Pride Month (as internationally claimed lately) has come to an end, but this doesn’t mean that the work towards a more inclusive, diverse, and beautiful world is put on pause. Supporting each other cannot be limited to 30 days, as human rights and love cannot be limited to one person’s views. Perhaps breaking this rule as well, the Pride is celebrated in Helsinki, Finland today (July 3rd). Even with certain corona restrictions still in place, it is important that these topics are brought into everyone’s discussion.
On this special day, we want to highlight that the awards will always stay a safe platform for all humans, respecting the Earth we are all living on. We are also thinking about ways how the awards can be more inclusive in areas where cosmetics necessarily are not, for example, we have also men on the jury. Men are often left out of the conversation what comes to cosmetics and care but this doesn’t mean that men wouldn’t use any products, they indeed do. We want to bring natural alternatives to men’s attention as well.
There are of course differences between male and female skin. Testosterone is responsible for the development of masculine characteristics, such as thicker skin, and estrogen for female features. This can have an impact on a product’s formulation and on the fact of who the product is intended to.
As in any industry, also in cosmetics, most brands prefer to target certain kinds of consumers. Some scents are manufactured extremely feminine and a certain package speaks masculinity instead. Some brands are created unisex making cosmetics easier to approach for all genders. We want to respect the brands’ own research and choices as much as possible when categorizing the products – while making sure that every one of you is welcomed to test and get excited about any product we present on our platform.
The Finnish beauty blogger Laura Loukola wrote our matching thoughts perfectly:
Age, sex (hormones), and ethnicity do affect the skin’s biological features, however, marketing or labeling shouldn’t restrict what you can or can’t use. In my opinion, these are just broad guidelines and beauty should belong to everyone.
Laura Loukola
We want to encourage every one of you to be open-minded what comes to the nominees. Natural ingredients are used in all products (except the tiny amounts of certain synthetics in the 99% category), and as we very well know, nature is not just for one gender.
Behind the awards, we admit that this is a tricky topic to tackle and we don’t have all the answers but we want to be the ones to raise questions and start the discussion. How do YOU think the beauty industry should look like what comes to labeling products?
PS. HAPPY PRIDE HELSINKI! 🌈
PPS. Do not forget to continue supporting inclusivity, diversity, respect, and love after your logo or profile picture is changed back to the original.
PPPS. Get to know all the 2021 nominees HERE >