By Destany Fuller | WeINSPIRE Journalist

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Over time, there have been increasingly more men in the media promoting the uses of makeup and skincare products. For Ricardo Ron, this representation still isn’t enough. What started in 2018 as a young man in front of his camera trying out products to improve his own skin, has turned into a platform with over 20 thousand followers where men can find tips and suggestions to help with various areas of hygiene. Whether it’s skincare, beard care, haircare or more, one can find plenty of suggestions and regimens on Ron’s Instagram, YouTube and TikTok pages.

Ron’s message is very clear in all of his content: skincare and makeup have no gender. This is something he especially wants African American men to understand, specifically because there’s such a large stigma about self-care being feminine.

“To this very moment, I’m still fighting to help a lot of men understand that skincare is for everybody… skincare is not created for just women,” Ron said. “Even something as simple as washing your face with soap is skincare. A lot of men don’t realize that’s what they’re doing. They may not be doing it correctly, but you have a skincare regimen, you just don’t know how to tailor it.”

The influencer hopes that with the help of his content, he can help make men feel more comfortable with the intimidating factors or skincare. 

“[There’s] a masculinity issue, [there’s] an insecurity issue, [there’s] a lack of representation in stores,” Ron explained. “If you walk into Ulta or Sephora, you’ll see a lot of women’s faces on skincare products; you’ll see a lot of pinks and purples. That really deters men from buying a product that’s made for them as well.” 

Ron publicly shares that he is not a licensed esthetician. Rather, his journey started when he began to research and test products that would eventually help him determine and correct his own skin issues. After some time, he began posting videos to share what was giving him the best results. He then started to get questions from his followers about product recommendations as well as where to buy them. From there, his platform was born and is continuously growing. While anyone can use the tips he shares, Ron says that his content is directed primarily towards men.

The 32-year-old’s enthusiasm to share skincare and grooming tips only grew upon noticing that not many people who look like him were having these conversations and promoting this kind of content. 

“I’ve observed the fact that there are not too many black men in the skincare industry,” Ron shared. “Scrolling through Instagram, my feed will mainly be black women, white women and white men. I’ve never really seen black men discussing skincare outside of the barbers, getting a haircut or maybe a beard shape-up here and there. [They’re] never really talking about the importance of skincare.”

Ron admitted that his platform has not always been as successful as it is now. In the beginning, he was posting with little to no interaction due to a lack of men searching for the type of content he shares. When first creating content, he found it easiest to target major issues and later connect those issues to men. He found he could do this by focusing on beard care, something a lot of men are interested in. From there, he continued to branch off into different areas using this method. 

“I think it was more comfortable for men to reach out to me just because I wasn’t doing it in a way to make them uncomfortable,” Ron said. “I wasn’t creating content like normal makeup artists who [are] applying makeup, doing eyeshadows and that kind of stuff. I was strictly doing skincare. I would make a video washing my face, putting on a toner, putting on moisturizer and telling them why this is important. I think it was making the process simpler for [viewers] to understand.” 

Ron also shared the importance of partnering with brands that sell products with ingredients that African Americans can use too. His first experience with this came from his partnership with Urban Skin Rx, a black-owned skincare brand. From there he knew he wanted to share products that benefit everyone, but specifically black men. 

“I’ve learned that a lot of skincare products are not made for us,” Ron said. “When I say that, it’s not made for our kind of skin. The reason I was drawn to Urban Skin Rx is because I saw black faces on the marketing and black faces in the promotion… I’ve had a company offer me hair pomades [and] dry shampoo, and I’m like ‘honestly, do you think a black man is going to use dry shampoo or a hair-slick pomade?’ That’s not for me so I’m not going to market that type of product.” 

Ron hopes to one day expand his influence beyond the internet by one day opening a store comparable to Ulta and Sephora. This store would sell products catered directly towards men. 

Though he’s still learning and his platform is still growing, Ron says he considers himself to be a trailblazer for black men in the skincare industry. 

“Eventually, whenever I do blow up from doing this, I will say ‘yeah, I’m a trailblazer’... I didn’t necessarily start this trend, but I’m definitely one of the voices that got the trend moving,” Ron said proudly. “Even though I may be one of the select few that’s doing it, [no one else is] doing it like me.”

To view some of Ricardo’s content, be sure to follow his social media pages at @ricrdoron on Instagram and TikTok or Ricardo Ron on YouTube. 

Watch the Full Interview Here: