Pride power: LGBTQ+ community in spotlight with cosmetic releases and projects

07 Jun 2024 --- This week marks the beginning of Pride month, with beauty brands rolling out their celebratory products and initiatives.

Housing LGBTQ+ youth
Kiehl’s Since 1851 launches a global philanthropic initiative, Kiehl’s Open Doors, that provides homeless LGBTQ+ youth with safe, temporary housing, life tools and developmental resources.

The skin care brand partners with Ali Forney Center, a non-profit that provides LGBTQ+ youth with supportive environments to escape the streets and prepare them for independent living. Its services include a 24/7 drop-in center, transitional housing, job readiness training and health resources.

Kiehl’s has committed to donating US$150,000 to the Ali Forney Center. The donation will help provide safe, temporary housing and “life-saving” developmental services to over 2,200 homeless LGBTQ+ youth.

Research from the Ali Forney Center finds:

• Forty percent of homeless youth in New York City are LGBTQ+.
• Eighty percent of the youth the Ali Forney Center serves are kicked out of their homes and families due to their LGBTQ+ identity. 
• Eighty-five percent of youth in the Ali Forney Center’s program are enrolled in mental health counseling services, sexually transmitted disease education prevention, testing and treatment. 
• Eighty percent of youth graduate from the Ali Forney Center and enter independent living, compared to the national average of 20%. 

“We’re proud to launch a platform that supports a community Kiehl’s has been passionate about protecting for decades,” says Jon Saenz, Kiehl’s global brand president. “Some of our very own Skin Pros have suffered similar adversity after coming out. We want to bring awareness to this issue while ultimately helping to reduce the number of LGBTQ+ youth on the streets.”

“Role models” in the community
Beekman 1802 is launching a limited edition 2024 Bloom with Pride Skincare Set. All proceeds from the kit will also go to The Ali Forney Center.

The kit features the “best-selling” Bloom Cream Daily Moisturizer and a rainbow of targeted serum boosters made with clinically proven and sensitive skin-safe ingredients. The serums include the Dream Booster with Bakuchiol and the Golden Booster with Amla Berry.

 Beekman 1802's Pride set features skin care made from goats milk.“As one of the few companies in the world founded by a gay-married couple, we feel a responsibility to be role models and a resource to youth who might see parts of their own future in our story,” say co-founders of Beekman 1802 Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Dr. Brent Ridge.

“The tumult surrounding Pride last year left many companies scaling back on their Pride initiatives this year, so, at Beekman 1802, we knew we needed to make our biggest Pride kit yet. You can’t hide Pride.”

The Bloom with Pride Skincare Set’s packaging is designed with a “rainbow-like” print by queer artist Elly Ayling. It retails for US$59 (US$109), and each purchase comes with a free Goatie Pride pin.

ELC aims to amplify voices
The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) and Welcome (ELC’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group) kick off Pride 2024 with the theme “Beauty in Pride: We Are Here.” The cosmetics company says the theme is a celebratory moment for the community and a call to action for allies to “reflect, understand and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.”

It continues that the current state of the world poses ongoing challenges for the LGBTQ+ community, including increased violence and restrictions on the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

The company commits to “celebrating the strength and visibility of the LGBTQ+ community during challenging moments across the globe and the importance of uplifting and advancing LGBTQ+ voices in everyday life.”

ELC encourages its community to uplift the LGBTQ+ voices and commit to attending local ELC and community Pride events. The company is recognized as a “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality” with a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.

Product releases
In honor of Pride month, cruelty-free cosmetics company Barry M offers a Full Of Pride gift set. Twenty percent of net profits from every set sold will be donated to Albert Kennedy Trust, England’s national LGBTQ+ youth homelessness charity. Kiehl’s launches the  Open Doors initiative. 

The set offers six brightly colored nail varnishes in every rainbow color. The Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paints shade names are Hot Chilli, Mandarin, Banana Split, Jalapeño, Blue Margarita and Gummy Bear.

In other themed launches, Poppy & Pout releases a Pride Punch edition of its all-natural lip balm range packaged in an ombré rainbow recyclable tube. Ten percent of the item’s June proceeds will go to Encircle, an organization that offers creative programs and therapy for LGBTQ+ youths.

Throughout June, Kevyn Aucoin Beauty will donate 5% of sales up to US$10,000 from select products to the Hetrick-Martin Institute, an organization offering free programs and services for LGBTQ+ youth and allies ages 13–24. The products included in the selection include the Glass Glow Face & Body Gloss, Glass Glow Lip and Volume Mascara and Neo-Blush.

Lastly, Jean Paul Gaultier (JPG) is reinventing its annual Pride fragrance for all genders, with fresh citrus and yuzu, orange and neroli blossom and musk notes. The limited-edition Pride 2024 eau de toilette fragrance is available in the Classique and Le Male bust-shaped bottles featuring the work of the late gay artist and activist Keith Haring.

“Based on the signature Gaultier neroli, we color the senses with blood orange and balance them with musky blond woods. An irresistible fragrance with no sex nor gender: simply the glory of being (proud of) who we are,” says Nathalie Cetto and Quentin Bisch, perfume composers for JPG.

JPG is a partner of the NYC LGBT Community Center. Keith Haring’s landmark “Once Upon a Time” mural, a permanent installation at the center, is back in the spotlight through the release.

By Sabine Waldeck