, a little too happy. We could see how he felt so liberated as if the biggest as finally gone. He knew that the fight wasn’t completely over yet, but he had taken ajor step towards becoming who he wanted to be and there was no looking back.
of the local station, he smiled at me and I smiled back at him and he knew that we were all there, with him in the present and everything was just going to be fine.
-Suraj Subramanian
VLOGGER BOY
DADDY OF THE
MUCH ADO
YouTube make MUA, recently ro He took to tw Along with the suc Walsh tweeted a
Gutierrez had the
Gutierrez’s fath
Gutierrez’s father w for my son and w I’m more proud o
“If you did, you w walk this planet
eup artist and internet sensation, Manny Gutierrez, more popularly known as Manny ose to fame after he became the first male model for the makeup brand Maybelline. witter to celebrate his success and his number of followers has increased since then. ccess and positive reactions, Manny has had to deal with negative comments from quite a few people. One of them was Matt Walsh. picture of Gutierrez alongside the caption “Dads, this is why you need to be there to raise your sons.” e best reaction to this, when he tweeted back with the classy knock down: “My dad actually works for me and is SO Proud of me”. her also joined in on the battle when he texted his son to send a message of pride and love to Walsh. wrote: “This is Manny Sr. Let me first begin by telling you that I’ve always been there will ALWAYS be there for him. Not only am I proud of what he has accomplished but of the person he has become. I know the words you speak are from lack of knowing anybody from the LGBT community. would soon realise they are some of the most real and kind hearted individuals that of ours. Going forward, I would choose your actions and words wisely. Just like you would do anything for your family, I would DO for mine. Good day Sir,” he finished.
-Rifat Syed
#MAKEUPISGENDERLESS
Jake-Jamie, AKA campaign. He be
He was notice
“My real journey breakouts, it knocke
“So one day in In the start, Jak
He said: “I cle tisements featuring entertaining the
Fast forward ashamed to walk
“I can’t quite b
The 25-year-o
“If you’re expe ha
The Beauty Boy, is one of the first male models to be used by L’Oreal as part of a egan experimenting with makeup around the age of 19 when he suffered from bad acne breakouts. ed for his work after launching his #MakeupIsGenderless campaign, whose aim is to break down judgement and gender boundaries surrounding beauty. y with makeup started at around the age of 19 when I began having terrible acne ed my confidence so badly that there were days when I didn’t even want to leave the house,” said Jamie. n the hope I could restore my confidence I thought ‘sod it’ I’m going to try makeup!” ke-Jamie said he felt “ashamed” about dabbling in makeup, but this is what inspired him on to make changes in the beauty industry. early remember standing in the makeup aisle at Boots, being surrounded by adverg only women and initially this made me feel wrong and ashamed of myself for even e idea of using cosmetics to boost my own self-esteem. Very quickly I realised that I wasn’t alone and that I wanted and needed to make a change in the industry.” d six years and we have Jake-Jamie’s face featured on the very aisles he once felt k down. He is extremely excited for this campaign, and hopes that the next generation of boys won’t feel that same shame. believe it myself! It really does go to show, that truly anything is possible if you work hard and believe,” he added. old leaves us with a very valuable piece of advice for those aspiring to walk down this same path. erimenting with makeup for the first time: be brave, lead by example, be you and be appy. Don’t be bound by ancient stereotypes no longer relevant in today’s society.”
-Ilhaam Motlekar
INK RECOMME
MANNYMUA This super good looking beauty boy is one of the most celebrated blogger on YouTube. His makeup looks range from natural and beautiful to bold and dramatic all of which will give you some real inspiration!
ENDS PATRICKSTARRR Watch my favourite blogger on YouTube tell you the story of his journey to becoming a beauty blogger. Not only is Patrick really inspiring and talented but also he is really fun to watch and has the best of makeup to show to the world.
MAKE UP BY JACK Drop everything and go check out this cutie’s videos on Instagram and YouTube! Guess what? He’s just 10 years old and already has 206K followers on Instagram!
JAMES CHARLES James has changed the world of beauty boy bloggers with his skills! He is slowly becoming one of the very best celebrity makeup artists and can be seen on all of the latest CoverGirl posters and at the very young age of 17!
JEFFREE STAR
Jefree Star is one of the first beauty boys on YouTube and one with the highest followers. Jefree even has his own line of cosmetics which you can buy off of his site and it is known for the whacky range of colours his lipsticks offer.
-Aayushi Parekh
Design By: Tanvi Jani