A Gen X Beauty Revolution

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Today I read something that threw me—women lose 30% of the collagen in their skin in the first five years after menopause. Here I am, a Gen X woman, 4 years post-menopause, and dealing with the effects of gravity. I’m not handling it as well as I would like.

I’ve been a professional makeup artist for over 30 years and a licensed esthetician for eight. I have been (and always will be) an advocate and ally for anyone who comes to me for my professional opinion. But I have to admit, there is a special place in my heart—and business—for peri- and postmenopausal women. Today I am trying to be a friend to myself. I can hear that reassuring voice I use when consulting with women. “Of course you can learn new tricks! Makeup is for everybody.” Or, “Everyone has something they’re critical of. Let’s embrace it and enhance the things you love about yourself!” And, most importantly, “You are beautiful.”

I’m dealing with exactly what some of my clients are dealing with: skin laxity, dehydration, dullness, drooping eyelids, and now the corners of my mouth turning downward into a resting frown face. It sucks. Other women tell me that they struggle with these changes, but I see only beauty when I look at them. I love the way they are aging and understand it as a transition we all must go through. But I struggle to offer that same grace to myself.

Makeup is for everyone. This is a mantra I say to my clients, but more often than not, it’s myself I have to remind. Getting older can bring feelings of invisibility. But I push back on that idea. To be seen, we have to see ourselves first.

In the larger scheme of things, signs of aging on our faces is a “little thing.” If we have our health, good friends, and some measure of security, aging skin and drooping eyelids are, objectively, minor. But when you live in a youth-obsessed culture and see yourself visibly showing signs of age, it doesn’t seem little  at all. It feels big.

As an active social media user and someone trying to spread helpful knowledge to women, I am sometimes appalled at how women over 40 have been erased from makeup tutorials, marketing, viral trends, and beauty events. At other times, I revel in how far makeup has come.

-The beauty of the last thirty years of beauty is that we no longer have to be at the mercy of megabrands deciding how we should look or what products to use.

When I began my makeup artist career in NYC in the early 90s, makeup artist brands were in their infancy. Companies like Laura Mercier, MAC, Make Up For Ever, NARS, Bobbi Brown, and Shu Uemura were new and considered ahead of their time. All of those brands were started by working makeup artists. They were hard at work disrupting the grip on the industry by giant cosmetic and skincare companies like Elizabeth Arden and Estee Lauder as well as drugstore brands like Max Factor.

At the time, brands like those had old school credibility and huge financial backing, which allowed them to spend enormous amounts of money on advertising as well as research and development. When I entered the field, a necessary shake-up was happening to the industry giants.

What the new brands had that the old guard didn’t was: 

• inclusive complexion ranges

• different textures (dewy, matte, light reflecting)

• modern color palettes (MAC Spice lip pencil)

• dynamic formulas (NARS The Multiple)

• creative new ideas (highlighters, anyone?)

• as well as cool packaging (Shu Uemura’s clear plastic, see-through containers)

All of it was groundbreaking. 

Because the people behind the new brands were makeup artists (and baby boomers, for what it’s worth), they saw a large opening in a very narrow beauty category. They started small and began sharing their creations (a tube of lipstick or a concealer) with models and other industry folks at fashion shows and photo shoots, until finally retailers got interested and carried their brands. Then, beauty editors at Vogue and Bazaar would write a little blurb about Bobbi’s original “pinky-brown” lipsticks at Bergdorfs or tell everyone about the cult favorite eyelash curler from Shu Uemura, only at Barney’s New York! This era of beauty was when I became a professional makeup artist, at the tender age of 26.

That cosmetic revolution made it possible to cater to all women, not just cover models. The techniques and skills I have acquired over the years have consistently been relevant for people of any age. I have always been very good at doing makeup on older women, because those pioneering makeup artist brands always kept their eye on growing with their customers in a way the old guard hadn’t, and kept older women in mind in both their products and techniques.

If it weren’t for Bobbi Brown pushing the envelope with her post-menopausal friendly makeup company Jones Road, would Lancôme have put Isabella Rossalini back in editorial ads? And let’s talk about complexion inclusivity. Make Up For Ever walked so Fenty could fly, and so did other brands by and for people of every shade.  In 1998. I was the manager of the Make Up For Ever counter at Barneys New York on Madison Ave, and I remember people from the Maybelline and L’oreal R&D teams coming in and buying every color of the Face and Body foundation so they could copy it. They would tell me who they were and what they were doing! This was the turning point and now here we are, 26 years later, and the better for it.

An aging Generation X is pushing the revolution further as well. My generation uses social media, we have disposable income, and we love skincare and makeup. Simply by showing up in virtual spaces, we are forcing the industry to grow.

 Small triumphs in every new makeup innovation have resulted in massive and important transformations in my industry. At long last it seems that all people who wear makeup are included and welcome. New inventions like under-eye brighteners, hydrating face primer, sweat proof (or hot flash proof, as I like to say) makeup, and cream blushes are all mid-life friendly additions to makeup. I love my fellow menopausal sisters in beauty like Pat McGrath and Charlotte Tilbury, who have created age and gender inclusive makeup. And here’s to the newcomers who welcome all: Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty, Patrick Starr One/Size, the aforementioned Fenty by Rianna, Lady Gaga’s Haus Labs, and Makeup by Mario. All of them have pushed makeup into new and exciting places. Skincare infused makeup, cleaner ingredients, talc-free powders, 100% recycled packaging, vegan brushes, and advertising that makes everyone feel seen. This is the energy the beauty space always needed and it all started when a group of rebels in the late 80s just wanted their clients to have something to wear too.

Makeup is for everyone. This is a mantra I say to my clients, but more often than not, it’s myself I have to remind. Getting older can bring feelings of invisibility. But I push back on that idea. To be seen, we have to see ourselves first.