Brad Pitt’s Genderless Skin Care Needs To Be Investigated Further

At the end of 2022, Brad Pitt shook the beauty world when he announced he was launching a ‘genderless’ skincare line. Le Domaine was the latest business venture inspired by (and using ingredients from) his vineyard, Château Beaucastel. The line promised to harness the naturally skin-loving ingredients known to vintners while also using big science to offer real results.

But there were a few problems. For one, Brad Pitt seemed bizarrely uninterested in his line. One interview with Vogue saw him refuse to even talk about his skincare routine. Many fans also pointed out that Pitt has never seemed to have any association with the beauty industry at all. Firstly, the legal and fiscal fortunes of his vineyard were called into question. Some people see Le Domaine as a quick way to squeeze some final drops of money out of the venture before it was lost in Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s messy divorce proceedings.

And squeeze some money, it did. This was another major critique of the range, as most of the products hovered around the £200 mark. This alone left a pretty bad taste in consumers’ mouths.

Genderless Skincare

However, that wasn’t all. The claims of the skincare line being “genderless” also didn’t sit right with some. And Le Domaine was part of a greater skincare trend towards this purported “genderlessness”. But what, exactly, does this mean?

Well, the problem is that all skincare is “genderless”. Skin isn’t determined by either your chromosomal makeup or your gender expression. We all need to do some basic things to care for our skin, and the idea that both men and women can use the same product is hardly a brand-new concept.

Basic Skincare

Men and women have never been marketed separately in terms of some hygiene products, like laundry detergent. But there is a distinctive male and female binary when it comes to others, like shower gel or deodorant. However, these differences are, for the most part, totally cosmetic – to do with scent, colour, or packaging design rather than any of the active ingredients inside.

Some of my favourite skincare products are already “genderless,” like my beloved CeraVe Moisturising Lotion. And that comes with a far more diminutive price tag than anything found on Pitt’s website. 

It’s far more important to choose your skincare based on your actual skin rather than any other concerns. It’s true that men’s skin tends to be thicker and feel oilier – but that isn’t a hard and fast rule! Similarly, women may need a more intense cleanser to remove their makeup – but it isn’t just women who wear makeup! Put simply, Brad Pitt calling a skincare product “genderless” is just as facile as saying it’s “skin friendly.” Of course, it is – now, tell us why we would actually want to use it.