READ MY LIPS!

Photos / BABY BOY
Beauty Editor / Rory Alvarez
Models / Blake Johnston with VNY MODELS  / Idrissa S. Marcus with NEXT

In a world where glossy perfection once ruled the beauty pageant, a new wave is crashing through—gritty, raw, and electric. We call it Beauty and the Punk.

This isn’t about the polished elite or boardroom-born product lines. It’s about the rule-breakers, the self-made chemists, the beauty rebels working out of kitchen sinks and basements.

These creators and beauty addicts aren’t waiting for permission. They’re formulating with intention, turning their bodies into battlegrounds of expression.

More than lipsticks and serums—we are building statements: Queer-owned skincare labs, Indigenous-founded fragrance houses, and Black and brown innovators redefining the “standard” in “standard beauty.” Beauty is no longer a silent act of conformity; it’s protest, poetry, it’s punk.

In the hands of these trailblazers, eyeliner becomes armor, hair becomes history, and pigment becomes political. They don’t ask what’s trending—they decide what matters.

Beauty and the Punk celebrates this fierce uprising—where innovation meets intention, and DIY becomes a declaration. These are the creators tearing up the old playbook and writing their own. Brave inventors of beauty are now the blueprint. They’re the proof that innovation doesn’t need a legacy label—it needs a voice.

Because beauty with a voice isn’t just louder, it’s lasting.

Pigment With a Point. In the hands of the so-called “beauty punk,” lipstick is not just color—it’s commentary. It’s not about prettiness—it’s about presence. A deep matte red becomes a refusal to shrink. A black lip says, I see your norms and reject them. Neon fuchsia? A war cry wrapped in gloss.

For generations, lipstick was used to silence or seduce—now it speaks loudly. It’s worn by activists marching in the streets, by trans femmes reclaiming space, or by women in war zones painting resilience onto their lips before stepping into chaos. It stains coffee cups, microphones, ballots, even a stranger’s cigarette.

This isn’t makeup—it’s a message. Because when the world tells you to tone it down, turning up the volume in crimson is nothing short of revolutionary.

Till next time, your Self-Made, Self-Styled & Unapologetically Loud… Beauty and the Punk.

Wearing ORIGINAL SIN By Poppy King.

Wearing Danessa Myricks color fix in shade BLACKOUT topped with STARGAZER gloss.

Special Thanks to POPPY KING for the Fabulous lipstick and inspiration.