Rimmel London's banned back-to-school make-up ad shows big changes still need to happen in the beauty industry

Females of all ages are constantly being bombarded with the message that they must wear make-up in order to be their best selves - it's on social media, in magazines, on the TV, and even as you walk down the street in the form of billboard advertising. It's impossible to get away from, and it's disheartening, infuriating, and damaging.

But, finally, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has taken action. They've just banned an advert from Rimmel London which seemed to imply that young girls need to wear make-up to be successful at school. The Facebook advertisement, seen on Saturday September 9, read: “Get ready to slay this back-to-school season. Get 25% off Multi-Tasker Concealer and other Rimmel faves…”

The ASA said: “We considered that the use of the word ‘slay’ in the claim ‘Get ready to slay this back-to-school season’ implied that girls or young women were more likely to succeed or do well when they went back to school if they wore make-up. We considered the ad had the effect of playing on young girls’ insecurities about their appearance and therefore concluded it was irresponsible.”

Coty UK, trading as Rimmel London, said the ad was part of its “Back to School” campaign but “in no way” communicated a need to wear make-up, and instead targeted women aged 18 to 35 who were interested in cosmetics, beauty, fashion and make-up. It said the wording “Get ready to slay this back-to-school season” was intended to motivate and build confidence, rather than prey on young girls’ insecurities. . . I'll point out the obvious here, most 18 to 35 year olds have long since left school so, sorry Coty UK, I just don't understand that explanation. It's ridiculous, quite frankly, and sounds like someone is making something up to try to defend themselves. But, there's no covering this up with concealer.

I can't believe that in 2023, and almost 2024, females are still being told that make-up is needed in order to do well in life. It makes me feel so sad and disappointed. The saddest thing of all is that the message is now being targetted at younger and younger women. I'm grateful that we have the ASA who can step in and ban inappropriate ads like the Rimmel one, but with the best will in the world countless girls will have already now seen the advert and the impression will have been made.

I left school well over a decade ago, but even then I remember the pressure to wear make-up. My school tried to combat the issue by banning make-up under school uniform rules, as I understand many other schools did then and still do now, but many girls simply ignored this. Even those who abided by the rule would turn up on non-uniform days with a face full of every make-up product going as they saw this as a time when the rules wouldn't apply. It was an on-going battle between teachers and students, and I'm sure students and parents.

It's really not helpful if the beauty brands are reinforcing the idea that pupils need an eye-liner pencil just as much as they need an actual pencil. Now, I'm well aware that make-up isn't going to just go away, and young girls will always want to experiment with it as they learn how to apply it and what looks like like and don't like - but there's a huge difference between wearing make-up because you've been led to believe it's needed and wearing make-up because it's a fun form of expression.

In case you're wondering, I've never worn a lot of make-up. As an adult, my make-up bag consists of some pink lipgloss, foundation, concealer, mascara, and some glitter eye-shadow - and the make-up bag only comes out on special occasions. As a schoolgirl I didn't wear make-up at all. I am lucky that my mum, who is a trained beauty therapist with make-up qualifications, taught me that I was beautiful without it, and also that my young skin didn't need make-up. So, I managed to avoid the pressure to be made-up and embraced being au naturel, but not everyone has the expertise of a beauty professional - and all round strong woman - in their house to take advice from. It was still hard to take that stand though.

What we need is brands who take that stand too and tell us that make-up isn't necessary. I know there's a line to be toed here; the make-up brands still need to sell their products, of course, but wouldn't it be great if their adverts showed us that make-up can be a fun way to express individuality instead. More to the point, it would be fantastic if the adverts were targeted at both women and men. Another thing I just can't make sense of, in a world where we say 'anyone can do what they want to do and be who they want to be', and indeed men do wear make-up too, why make-up ads are still targeted almost exclusively at women. This is something else beauty brands need to take a stand on too.

Finally, don't target beauty campaigns at kids. Brands are powerful influencers, and no matter how big social meda influencers get I reckon they'll always be the biggest. If the Rimmel advert had been around when I was at school it would have honestly made me question my choice not to wear make-up. Children need messages about the importance of working hard in order to succeed. They need encouragement to chase their dreams. They certainly don't need messages about make-up - unfortunately there's plenty of that in adulthood. Let's hope the next generation of ad designers have got strong mums like mine to put them on the right path so that the adverts of the future can tell a different story.