Although breaking the gender barrier has been a tough nut to crack for cosmetics brands, this month makeup artist Natalia Ramirez will take on the challenge. Her first line, a unisex makeup collection called Enter Pronoun by Natalia Ramirez, is inspired by androgyny and designed to address the needs of both male and female skin.
“All of us have one thing in common, which is the skill of feeling, really feeling, the skin that we touch,” said Ramirez, chief executive officer and creative director of Enter Pronoun LLC, a company she founded in April 2010. “In order for us to show the unique beauty in every person through their faces, we need products that will not mask each individual’s strengths.”
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Ramirez — a Los Angeles native who moved to France to pursue her dream of makeup artistry in 2005, and then returned to the states three years later — said she was inspired to launch Enter Pronoun after noticing that women’s formulas did not properly conceal tattoos or five o’clock shadow on male models.
“I began to see a void in the market,” said Ramirez, who was also inspired by the “gay scene” for her collection. “I no longer wanted to come out with a new gloss or shadow, but a product for every gender that actually works.”
The range — which industry sources estimate will generate $300,000 in its first year at retail — consists of Blowtorch, $35, a waterproof bronzer; Switchbox, $32, a three-shade concealer palette said to cover dark circles, facial hair and inked skin, and Blacknailed, $28, a supersaturated felt-tip black eyeliner pen.
“As a makeup artist in fashion, and as a lesbian, I have quite a few gay friends,” said Ramirez, who has dabbled in the modeling world herself, appearing on the cover of Time Out and in Curve Magazine. “There is so much diversity in the gay community, so many different gender roles. Masculinity and femininity are fluid.”
To that end, the line’s name is meant to echo the sentiment.
“I was inspired by a friend’s painting called ‘2 (enter plural pronoun) kissing,’ which depicts two figures kissing,” said Ramirez, who also serves as U.S. editorial director for Lash Magazine. “The words ‘enter’ and ‘pronoun’ hold such impact and yet give us so many choices. Putting them together only made me realize the limits I could transcend with my line.”
For her debut collection, Ramirez worked with Italian manufacturer Bklor, located outside Milan, to concept and create her products. “I did a ton of research on different labs all over the world,” said Ramirez. “I wanted a place that would allow me to be hands-on and work on formulas and colors with them.”
As far as distribution goes, Enter Pronoun is currently available on the web at enterpronoun.com and odd-style.com, and is in talks to enter brick-and-mortar boutiques and specialty stores in the near future.
“I like the idea of stores that carry everything — from the shoes to the dresses to the pants to the shirts to the jewelry — carrying my product,” said Ramirez. “Ideally, I want those stores to carry men’s and women’s products.”