Looks like Caitlyn Jenner’s own makeup line is being put on hold for now — because the transgender trailblazer has just scored an epic contract with MAC cosmetics. Jenner has created a limited edition lipstick for the brand, with 100% of the sales going to the MAC Aids Fund Transgender Initiative to support grants for organizations dedicated to improving trans lives. The light pink shade is called Finally Free, echoing a phrase that echoes Jenner’s own sentiments on her iconic Vanity Fair cover.
To celebrate the partnership, Jenner sat down with the brand to talk about the transformative power of beauty. “I never thought in a million years that it would ever happen — to get involved with a makeup company,” she says. “When you’re going through all of this, that’s just like never going to happen, but wouldn’t it be something to be involved in a project like that? Boy, watch out what you wish for, because it came true.” She stresses, however, that she didn’t just buddy up with MAC for the chance to play around with lipstick testers. She’s also impressed by the brand’s history of supporting LGBT rights, and hopes that MAC’s global reach can reach victims of oppression in countries where they’re currently more likely to be locked up than to be given a fun new side hustle.
Jenner also clarifies that controversial “man in a dress” comment that landed her in hot water back in December. “For me, the beauty side of it was important from the beginning: to try to do fashion right, to try to do beauty right,” she says. “I worked on it all my life, but nobody knew it. I made a statement where I said if I was going through this, I didn’t want to look — me, personally — like a man in a dress.”
“I’m talking about in my case,” she explains, adding that being in close proximity to five Kardashian/Jenner women added to the pressure to look feminine. “I grew up in a family where, with the girls, presentation was very important to them, too. I have been around a long time, and I told my kids as they were growing up that the way they act, the way they dress, the way they speak — if you want to get ahead in life, it’s important. I know that for some people in the trans community it is not that important, but for the majority it is.”
Needless to say, she’s nailing it. And while not all members of the trans community place equal importance on hair, makeup, and nail polish, the number of trans women scoring beauty campaigns is an undeniable game-changer for visibility. Beauty has traditionally been a much harder market for trans women to crack than fashion has. But with Jenner’s MAC project following closely behind Andreja Pejic’s groundbreaking Make Up For Ever contract and Lea T’s global beauty campaign for Revlon’s hair line, the wheels of change are finally starting to spin.
Credits
Text Hannah Ongley
Images courtesy of MAC