Kiss and Make Up

Kiss and Make Up

It’s FRIDAY! I’m a FEMINIST! And we’re back with a new edition of ? FEMINISM FRIDAY ?! This week, we’re asking... "why the bloody hell are makeup brands still naming products like rejected porn titles?"

We’ve all seen it... NARS with “Orgasm” and “Deep Throat, Too Faced with “Gag Me”, MAC with Underage(sorry, what?! ??). The beauty industry has spent decades simultaneously infantilising and hypersexualising women, selling us products designed to make us feel sexy to men rather than for ourselves. It’s lazy, outdated, and frankly, embarrassing.


The Hall of Shame: Beauty Brands That Need to Pack It In

  1. NARS Cosmetics ... the OG offender... "Orgasm" was bad enough, but "Deep Throat"?! We get it, you've watched porn. Edgy.
  2. Too Faced Cosmetics ... Mascara called "Better than Sex" (is it though?!) and lipsticks called "Gag Me". Absolutely not.
  3. MAC Cosmetics ... A lip gloss called "Underage". Was Jimmy Saville on your marketing team when you let that one slip through or...?
  4. Urban Decay Cosmetics ... with "Gash" and "Kinky". I mean... really?
  5. TOM FORD BEAUTY ... with lipsticks called "Fuck Me" and "Virgin Rose", giving us another charming mix of hypersexualisation and purity culture. Nice.



Why This Nonsense Needs to Stop

  • It's for the MALE gaze. These aren't names designed to make us feel powerful - they'd be called shit like 'Resting Bitch Face' and 'Mind the Pay Gap' if they were.
  • It's infantilising AND creepy at the same time. We're somehow expected to wear shades called 'Underage' and 'Deep Throat' together? Gross.
  • It's SO out of date. The Sex and the City era of 'empowering ourselves via being sexual for men' is so over. Beauty brands need to keep up with the times.
  • It's ridiculously UNHELPFUL. Like seriously, what colour actually is Deep Throat?! How am I supposed to understand what the hell this means? Just tell me if it's fucking pink or not, mate. (Hint: it probably is just pink).


The Bottom Line: We Deserve Better

We are not here to be reduced to sex acts or infantilised tropes. We are powerful, complex, badass individuals, and our makeup should reflect that.

So, beauty brands, take note... If your shade names sound like they belong in a lads’ WhatsApp chat, it’s time to rethink your marketing.

What do you think? Should we start a petition for feminist makeup names? “Sod the Patriarchy” red, anyone?

Julie-Anne Houlton

Commercial Director, Procurement and Contracts Director, Supplier Management. M & A, deals, scale ups, transformation and change management. Available for full time and fractional work and turnaround work.

3 天前

Nooooo. Change the ethos.

Larissa Pinto

Junior Backend Developer at ESPROFILER | Security Investment Optimisation

3 天前

While I get brands having an odd product here and there with a weird name to be edgy, I would absolutely be embarrassed if someone gifted me or I bought a product that had a name like that. Apart from the absolutely twisted implications of some of these names, I think the brands need to understand that their customers' demographics are quite varied - could be a teenager, a grandma and anyone in between. Not everyone is desensitized to these names.

Douglas Andrew

IT Specialist at Leidos | CSAE,CSAP,CASP+,CySA+,MCEA,Sec+

3 天前

Wow, I would have to say that these are clearly named by a man, or the company owned by a man, but what does this say to a young woman who’s maybe just venturing out into wearing makeup, and seeing crap like this. Do better!

Mathew Davis

Cybersecurity | Network Architecture | Agentic AI | Data Privacy Design | GRC Auditing | Penetration Testing | Project Manager | Cloud native | Telco | Aerospace | Medical | Finance | Insurance | Principal Consultant

3 天前

I don't really think these beauty products are for women to be sexy for men I really think they are for women to be sexy towards other women.

回复
Kas Morgan

Passionate about creating a healthy workforce

3 天前

I've seen NARS' orgasm and didn't think too much of it but the rest?! I had no idea about these, this is mad! Selina Jones have you seen this?!

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