Amid Shifting Gender Politics, Non Gender Specific Changes Name To NGS Beauty As Part Of Rebrand

From Non Gender Specific’s beginning eight years ago, the beauty brand’s concept was widely misunderstood.

It was meant to defy the beauty industry’s classically rigid gender divisions and be inclusive of consumers across the gender spectrum, from the manliest to the most feminine and everyone in between. But it was often interpreted as constraining the brand to the transgender community. Although supportive of that community, the perception limited its audience and led to it receiving up to several hateful messages a week from opponents of transgender people.

Now, with the ascendance of a Republican administration and political winds in the United States shifting toward the promotion of traditional gender roles, Non Gender Specific is clearing up any confusion by changing its name to NGS Beauty. The name change is part of broader renovations meant to level up the brand’s packaging and formulations while improving its affordability.

“A lot of people called us NGS anyway. It is still a nod to the original name, but it’s less polarizing, and it will appeal to a wider audience and eliminate a lot of the questions people had when they first saw the name. Our mission is being a brand that appeals to everybody, and I felt that the name was holding us back,” says Andrew Glass, founder of NGS Beauty. “Aside from the name, I wanted to elevate the brand. We are deeply rooted in nature and botanicals, but in a much more polished way.”

Self-funded NGS Beauty has spent upwards of $150,000 to elevate its look and feel by enhancing the sensory elements of the brand. That’s more than the around $100,000 it took to launch Non Gender Specific in 2017. It’s swapped out plastic packaging—its cleanser was previously housed in plastic, for example—in favor of glass containers throughout the line. The brand’s minimalistic design features metallic finishes and bronze tones.

Currently, NGS Beauty is selling five products—Active Botanical Nourishing Cream, Citrus Blossom Oil Cleanser, Pro Facial Steaming System, face oil Phytonutrient Concentrate and fragrance Flooid—and it plans to have nine by spring 2026. Phytopearl Botanical Serum, Le Corps Resurrecting Body Serum, Herbal Mud Ritual Cleanser, Bloomlift Firming Cream and Regenerative Duality Drops are products on their way.

The bestselling serum, Everything Serum, is being replaced by Phytopearl Botanical Serum, and the formula has been updated by incorporating encapsulated green pearls carrying active ingredients that burst upon application. Among the serum’s ingredients are niacinamide, tripeptide-38, phospholipids, kelp and spirulina.

At Non Gender Specific, Everything Serum, Everything Cream, Phytonutrient Concentrate and Flooid drove 80% of sales. Everything Cream is being replaced by Active Botanical Nourishing Cream at NGS Beauty. The prices have been reduced to $28 to $98, putting the entire collection under $100. Flooid, the priciest product at $98, used to be $125.

“I wanted to be super conscious with where we are in the world and the economy. We have never been a brand that charged outrageous prices. I always wanted to be really fair, and I wanted to be even more conscious with the rebrand,” says Glass. “I really wanted to provide product that felt like something that would cost three times as much.”

“Our mission is being a brand that appeals to everybody, and I felt that the name was holding us back.”

To unveil the rebrand, NGS Beauty is embarking on a billboard and wheatpasting campaign in New York City’s Lower East Side in October. The campaign showcases images lensed by photographer Clay Goswick of people with different skin tones and ethnicities ensconced in botanicals. NGS Beauty is spending roughly $25,000 on the billboards and wheatpasting.

“We utilize botanicals as protective elements against environmental stressors and pollutants. We call it a botanical cage. They are invisible, but they are protecting you,” says Glass. “Even if something may sound super science-y or modern, there’s a natural element to everything we do that you are being encompassed in.”

In its biggest sales year, Non Gender Specific generated around $3.5 million, according to Glass. He believes the brand could approach that amount this year. The brand’s core audience is 22- to 28-year-olds, and 65% of its customer base are women.

Non Gender Specific had been stocked in several retailers such as Credo, Sephora Southeast Asia, Fenwick, Douglas and Macy’s. NGS Beauty remains at Macy’s, but the brand made a deliberate post-pandemic decision to focus on direct-to-consumer distribution rather than retail.

Along with its billboard and wheatpasting campaign, it’s ramping up social media marketing. It has partnerships with about 15 beauty and health influencers and makeup artists. The next step is bringing dermatologists into the mix.

Glass, formerly the global brand manager for La-tweez and EvolutionMan Skincare, is a serial entrepreneur. Along with Shayan Sadrolashrafi, he founded at-home waxing product brand Wakse in 2018. