Male Cosmetics include all cosmetic products intended for use by men, such as makeup, skincare products, hair care products, body care products, sun care products, perfumes, and other decorative cosmetics.

Historical Use of Cosmetics
As early as 4000 BC, makeup played an important role in ancient Egyptian culture. Men painted black pigments on their eyes to create cat-eye designs that were considered attractive and a symbol of wealth and status. Ancient Egyptians believed that green eye shadow could invoke the God Horus to fight harmful diseases.

Men are known to have used cosmetics in Roman times, although it was frowned upon by society. Men seen carrying mirrors were viewed as effeminate, while those using face-whitening makeup were thought to be immoral because they were expected to be tanned from working outside. Two of the more acceptable practices were the light use of certain perfumes and moderate hair removal. 

A man removing too much hair was viewed as effeminate while removing too little made him seem unrefined. The Romans found it especially inappropriate for an emperor to be vain, as was apparently the case with Emperor Otho. Emperor Elagabalus removed all of his body hair and often donned makeup, which caused the Romans much grief.

During Queen Elizabeth I, cosmetics was very popular among men, as they valued ghostly, powdered skin. In this era, due to the chemical makeup of the substances used, cosmetics often caused serious health problems, including premature death.

With the advent of modern filmmaking in the United States in the 1930s, men's hair and cosmetics re-emerged in the public eye. However, men's beauty products were relatively non-existent on the market until the end of the 1990s. Only a few brands were interested in producing men's cosmetics because it was regarded as a niche market. Male cosmetics are not as widely accepted as female cosmetics, but the trend is changing nowadays.

Branding and Packing of Male Cosmetics
Several cosmetics and skincare brands have developed products specifically for men's skin, such as Nivea, Chanel, Tom Ford, and Adidas. 

The packaging of male cosmetics is generally simple. The colors are mainly blue, green, grey, white, brown, and black. Compared to women's cosmetics, there are few bright colors such as pink, red, and purple. These designs aim to attract male customers, whilst reducing the resistance of male customers to cosmetics, breaking the belief that cosmetics are only for women.

Also, cosmetics companies produce cosmetics tailored to the preference of men in different regions. For Example, Revlon has launched a Middle Eastern collection, and Ferrari has developed a traditional Middle Eastern Fragrance, taking into account local consumer preferences.

Men Working in the Cosmetics Industry

Gender balance in the cosmetics industry
Although most cosmetics consumers are women, the majority of executives within cosmetics companies are men. Many large beauty companies have few female representatives on their boards or senior management teams.

But as the industry is growing there are new reforms coming, that are encouraging the inclusion of both genders across the hierarchy of the organization.