Men as Mavens

Men are Today’s Make-Up Mavens!

Back in 1960, John F. Kennedy gave men around the world an important lesson. In the first televised presidential debate, he wore cosmetic foundation on his skin. Under the harsh studio lights, he looked vibrant and healthy compared to his pale and sweaty rival Richard Nixon, who refused to wear make-up. At the time, “real” men did not wear make-up.

Today, many men reject such outdated ideas about masculinity. Some people attribute this change to the popularity of the television show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” However, it may be that more recent discussions about gender have led many men to consider using more cosmetics. To them, the message of Chanel’s 2018 ad campaign says it all:  “Beauty is about style. It knows no gender.”

That’s why some men enroll in beauty school these days, there are now specific cosmetics lines just for men., including Formen and Stryx, and male beauty influencers such as Jeffree Star, Lou Flores, and James Charles have millions of followers on social media.

This should come as no surprise to those interested in cosmetology history. After all, some of the most famous cosmetic companies were founded by men, including Max Factor and Charles Revlon.

For male make-up mavens, everything old is new again!

Men As Mavens

Multicultural Beauty Training: The New Norm

Who wouldn’t love a chance to work at Gina Norris’s salon in the movie Beauty Shop? The 2005 Queen Latifah film created a world where women (and some men) spoke frankly about issues of love and sex, race and gender, and everything in-between. It was a place where a black salon owner would style the hair of a white woman, and where a white stylist could demonstrate her skills at caring for multicultural, textured hair.

Beauty schools are close to making that dream a reality. In the past, many teachers and students noted a “racial divide” in the beauty and haircare industry, and there have always been specialized beauty schools that train only in ethnic hair.

But beauty schools and their students don’t want that anymore. They want to learn the skills and techniques that will help anyone who sits in their chair feel more beautiful and confident.

The State Determines Training

One of the problems is that state licensing exams don’t often include many questions about the care of ethnic hair. Kari Williams, a member of the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, said, “most beauty schools focus on salon safety and sanitation, and the use of heat styling tools and chemicals for straightening, coloring, perming and relaxing.”

But that’s only because state licensing exams focus on those issues. As a result, beauty schools of the past have had to focus most of their training on such content, with little time left over for more specialized training.

But there’s good news: As greater appreciation for beauty across all cultures is growing, more students want to learn as much as they can about how to care for everyone’s hair. Students have asked for more training, and schools have responded. One way that schools have responded is to make sure that they provide students with mannequins with a variety of hair textures.

A New Appreciation for Beauty Across All Cultures

Today, more and more beauty schools are demonstrating a new interest in training all students in the care of many kinds of hair and skin, and a new commitment to appreciating beauty across all cultures. Our Academy has always been sensitive to the need for multicultural and diversity when it comes to our educational planning, product lines and hands-on experience for our guests and students.

Multicultural beauty training means that today’s hairstyling, cosmetology, esthetics students will be on the cutting edge of a new appreciation for the beauty of all people.

Multicultural Beauty School