It often starts small.

A dab of concealer. A tinted moisturizer. Maybe a brow gel that goes from borrowed to bought. For many men, like Daniel Rankin, makeup has transformed from something taboo into a tool to make them look less tired and more put together.

“I remember thinking, ‘Am I really doing this?'” Rankin, a 24-year-old advertising agent from New York who likes to shop at Sephora, told CNBC. “But once I tried it, it just became normal.”

In front of bathroom mirrors and in gym locker rooms, more men are now adding cosmetics to their routines, industry experts told CNBC. The men’s makeup market is now one of the most lucrative — and largely untapped — growth opportunities left in beauty, and specialty retailers like Ulta Beauty and Sephora along with big-box companies like Target and Walmart all see opportunity.

“Men’s beauty is one of the last categories left where brands can likely still see easy double-digit growth potential simply by showing up,” said Delphine Horvath, professor of cosmetics and fragrance marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Men’s grooming sales in the United States topped $7.1 billion in 2025, up 6.9% year over year, according to market research firm NielsenIQ. The global market was valued at $61.6 billion in 2024 and projected to surpass $85 billion by 2032, with the biggest growth driven by the skin-care sector, according to Fortune Business Insights.

Much of the momentum is coming from Gen Z.

In the U.S., 68% of Gen Z men ages 18 to 27 used facial skin-care products in 2024, a sharp jump from 42% just two years earlier, according to data from market intelligence firm Mintel.

“This is no longer niche,” said Linda Dang, CEO of Canada-based Asian beauty retailer Sukoshi. “Men are forming routines, that usually starts at skin care and then expands further, they are no longer just buying random products. That’s what makes this market so valuable.”

Unlike one-off grooming purchases, makeup encourages repeat use and experimentation. A man who starts with concealer often adds primer, setting powder or tinted SPF over time, said Farah Jemai, global marketing associate lead at beauty brand Unleashia.

“When men discover makeup that works, they don’t use once and never again,” Jemai told CNBC. “They restock.”

Market researchers estimate that in 2022, about 15% of U.S. heterosexual men ages 18 to 65 were already using cosmetics and makeup, while another 17% said they would consider it, according to Ipsos. Industry experts say those figures are likely higher in 2026.

Openness to cosmetics has grown, as the share of U.S. men who say they never wear makeup has fallen from more than 90% in 2019 to about 75% in 2024, Statista survey data show.

Ulta Beauty and and Sephora have begun integrating men’s complexion products into gender-neutral, skin care-first displays rather than having “Men’s” aisles. Those gender-specific displays can feel intimidating or stigmatizing to some men, Horvath said.

Big-box retailers like Walmart and Target have also expanded their men’s cosmetics or grooming offerings.

For example, in 2025, Target partnered with online streaming collective AMP, Any Means Possible, to launch TONE. The men‑forward personal care brand debuted in Target stores nationwide in July, leveraging AMP’s massive Gen Z male following across YouTube and Twitch.

Online — where much of the growth and discovery is happening — many beauty brands are pouring money into influencer partnerships to increase engagement and sales on TikTok Shop and Amazon.

“So many brands are now putting most of their marketing budget into influencer marketing to meet people where they already are online and make it easier to click ‘buy,'” said Janet Kim, a vice president at K-beauty brand Neogen.

Others are leaning into digital education to teach men what different items do.

The brand War Paint sells makeup products like concealer pens, tinted moisturizers and anti-shine powders that feature QR codes on the packaging. Scanning them launches video tutorials explaining what each product does — without forcing customers to ask questions in a store.

“The biggest barrier isn’t price, it’s uncertainty,” Dang said. “Men want to know what a product does and how to use it without feeling awkward.”

But the path to mass adoption isn’t guaranteed.

Industry analysts warn that social stigma remains high and inflation threatens to curb spending on experimental, nonessential goods. Retailers also face a steep learning curve: It is difficult to scale a market when the core customer doesn’t know how to use the product.

In 2016, CoverGirl made history by appointing then 17-year-old YouTuber James Charles as its first-ever “CoverBoy,” placing a male face on a mass-market cosmetics brand for the first time.

Still, beauty conglomerates largely focused on women until recently, Sukoshi’s Dang said. Now, a broader cultural reset around masculinity is taking place and companies are racing to monetize it, FIT’s Horvath said.

Social media has been the single biggest accelerant, Dang said.

On TikTok and Instagram, male creators post step-by-step makeup routines, product breakdowns and before-and-after results that often emphasize subtle changes rather than dramatic looks. Hashtags tied to men’s grooming and makeup have amassed billions of views, with #mensgrooming alone surpassing 26 billion views on TikTok.

“TikTok democratized the ‘how-to,'” said Dang. “You don’t have to ask your sister or guess anymore. You just scroll, see a guy who looks like you fixing his acne in 30 seconds, and click ‘buy.’ It removed the gatekeepers.”

Gen Z men are also more comfortable rejecting rigid gender categories and more skeptical of marketing that frames products as inherently masculine or feminine, Horvath said.

At the same time, makeup has increasingly been folded into a broader wellness and optimization culture — sometimes referred to as “looksmaxxing” — that includes fitness tracking, supplements, hair-loss prevention and longevity routines.

“Many men have started framing grooming and, for some, makeup as maintenance, not vanity,” Horvath said. “That reframing removes stigma and unlocks spending.”

Celebrity influence has further accelerated adoption, with stars like Harry Styles, Brad Pitt and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson launching their own skin care and makeup brands, mirroring the trend of celebrity saturation largely seen in spirits.

Johnson’s brand Papatui, which launched at Target in 2024 and spans skin, hair, body and tattoo care, was created in response to ongoing questions about his grooming regimen. It now competes directly with legacy names like Clinique, L’Oréal and Kiehl’s.

Brands like War Paint and Stryx argue that men need products designed for their thicker, oilier skin, and packaged in masculine, tool-like containers that feel at home in a gym bag.

But Gen Z consumers are increasingly gravitating toward gender-neutral brands like LVMH co-owned Fenty Beauty, The Ordinary and Haus Labs. For them, labels that say “For Men” can feel outdated or even patronizing, Horvath said.

“In ten years, I don’t think we’ll be talking about ‘men’s makeup’ anymore,” Horvath said. “We will just be talking about makeup. The gender binary in beauty is dissolving, and the sales data is finally catching up to the culture.”