Though these men appear to look stunning on the surface, they’ve had to withstand unpleasant comments and the stigma of men wearing makeup.
By Sally Gloria Manik and Xavier Ow
FRESH FACES: Kevin Brendan Raj Kumar (left) and Xaveir Yeung Sai Wai (right) are just two of the many up-and-coming men in Singapore who choose to wear makeup in this day and age. Not only do they wear makeup regularly, but they also actively discuss and share about their makeup interests on their respective social media accounts. (Photo: Courtesy of Kevin Brendan Raj Kumar and Sally Gloria Manik)
Walking through the crowd isn’t easy for Kevin Brendan Raj Kumar. There’s stares, dirty looks, and even the occasional whispers. The same goes for Xaveir Yeung Sai Wai. Though charismatic and confident on the surface, he faces ridicule, just because of what he chooses to put on his face.
Makeup - foundation, concealer, bronzer and more. These are some of the many products people use to refine and enhance their look. And it’s also what Kevin and Xaveir are using on a day-to-day basis, to the dismay of the masses.
How It All Began
At the mere age of 14, the now 20-year-old Xaveir Yeung Sai Wai was introduced to makeup through his freelance acting jobs. After seeing how a makeup artist works on set, he was then motivated to try out makeup for himself, learning how to cover minor skin issues. Now, he not only wears makeup to conceal, but also as a form of expression and refinement.
“I started learning about how you should conceal different kinds of spots, and so on. As I got older, I realised that I can do a lot with makeup - it’s not just concealing your flaws,” shared Xaveir.
In a similar fashion, Kevin, who is now 25-years-old, started wearing makeup around 7 years ago as a theatre performer. With his experience in makeup as a performer, he then developed an interest in it and began experimenting with it outside of his regular performances.
“I was always very interested in (the concept of) looking your best and grooming,” he then adds: “Eventually it was like ‘hey, I want to look less tired today, or I want to fill in my brows today’.”
Fast forward to today, Kevin now runs a TikTok account with over 11,000 followers, where he posts daily, sharing a range of makeup-related content with his audience. Xaveir too now runs a social media account dedicated to makeup and skincare, garnering a following of over 1,000 individuals.
But garnering support and a large following didn’t come easy for these two individuals. Before they were ever on social media, they had to gain acceptance from the immediate people around them first.
Accepting Appearances
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT: Kevin knew that his interest in makeup would cause him to get into entanglements with his loved ones. So, for the first few months when he wore makeup, he kept it a secret - wearing minimal products to avoid questions from the people around him. (Photo: Courtesy of Kevin Brendan Raj Kumar)
When Kevin first started wearing makeup, it wasn’t well-received by his family. It got to a point where he had to put it on secretly - not telling his family members or actively showing them that he had drawn in his brows or that he had used blush. Why? Because he wanted to avoid the parade of questions that would eventually lead to comments like ‘boys don’t need to wear makeup.’
However, Kevin soon had a realization: what he chooses to put on his face does not affect anyone. So, if anyone were to question him, he would simply retort, saying: “Yeah, I’m wearing a bit of makeup, why (can’t I)?”
This then led his family to eventually come around and be more understanding, knowing that it’s just an interest that doesn’t negatively impact anyone or anything.
Besides gaining acceptance from his family, Kevin also had to gain acceptance from his friends.
“(My friends) couldn’t wrap their heads around (me wearing makeup), they were like, ‘Bro, why are you wearing lipstick’?”
However, though initially confused, Kevin’s friends also came around. Now, they compliment him for always looking his best, even asking to learn more about makeup and how to use it.
In Xaveir’s case, the people around him were more accepting of his makeup; having little to no qualms about it.
“My friends reacted really alright, there wasn’t the kind of ‘bad’ expression coming from them.”
Xaveir’s best friend, 20-year-old Nur Nadzirah Binte Mohamed Nizam even had this to say about his choice to wear makeup: “It is perfectly normal to wear makeup, as long as one is being comfortable and confident about it,” adding, “I am very proud of Xaveir for continuing on (to do) what he likes over the years!”
Attacked By An Audience
After gaining acceptance by their loved ones, Kevin and Xaveir then brought their interest for makeup online, garnering a substantial amount of followers in a short time.
Due to the nature of his content on Tik Tok and large following, Kevin is no stranger to a myriad of hate comments.
“There were threats of like, 'if I see you outside, I'll hit you',” recounted Kevin, saying that he would text his friends about he would be scared that a stranger would appear and be violent towards him.
“I can't imagine typing some things that people can type. Some people are really brutal and some people can be really mean. But it says a lot more about them."
