makeup in motorsport

Elisa Vicencio

Beauty brands are fuelling the rise of female racing, but how does makeup in motorsports help further the cause?

Women’s motorsport has never been in a better place. With the announcement of the F1 Academy early last year, there is finally a clear pathway for young women to not only participate but thrive in the male-dominated world of motorsport.

Simultaneously, there has also been an increasing female viewership. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali stated in 2022 that 40 per cent of global F1 fans are women, leading to a total viewership of over 1.5 billion.

This increasingly female demographic could be attributed to the Drive to Survive effect, the popular Netflix docu-series following the world of F1. However, it’s no coincidence that both on-track and off-track participation in motorsport are coinciding with one another. Women’s sports as a whole have taken great strides recently, with women’s elite sports set to generate more than $1 billion in global revenue this year for the first time in history.

“Anastasia Beverly Hills announced it would sponsor F4 and F1 Academy driver Bianca Bustamante”

This increasing appetite has encouraged further brand participation in women’s elite sports, creating the conditions for a new partnership with beauty brands. This type of sponsorship is particularly unique as these beauty brands have a predominantly female consumer base. This encourages a symbiotic relationship between their consumers and the women’s motorsport audience and is particularly important given the difficulties regarding funding and sponsorship in women’s motorsport, demonstrated by the W Series abruptly ending their 2022 season due to financial difficulties.

Anastasia Beverly Hills x Bianca Bustamante

The first indication of a trend towards beauty brands sponsoring motorsports was in November 2023. Anastasia Beverly Hills announced it would sponsor F4 and F1 Academy driver Bianca Bustamante, their first athlete ambassador, at the Macau Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old’s livery sported the Anastasia Beverly Hills logo as part of the sponsorship. Additionally, Bustamante uploaded a “Get Ready with Me” TikTok, showing the Anastasia Beverly Hills Makeup she wore over the race weekend. Bustamante, currently McLaren’s F1 Academy driver, is popular within motorsport. She has amassed over 1.4 million followers on Instagram, making her the perfect athlete for Anastasia Beverly Hill’s entry into sports.

“Motorsport has a huge female following, and the drivers of F1 Academy are already increasing representation and diversity in the sport.”

In an interview with Yahoo Sport, Bustamante said, “For a women-owned brand to support a woman in a male-dominated sport is huge.”  “I’ve gotten criticism for wearing makeup while I race, but that’s one thing I’ve always loved – is the fact that I can combine creativity, beauty, and motorsport and be feminine in a male-dominated sport”.

Charlotte Tilbury x F1 Academy

In a first-of-its-kind partnership, F1 Academy announced Charlotte Tilbury would be the title sponsor for the 2024 season, the beauty brand’s first-ever global sports partnership. The brand sponsored an F1 Academy car, covered in a Charlotte Tilbury-inspired livery and driven by 18-year-old Lola Lovinfosse. Charlotte Tilbury x F1 Academy also hosted an event at the Miami Grand Prix.

Charlotte Tilbury stated, “Motorsport has a huge female following, and the drivers of F1 Academy are already increasing representation and diversity in the sport. With this partnership, we will use our global platform to elevate this new generation of fearless young female drivers and open up the traditionally male-dominated world of motorsport to even more talented young women.”.

E.l.f. Cosmetics x Indy500

Over in the United States, e.l.f. Cosmetics announced in April they would be the official partner of the Indy500 for 2024, one of the three crowns of motorsport. This partnership marked the expansion of the cosmetic brand’s involvement in racing, with the company also being the primary sponsor of Katherine Legge, the only woman participating in the series. In an interview with the Financial Times, Legge said, “e.l.f. ‘s presence on the racetrack is making the statement that beauty and women can belong everywhere.”

“women’s motorsport does not have to follow the template of male-dominated series like F1″

As an official partner, e.l.f. Cosmetics hosted a “Lip Oil Change” activation, celebrating the nine women who have taken part in the Indy500 across its history,  increasing awareness of the brand at the track and the importance of Legge’s participation in the race. e.l.f Beauty’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kory Marchisotto, told the Financial Times, “Nine trailblazing women have competed in the Indy 500, and we hope to see this number grow swiftly in the years ahead while also expanding roles and opportunities on teams and crews. Our goal is to create spaces where women and girls feel accepted and represented, giving them the confidence to take the wheel and set their own course.”

Makeup in Women’s Elite Sports

Cosmetics companies have increasingly worked with women’s elite sports in recent years, with much success, despite these partnerships being relatively new in motorsport.

In late 2022, Il Makiage became the official beauty partner of Arsenal Women with a launch campaign called “Focus on My Game Face”. According to Il Makiage, their campaign aimed to “inspire women of all ages to unleash their boldest, most badass side.  According to a Women’s Sports Trust study, this campaign was deemed highly successful, with 31 per cent of people aware of the sponsorship more likely to consider buying from the brand.

This shows that women’s motorsport does not have to follow the template of male-dominated series like F1. In fact, it is beneficial for both women’s motorsport and cosmetics brands to collaborate as they both target a similar, predominantly female demographic. Additionally, according to the Unlimited Group’s Human Understanding Lab, female sports fans require a sense of community and belonging as an emotional drive behind their sporting fandom. These beauty partnerships speak to this need, bridging the gap between potential interests in makeup and motorsport.

With the rise in popularity of female motorsport, partnerships with cosmetic companies present lucrative opportunities for both parties in the long term to expand their viewership and consumer base. Hopefully, this is only the beginning.

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Featured image courtesy of  Cityswift on Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image licence found here.

Kerry graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Sheffield and has since pursued her passion for writing as a motorsport journalist. With an affinity for sport and film, Kerry is working towards her dream of becoming an F1 presenter.

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