Our 4 key takeouts

Avoid inauthenticity

Collaborate, involve and engage with the communities that champion gender-inclusive beauty. Embrace the varying sub-cultures that exist within gender-inclusive beauty from experimental Goth scene to the LGBTQ+ community.

“It's such an important thing to have the communities that you want to reach out to as a part of the process. That should be a natural thing for any modern business.”

Embrace beauty history

Gender-inclusive beauty is beyond a moment, it’s a key part of human self-expression. There is no need to pursue it like you’re revolutionising beauty, you’re not. You’re giving space to identities that have been rejected and seen as outsiders because of the way they want to express themselves.

“I really hope that this time around, it's here to stay for a bit longer, rather than something that comes through as a part of the fashion and then disappears.”

Anna Butterworth

Evolve the IRL experience

The IRL experience has always targeted cis-women and in 2023, beauty activations are still geared towards femme-presenting people. This means that cis-gendered men and masculine presenting people often only engage with beauty rituals in private or online. For brands to connect to this demographic, they should consider creating intentional safe spaces for men, non-binary and gender-expansive people to discover beauty in real life.

Beauty can go beyond the rules

How we present ourselves tells a story of how we see culture. Let your beauty brand be a part of the stories of a new generation. When accessing new ways to connect with a new generation do not be afraid to break your own format. Use the beauty community to cocreate the IRL and URL experiences that speak to them, to bring more value to your storytelling.