In late 2017 Jessica Blackler contacted me in regard to a product she was creating inspired by my original ‘Boy to Girl’ tutorials on Youtube, a concealer and color corrector similar to the products I had mixed up in tutorials. She began to produce the product and sent me early samples, thus the Correct and Conceal palette was born. She presented to me the outline of a trans safe space led business model, and I was extremely interested because I believed that if I was involved in a creative capacity I could bring the finesse and integrity to the brand that would not only support my community but be an example of change.
Jessica wanted a rebrand and my first review video talking about the partnership was featured on Forbes, with an announcement that Jecca would be taken into the L’Oreal innovations scheme. This would be a breakthrough in beauty, particularly with it coming from the organic, creative content that I designed as a teenager. I proposed not only an extension of shades, but cocreated the formula and design of a contour product, and thus the ‘Soften and Sculpt’ palette was born.
I wanted to take my tutorials further than just using a technique on my particular face shape, and open it up to everyone, so I gave my techniques for contouring in a manual to accompany the product. This breaks down not only feminization, feature changes, and symmetry, but showcases a diverse campaign of trans models and digital artwork. The product is an indetectable shadow that blends into the skin and is an amazing mass market bridge to my signature style.
The product has been met with critical acclaim and I was extremely excited by the reaction from the audience who have grown up watching me on social media. I have such a specific style and when I worked on the images, that are now seen in number one reviews all over the world, in the pop up shops at events and department stores, I proved that not only can you create a product for trans people that is accessible, but you can be creative in a range of roles within creating a product that is of the standard you’d expect for a commercial product. Creatively designed, led, digitally remastered, inspired and conceptualised by trans people, for trans people.
Lots of love as this is such a personal accomplishment.
“Makeup is for everyone.”
DEVELOPMENT - INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
In 2017 I was the feature of several articles for Elle US about makeup tricks for trans people and trans women, I covered all the shading, the beard covering with colour correction and discussed my legacy as a creator on social media. These were hugely successful.
At the end of 2017 I was approached by Jessica who had proposed a safe space website about trans people, and asked if I would model for the brand alongside Juno Dawson. I turned down the offer to do so and I instead said we should work together on something in more of a video basis, so I could advertise her work as an ally, and recommend the safe space website to more people.
In 2012 I developed a signature tutorial-style using a mix of ‘salmon undertone’ correctors, shadow shade contours, and softening highlights. I created this map of the face to demonstrate a paler skin tone, then changed it to a mid-skin tone, and a darker skin tone. I developed this to make me feel more secure in my features and to help trans people who didn’t have enough money to finance surgery. In 2014 I worked with Extreme Makeup (Now XtrmeMakeup.co.uk) who sent me the entire Kryolan range Dermacolor to use in my videos. Combining Dermacolor with my own products, I mixed a contour product that resembled shadow, and this opened up my classic Boy To Girl series which went on to win Simon Cowell’s the You Generation. My first version of that tutorial went viral on Facebook in 2014, and I created 5 different variations leading up to 2017. These cosmetic concepts were an organic creation from my experience as a trans person.
In 2018 I saw that Forbes had written an article with my video, and I had been announced as a supporter of the brand and it had been picked up by L’Oreal Innovations.
Beauty Bible awarded the S+S palette a Gold Award in 2021 on my birthday, and I was really touched that this took place. The entire branding of the product was some of my favourite painting work as I love digital repainting, and it brought a polish to the product line. My partnership came to an end in 2019 and I had no involvement with any of the lipstick, primers or colour products since.
Thank you to the trans community for purchasing this product in support of my work.
In August 2018 I designed the contour and correction palette and sent over a mix of the correct undertone to Jecca Beauty, and I partnered exclusively with Jessica Blackler on the design of the product. L’Oreal gave insight into the product shades to launch and we agreed to go ahead with the SS palette.
This product line has sold over 1m units.
Check it out here!
