They say that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder,’ and thinking about our progressive society, beauty is, indeed, no longer synonymous to perfection nor confined to a specific size and skin color. Now, the fashion and cosmetics industry is celebrating diversity through beauty inclusive campaigns.
Due to this inspiring beauty movement, it is no longer surprising to see a lot of plus size models taking the runway by storm and a wide array of foundation shades populating beauty stores.
Benefit Cosmetics, an American beauty company, is popularly known for their holy grail make-up products. From their famous make-up and skin care products, Benefit cosmetics has been making women happy, fabulous, and gorgeous since the year 1976. Now, they are painting a wide smile on people’s faces for being a cosmetics company that celebrates beauty in diversity!
This January, Benefit Cosmetics Ireland made rounds online not only for their best-selling beauty products but for their new face as well! Kate Grant, a 20-year-old Irish model with Down syndrome joined their roster of beauty ambassadors. This news is another feather to the cap of the people with Down syndrome and disabilities for this goes to show that just like the rest – they can take the world by storm!
“She is paving the way for people coming behind her,” Deidre Grant, Kate’s ever supportive and loving mother shared in one of her interviews. “Kate is aware of that and wants to spread awareness about inclusion for people with disabilities and that is what she has done from the very start,” the proud mother added.
According to a representative of Benefit Cosmetics Ireland, they took interest of Kate amidst the summer of 2018 because of her uplifting Facebook video.
“We discovered Kate by chance in the summer of 2018 when we saw a Facebook video about her journey to becoming a model,” Michelle Stoodley, the Head of Digital for Benefit Cosmetics UK, shared. “We fell instantly in love with her.”
Because of Kate’s positive outlook, infectious energy, and irresistible charm, the team could not help themselves but fall in love with the young lady.
“We were captivated by her incredible zest for life and determination. She embodied everything we stand for as a brand so we knew we had to find a way to work with her.” Stoodley stated, expressing nothing but words of praise for the inspiring Kate.
“We’re truly honored that Kate was able to join us, and we hope her involvement goes someway to showing that beauty and makeup shots can absolutely feature people from all walks of life,” the Head of Digital for Benefit Cosmetics UK added. “The beauty industry is changing and we love that people like Kate are leading the way.”
Indeed, Kate is a certified trailblazer – setting the path for others to follow. As it turns out, this is not the first time that Kate made her mark in the beauty industry. In the year 2018, the inspiring woman was also the talk of the town (or should we say the world!) when she became the first woman with Down syndrome to be crowned as the Teen Ultimate Beauty of The World!
After making history, Kate shared in an interview how she feels about her inspiring achievement – taking the opportunity to express her gratitude to the people who never stopped believing in her abilities.
“I was in shock. My family were all in the audience, crying and cheering. My dream has come true. And that dream is to get a chance to inspire young people who have Down’s syndrome and other special needs to believe in themselves.” Kate said.
In their Instagram account, the Benefit Cosmetics happily introduced the model and beauty queen to the world, officially launching Kate as their beauty ambassador for their newest roller liner. Together with Kate’s jaw-dropping campaign photo is a caption that reads:
“Meet the new face of our #rollerliner campaign! At Benefit, we celebrate women who stand up for what they believe in — which is why we’re working with @kategrantmodel, whose motto is “different is beautiful.” We couldn’t agree more… check out her page to see why she’s a true benebabe! #benefit”
The Instagram post that went viral online reached over 20 thousand likes in less than a week, and earned nothing but beautiful words from the people of the internet!
“YES! Different IS beautiful.” An Instagram user exclaimed, voicing her strong approval of Benefit’s #InclusiveBeauty campaign.
“Check her out!!!! She’s so gorgeous!!!!” Another Instagram user said, even tagging a friend of hers to spread the good news.
“She is so beautiful, thanks @benefitcosmetics. This shows that you are part of #inclusion and this fills the hearts of humanity and compassion.” Another Facebook user said, happy for Benefit Cosmetics’ decision to have Kate as their ambassador.
In an email with Simplemost, Stoodley shared that this is definitely not the last time that Kate would be the face of their beauty product. “We’ll most definitely be looking to work with Kate again on another campaign.”
Watch Kate in this 30-sec video to see her enjoying her new role as Benefit Cosmetic’s new ambassador. SHARE her heartwarming and uplifting story that goes to show that beauty comes in different packages!
Video | Benefit Cosmetics UK & Ireland