GENDER-FLUID BEAUTY
BY SYLVIA MARTINEZ
20 DECEMBER 2019
Makeup artist Justin Tyme advocates for
Gender-Fluid Beauty & future Beyond the Binary
NO ONE EVER DIED FROM WANTING TOO MUCH.
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, BUT IT IS SUCH
A PERFECT PLACE TO START AND BE WHO
YOU NEEDED WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER.
Justin Tyme is a makeup artist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist living in Los Angeles. His work in beauty, commercial, and red carpet can be seen internationally. His artistry, however, is only one small part of the inclusive beauty environment he is building through his craft. “I grew up in an agricultural community in the middle of nowhere. It was a great place to be a kid, running around in the farm fields. However, it was an isolated and unevolved place where being even the smallest bit of femininity was frowned upon. Being queer from birth, definitely presented its own set of difficulties when trying to navigate around the community that is prejudice.
As I entered my teen years, I began experimenting with gender-fluid fashion and makeup. Neither my family nor the community was prepared for the person I was becoming. This led to leaving home and dropping out of school in 11th grade to find somewhere to feel safe and accepted. It wasn’t until I fell into the club scene and rave culture that I was exposed to the plethora of gender expression. I think that it was then that I began to notice the divide between gender expression and what was seen in mainstream culture. Throughout my life, I have looked for ways to promote diversity and equality in society; it would take nearly two decades for this mission to become fully realized.” The creator of ADVEKET, a gender-fluid cosmetics line, Justin also is the founder and president of I Wore Lipstick, a nonprofit devoted to “raising equality awareness and opportunities for the lipstick-wearing community.”“My inspiration for founding I Wore Lipstick was the relationship that so many humans have to lipstick. Whether you realize it or not, each person has an array of memories and emotions attached to this small inanimate object, and it’s through this object that so many have a shared experience. When you look at who wears lipstick, its sometimes a marginalized member of a broader community. It isn’t until you view this population as its own community that you begin to see that lipstick wearers are one of the largest and most diverse group of humans on the planet.”
I Wore Lipstick works with the Trans Wellness Center (a program of the LA LGBT Center) and the Los Angeles Covenant House to provide cosmetic & hygiene products, as well as provide cosmetic education and volunteer recruitment. In 2020 I Wore Lipstick will be launching the “Nancy Lee Quisenberry-Mayfield scholarship” to help the lipstick-wearing community attend cosmetology school.
“Through the organizations I Wore Lipstick supports, I feel we are in touch with members of the entire lipstick-wearing community. When creating our first scholarship, there was never a question of what it would be. Beauty is one of the few industries where it doesn’t matter your gender, race, age, or sexual orientation. The scholarship is named after my husband Brant Mayfield’s mother. She was his inspiration and greatest supporter. Unfortunately, Nancy passed before seeing the career (celebrity hairstylist) Brant would carve out for himself and all of the lives he would touch. I thought creating something to help carry on the love of cosmetology and offer support to those on that journey would be a great way to honor her legacy. I have to say that’s one of the things I am most proud of. Honoring the love of my life and his greatest inspiration in this way gives me so much hope for what can be done.”
After founding the charity, Justin began his search to find donors and supporters of his cause. A cosmetics line would be an obvious choice given the mission of the charity. Knowing that finding these support systems could take a very long time for a new charity, Justin decided to take matters into his own hands and began work on a plan to launch a line that would not only be able to donate to the charity but would embody the mission of I Wore Lipstick from its inception. Thus, ADVEKET was born.
“I recall working in retail cosmetics throughout my twenties and commenting on the lack of representation in beauty ads. I was a human who always enjoyed wearing makeup, and I never saw myself represented in beauty ads. I remember telling a friend that if I ever were to create a line, it would be gender fluid and focus on everyone. I chose the name ADVEKET because it’s the phonetic spelling of advocate when used as a noun. It implies that the wearer is their own advocate.
“ADVEKET launched with Gender-Fluid Beauty, a collection of lip products, each shade equipped with an uplifting name that when combined (lipstick, liner, gloss) would form a ‘lip mantra’ to help inspire the wearer on their daily journey. In the same way, you choose your soundtrack for the day, you can choose your lip mantra to suit your adventure,” muses Justin. “In creating this line, I knew what the mission was, but also that the products needed of a quality that I would use on my clients. I am fortunate to have worked with some famous faces. They have all been very supportive of the line and the charity. These women trust me with their image and have faith that I will only use the best products, so I took my time to create something that I knew would be loved and respected.” ADVEKET recently entered the skincare market with its new Beyond Binary Skincare. “What sets ADVEKET apart from other lines is that its mission is the only directive. I wanted to create something pure that would help to influence not only the mindset of the wearers but help to guide culture in general,” he says.Tyme was inspired by and followed Paul Newsman’s model for Newman’s Own, which donates all proceeds to charity. as a huge inspiration. “To create something selfless for the benefit of others is truly divine,” Tyme says. “The new direction into skincare pairs perfectly with our mission of self-love and continues our exploration of gender identity in beauty.” While Tyme credits M.A.C cosmetics “for always being for all humans,” he says, “many cosmetic lines have ignored the issue for years, if not decades. That’s why it was so important for ADVEKET to print ‘Gender Fluid’ and ‘Beyond Binary’ on every single product. There is no mistaking that this is a product line for everyone, and every human should feel seen when using this product.” In addition to donating product, ADVEKET pledges to donate $1 form the sale of every single product to I Wore Lipstick. Since its launch, ADVEKET has had celebrity support from the likes of Miley Cyrus and Madelaine Petsch. The line has been featured in Women’s Wear Daily, BravoTV.com, and Ashton Kutcher’s A+PLUS. ADVEKET is currently available online and is looking for new vendors who support the mission and want to join in the gender revolution of beauty. “I hope that one day the missions of ADVEKET and I Wore Lipstick are benign. Equality, inclusivity, and philanthropy should be at the forefront of every company. Last year ADVEKET received a certificate of appreciation from the Trans Wellness Center/LGBT Center for our work during the Transgender Job Fair, and it reminded me how meaningful a small act of kindness could be. When I look back over everything that has happened to me (both good and bad) in my life, I am thankful.” The 37-year-old is excited about the future. “I hope that I can serve as an example of what someone can do if they never stop working toward their dreams.” He is guided by two mantras: No one ever died from wanting too much. The world is not enough, but it is such a perfect place to start. And Be who you needed when you were younger, which he keeps “to remind myself every day that I should be proud of what I have accomplished so far and that there is more to do.”.
