Why We Made lowkey Unisex: The Problem With Gendered Skincare

Walk down any drugstore aisle and the message is clear: skincare for women is pink, floral, and "gentle." Skincare for men is black, charcoal-scented, and "tough." The formulations inside? Often nearly identical. Sometimes literally the same product in different packaging at different price points.

When we started lowkey, we decided to skip all of that. Same jelly serum, same shampoo, same body oil — for everyone.

Skin Does Not Have a Gender

Dermatologically, there are differences between male and female skin. Men tend to have thicker skin, more collagen density, and higher sebum production. Women tend to experience more hormonal fluctuations that affect skin behavior. These are real biological differences.

But here is the thing — the variation within each gender is far greater than the variation between them. A man with dry, sensitive skin has more in common with a woman who has dry, sensitive skin than with a man who has oily, acne-prone skin. Grouping products by gender instead of skin type makes zero sense when you actually think about it.

The Marketing Tax

Gendered products create inefficiency for everyone. Women pay a well-documented pink tax — the same razor, deodorant, or moisturizer costs more in feminine packaging. Men, on the other hand, get pushed toward harsh formulations marketed as "powerful" or "deep cleaning" when their skin might actually need something gentler.

Both groups end up using products optimized for a demographic stereotype rather than their actual skin.

What We Do Differently

Every lowkey product is formulated for skin concerns, not gender categories. Our niacinamide serum works on enlarged pores whether those pores belong to a 25-year-old woman or a 40-year-old man. Our scalp treatments address thinning and buildup regardless of who is experiencing them.

The packaging is clean and neutral because the product inside does not need a gender assignment to be effective. We would rather spend money on better ingredients than on printing two versions of the same label.

A Growing Shift

We are not the first to go this direction, and we will not be the last. The industry is slowly catching on that consumers — especially younger ones — find gendered skincare outdated. A 2023 Mintel report found that 41% of men aged 18-34 are interested in beauty products not marketed to a specific gender.

People want things that work. Full stop. They do not want to navigate an artificial divide between the "for him" shelf and the "for her" shelf when both shelves contain variations of hyaluronic acid and vitamin C.

So we made lowkey for everyone. Because that is who skin belongs to.