Wayne Goss on Fighting Ageism in the Beauty Industry

by Kat Freitas-Seitz

Published Dec 4, 2020

In the beauty world, it’s rare to see a 70-year-old grandmother in shimmer eye shadow. But that’s exactly what makeup artist Wayne Goss wants to become the norm.

With the recent launch of his makeup collection, Wayne Goss has been using his platform to speak openly against ageism in the beauty industry. “Beauty and makeup are for everyone,” Wayne says. “But the beauty industry can make women over 40 feel invisible.”

It’s not hard to see where he’s coming from. Beauty products—especially makeup—are overwhelmingly shown on models under 30. And no matter the model’s age, it’s common practice in the beauty industry to retouch the natural texture of their skin, blurring away any visible pores, lines, and wrinkles they may have.

For Wayne, this doesn’t give women a realistic expectation of what skin looks like, and it also offers a troublingly narrow definition of “beauty”—one that overlooks a huge number of women. “When was the last time you looked at a Photoshopped image and felt better about yourself?!” he asked in a recent Instagram post. “Let’s show what real skin and makeup can look like... Let’s show how real women (and men) can look great at any age.”

For the launch of his Pearl Moonstone Luxury Eye Collection, Wayne walked the walk by casting model Colleen Heidemann as the face of the campaign. Discovered in her late 60s at her vintage clothing shop in California, Colleen is proof that beauty, glamour, and style are truly ageless.

On working in the Wayne Goss campaign and inclusivity in the beauty world, Colleen has this to say: “To those decision makers in the fashion and beauty industries, who yet refuse to allow for proper and adequate representation of the mature woman, I so seriously and sincerely beg you to reconsider… Choose to give substantive presence to a truly significant number of a most grand and wondrous part of the world’s population!”