Junior year of high school was a busy one for aspiring makeup artist James Charles. He launched his Instagram account, raked in over 400K subscribers, and took his senior portrait not once, but twice just to make sure his highlighter would truly pop, quickly becoming a viral sensation. As if that weren't enough to elicit the envy of all his schoolmates, today, just a few months into his senior year of high school, the 17-year-old has another teeny-tiny makeup accolade to add to his list: He is the first male CoverGirl (or Cover Boy, if you will) in 58 years.
Charles makes beauty history as he joins current ambassador Katy Perry to promote the brand's products. And we're not talking about a one-time sponsored Instagram post, people. The teen will star in TV, print, and digital campaigns for the brand. The first product launching with Charles' stamp of approval? CoverGirl's new So Lashy Mascara.
CoverGirl's announcement of its first-ever male face is major. Not only is it inspiring to see an established, mass cosmetics brand acknowledge that beauty isn't gender-exclusive, but it gives hope to young people who still feel that their dreams are dictated by outdated societal norms. Our hope is that Charles gets his own line of CoverGirl cosmetics (not unlike Katy Perry's collection), because if Charles' makeup prowess tells us anything, it's that any product he touches will be damn good. And we could really use a solid drugstore highlighter.
Click through to see James Charles' makeup skills in action — and prepare to be inspired.
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