NEGATIVE NOTIONS: With a large following and thousands of views per video put out, Kevin receives is subjected to hate comments. These comments include people belittling men in makeup, people degrading Kevin’s work, and even physical assault threats.
(Photo: Courtesy of @kevinbrendan’s TikTok)
However, Kevin did not keep this attitude and changed his perspective towards these haters.
“I've come to a point where I realized that I cannot control your behavior. You know, I can help educate you. I'm just wearing makeup because it makes me feel good. That's all. It's nothing deeper than that. It's not about religion. It’s not politics. It's really so surface. But if you choose to believe in what you believe and if you choose to behave the way you do, I have no control over there. So, what I have control over is how I behave and how I react,” said Kevin.
My Makeup Mindset
Despite the negative comments and backlash received, both Kevin and Xaveir cannot deny the positive impact that makeup has provided for them. Sharing about his own relationship with makeup, Kevin said, “I will define makeup as the person who's always there for you.”
As aforementioned, Kevin initially wore makeup as part of his job as a performer, and then continued to wear makeup in his personal life seeing how it made him more attractive and feel better about himself.
“I think that makeup is really just like the friend you go to when you're not feeling great, you know, that one friend who's always got you and like, like doesn't mind you unloading all your insecurities on them,” Kevin continued, sharing how makeup gave him solace.
In the same way makeup impacted Kevin, makeup was able to have a favourable effect on Xaveir as well. Over his 6 years of experience with makeup, Xaveir was able to expand his creativity, experiment with looks, and also feel fulfilled with this work.
EXPANDING EXPRESSION: Through makeup, Xaveir was able to fully experiment and develop his creativity - allowing him to create a variety of looks to share on social media. (Photo: Courtesy of Xaveir Yeung Sai Wai)
“I realise that I can do a lot with makeup - it’s not just concealing your flaws, it can also enhance how you look like, and make you feel a lot more confident.”
But even with the positive impact makeup provides, Xaveir, Kevin and all the other men in Singapore wearing makeup have to face the common enemy: the stigma surrounding men in makeup.
Singapore’s Stigma
“Horrible.”
That’s what Xaveir had to say when asked about how he felt about the stigma about men wearing makeup in Singapore.
“It’s the same as styling your hair and dressing nicely. You just want to look good. So why is makeup a bad thing,” said Xaveir comparing the difference of beauty standards between males and females.
“It's a lot of double standards. It’s just horrible. It’s just bad. Makeup equals femininity, hence bad. They don’t use makeup because “it’s a girl thing,” he continued feeling that there is a negative connotation placed on things that are considered feminine.
Likewise, Kevin shares the same sentiment that men wearing makeup should not be a niche saying: “It would be great if we can normalize men's makeup in Singapore because I mean it's not something new. Because in Korea and Thailand, there are like makeup lines that are for men, you know, and makeup advertisements include men and women.”
According to Allied Market Research, the men's personal care market is predicted to rise to $166 billion in worth by the year 2022, with a CAGR of 5.4% between 2016 and 2022.
Additionally, based on Men’s Online Shopping Behavior Survey 2019 conducted by Shopee, there’s a 33% increase in makeup orders made by men in 2019, compared to the same period last year.
“For a very forward country like Singapore is way behind on grooming for men. Because when you see the beauty standards in Singapore I guess there's only like one version of beauty for men. It's always the same haircut, the same clothes, the same everything and like everybody looks like a carbon copy of each other,” shared Kevin.
Influencer's Influence
In spite of the negativity these influencers receive for their choice, they have received positive comments for the content they create and inspire masses to pursue makeup.
“It feels crazy. I never thought I would be someone worth following for makeup per se or someone worth following for anything but now it's turning into a career. It’s very heartening,” said Kevin.
Looking up the insights of his social media account, Kevin revealed that amongst the large number of followers he has, a majority of them were adolescents.
“You know, it made me realise that my followers are very young. We’re talking about early teens and even some that are kids. And so that really lets me know that these are very moldable minds. And it reminds me that my social media is not something for my own entertainment anymore because people are listening to what I'm saying.”
Will Makeup And Men Be Able To Blend?
“I really want to be a representation, I want to be a voice, and use my platform to speak up for different issues. Not just men in makeup, but like how guys have feelings, guys can cry."
PUSH FOR CHANGE: As Xaveir looks to the future, he plans to continue working on his content on social media. He plans to act as a catalyst; igniting a conversation on normalizing men in makeup in Singapore (Photo: Sally Gloria Manik)
Additionally, Xaveir shared his view that we brought up to believe a certain way and it has become an integral part of how we view the world because it has been ingrained into our minds.
“The only way to change is to be open-minded,” stated Xaveir when asked about what needed to be present to facilitate the change of people towards this stigma.
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