Earlier this week, the beauty brand announced their newest CoverGirl, or, rather, CoverBoy, 17-year-old James Charles. He’ll be working with Katy Perry, a CoverGirl brand ambassador, and both made the announcement via Instagram yesterday.
Charles is an Instagram and YouTube-famous makeup artist with over 400k followers and is also a senior in high school. His instructional videos teach both men and women how to use makeup. In CoverGirl’s sixty years as a brand, he’ll be the first male ambassador and will appear in print, television and digital ads both alongside Perry and by himself.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLb4xYUAUT-/?taken-by=jcharlesbeauty&hl=en
In a video posted to the brand’s Instagram account, Charles tells everyone that being a part of the CoverGirl brand is “living out one of my biggest dreams.” He’s following in the footsteps of models like Christie Brinkley and Cybill Shepherd, so we totally get his excitement.
He started his Instagram account a year ago as a way to showcase client makeup, and also to inspire others and challenge himself creatively. And though he launched his YouTube channel less than a year ago, he already has more than 75,000 followers.
Charles says that, “Anyone who finds it strange for a male to be promoting or wearing makeup lacks personal confidence. Breaking gender norms just comes instantly as soon as a boy is comfortable and confident enough to put on makeup. I think it’s so important to love who you are and be comfortable in your own skin.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLbIvizAt45/?hl=en&taken-by=covergirl
In response to the haters, he told Cosmopolitan that “I have a thick skin, and I’m definitely not willing to let someone without anything better to do than hate on someone else behind a keyboard get into my head… Our industry has been tailored towards women for so long, so I think the only way that men will start to become more comfortable will be if the stereotypes are removed. Every guy who is comfortable doing so, however, is setting an amazing example and hopefully inspiring those around him.”
Congrats, James!