Beauty and the boys? More male celebrities are starting skincare lines

John Legend's skincare products are formulated for melanin-rich skin complexes. Photo: Instagram/Loved01

What do Harry Styles, Pharrell Williams and John Legend have in common?

Apart from successful careers in the music business, these men – and a growing number of other male celebrities – have all founded beauty brands.

Like Rihanna, Kylie Jenner and Selena Gomez, men too, are jumping on the beauty bandwagon, debuting products like cleansers, creams, serums and even nail polish for their fans to go gaga over.

Here’s a roundup of a few standout beauty lines founded by famous men.

John Legend

One of the first launches of 2023, the singer-songwriter’s Loved01 unisex skincare and bodycare brand aims to address a gap in the market for people with

deeper skin tones.

Formulated for melanin-rich skin complexes with a mildly acidic pH to retain moisture and maintain a healthy skin

barrier, the dermatologist-approved product lineup includes cleanser, moisturiser, scrub, oil and shaving cream.

The brand’s products are offered at an affordable price point, which is said to be one of the reasons for its growing popularity – all products are priced under US$15 (RM69).

“There’s a wealth gap. We couldn’t price the products in a way that a lot of Black and brown people couldn’t afford knowing that there’s an income gap – we didn’t want to do that,” Legend told Cosmopolitan.

Read more: Paul Rudd tops male beauty icon list, beating Harry Styles in skincare study

Harry Styles

English singer and actor Harry Styles introduced his brand, Pleasing, in 2021, debuting a diverse assortment of gender-neutral products, ranging from nail polish to face serum.

It has since expanded to include makeup, other skincare products and even gender-neutral clothing, and last year, in collaboration with fashion designer Marco Ribeiro, the brand released a limited-edition makeup kit featuring a mix-and-match palette.

Pharrell Williams

Louis Vuitton’s menswear creative director Pharrell Williams, globally known for his illustrious music career as a record producer, rapper, singer and songwriter, launched his skincare brand Humanrace in 2020.

Developed with dermatologist Dr Elena Jones, the brand, which is popular among Gen Zs on social media, offers a three-step facial: a cleanser, exfoliator and cream.

Also included in the lineup are products for suncare and bodycare, as well as clothing and trainers in collaboration with Adidas.

Idris Elba

The British actor and his wife Sabrina launched their skincare brand S’Able Labs in 2022.

The name of the brand is “Elba” spelled backwards, which offers genderless skincare including a cleanser, toner and moisturiser, with ingredients sourced from Africa.

On its website, the company states that it will donated 5% of its product sale profits to support the Farm Africa organisation, with a minimum donation of US$18,000 (RM83,628) a year.

Read more: Six-pack abs, nice skin, full head of hair? How men fret about their looks too

Jared Leto

The Oscar-winning actor and lead singer of the band Thirty Seconds To Mars launched a beauty label called Twentynine Palms in 2022, inspired by its namesake desert city, known as the gateway to the Joshua Tree National Park.

The vegan and cruelty-free skincare, hair care and body care is developed with high-quality botanical extracts and feature memorable names including the Santa Ana Salve facial moisturiser, Mesa Mystic facial exfoliating solution and the Mesquite Springs serum.