The history of male makeup stretches beyond modern beauty culture. As explored in the newly released book Warpaint: Male Makeup and Identity Through Time by Josh Sims, cosmetics have long been tied to identity, power, and social performance.
Warpaint explores men’s makeup from its origins to the modern day. Through historical case studies and visual documentation, the book charts how male cosmetics have moved in and out of cultural favor. It revisits figures such as Tutankhamun, whose kohl-lined eyes might have symbolized both protection and authority, while also addressing the so-called “Great Male Renunciation,” a 19th-century shift that favored ornamentation over austere masculinity. By connecting these historical moments to contemporary culture, such as K-pop’s flower-boy aesthetic popularized by boy band BTS, to the booming global men’s grooming market, Sims illustrates how cosmetics have continually served as tools of visibility, performance, and resistance.
The book also highlights how artists and performers have used makeup to reshape cultural perceptions of masculinity. Icons such as David Bowie (whose Ziggy Stardust persona fused theatrical cosmetics with music and fashion) and drag pioneer RuPaul demonstrate how the painted male face can challenge gender norms while influencing mainstream aesthetics. Today, the legacy continues through figures like Harry Styles, who embraces makeup as a visible expression of identity, founding nail polish, cosmetics, and intimacy toy brand Pleasing. In positioning male cosmetics within a much longer historical arc, Warpaint ultimately reframes grooming not as vanity but as a powerful form of cultural communication.
At the same time, the rise of social media beauty creators like James Charles helped normalize makeup use among younger male audiences. Today, as beauty brands increasingly embrace gender-neutral marketing and broader definitions of masculinity, male makeup is reentering the mainstream.
Warpaint was written to aid in the mainstreaming of men's makeup. Sims notes that men’s makeup has historically existed on the margins of social acceptability rather than in the center of mainstream culture. “It’s nearly always been either elite or outsider: artists, subcultures, who have had license to wear makeup. It’s much the same now, though slowly but surely I think men’s makeup is creeping into the mainstream, at least for younger generations,” he explained in an email to BeautyMatter.
Ultimately, Warpaint suggests that the current resurgence of male makeup is less a cultural shift than a cultural return. As contemporary conversations around gender fluidity, self-expression, and identity continue to evolve, cosmetics are once again becoming tools for men to experiment with visibility, aesthetics, and personal narrative. What may appear to be a modern phenomenon is, in reality, part of a much longer lineage of adornment that stretches across centuries and civilizations.
Looking ahead, Sims believes the relationship between masculinity and cosmetics will continue to evolve. Rather than becoming explicitly “masculine,” he suggests makeup may simply lose its gendered associations altogether. “I suspect it will be more the case that makeup no longer comes to be seen as essentially feminine more than it comes to be regarded as masculine,” he said. “The main driver for men wearing makeup will be to enhance their appearance rather than to express their sexuality.”
By situating today’s beauty landscape within this broader historical context, the book reframes male makeup as a recurring form of expression shaped by shifting social values rather than a novelty or a trend. In doing so, Warpaint invites readers to reconsider how masculinity has been constructed, policed, and reinvented through appearance, and how the painted face continues to function as both a symbol of conformity and a quiet act of rebellion.