Makeup for men called 'toxic' and 'stupid' by critics: 'Grow up and go to Sephora'

Erin Donnelly
·Yahoo Life Senior Editor
Updated
This Warpaint ad fired up critics on Twitter. (Photo: Warpaint via Twitter)
This War Paint ad fired up critics on Twitter. (Photo: War Paint via Twitter)

A new campaign promoting makeup for men has critics up in arms, with claims that it perpetuates “toxic masculinity.”

Though War Paint’s male-targeted beauty products aren’t brand-new — the British brand relaunched its vegan, cruelty-free wares, including concealer, bronzer and tinted moisturizer months ago — it’s getting new interest (and backlash) thanks to a new campaign video.

“We couldn't find a makeup brand formulated specifically for men's skin; so we created one,” the brand says of the clip showing a heavily tattooed and pierced man applying different products to his face.

But many Twitter users aren’t buying it, and are calling out the brand for treating “men’s skin” as any different from a woman’s.

“I can't wait to emerge, snake-like, from my old flesh!” quipped a commenter who identified himself as transitioning from female to male. “I'll definitely be buying War Paint to celebrate, since it sounds like it would scald my dainty lady skin if I tried it before then.”

Others complained that the ad focused more on the model’s tattoos than the actual products in an effort to portray an aggressively macho image.

Some also took issue with the brand’s name, saying “War Paint” is unnecessarily violent and culturally appropriative.

The brand defended itself in the comments, asking, “If females can have products just for women, why can’t men? Our aim is to allow makeup to be gender-neutral and to do that we must have male-specific brands also.”

That reasoning fell flat with most, who also took War Paint to task for not offering a diverse range of shades. But some commenters argued that creating makeup for men, or at least supporting those who do want to go glam, could potentially be a good thing — but needed better execution.

War Paint has not yet responded to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment.

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