CoverGirl Celebrates Its First Male Ambassador James Charles

On Tuesday, CoverGirl ambassador Katy Perry announced on Instagram the first-ever male ambassador for the brand, James Charles.

Unlike past CoverGirl ambassadors, which have included singer Janelle Monae and Disney star Zendaya, the brand decided to feature a male this time – Charles, a 17-year-old Instagram makeup artist. Counting more than 443,000 followers on the social media, as well as more than 70,000 on his YouTube channel, the young beauty blogger expressed his excitement in a post. “I am so honored and excited to be working with such an iconic brand,” he captioned on Instagram. “I truly hope that this shows that anyone and everyone can wear makeup and can do anything if you work hard. I can’t wait to share with you all what we have in store, but trust me when I say it’s gonna be real good.”

Charles will join the “I Kissed A Girl” singer in a new campaign that will include TV commercials, in addition to digital and print ads.

“All of our CoverGirls are role models and boundary-breakers, fearlessly expressing themselves, standing up for what they believe and redefining what it means to be beautiful,” the brand said in a release. “James Charles is no exception. One year ago, he boldly chose to launch his Instagram to the world, using transformative, dynamic makeup looks to showcase the many facets of his personality, serving as an inspiration to women, men, guys and girls who might have been afraid to do the same.”

Back in May of this year, in an interview with Marie Claire magazine, Charles opened up about his relationship with his parents, who were questioning him about his gender identity. “It was a big argument,” James confessed. “It took a lot of thorough conversations to explain that it’s an art form for me. I’m still confident as a boy and I will always be a boy. I can be confident with bare skin and with a full face.”

This CoverGirl’s move highlights a growing trend of makeup brands using men to promote cosmetic products. Male beauty bloggers and influencers have drawn attention on social media; and Charles is not the first one to access brand ambassadorships: for instance, Frank B. has worked with Milk Makeup; Patrick Starr did the same with Formula X and Nyx; and Manny Gutierrez has a partnership with Makeup Geek and Ofra Cosmetics.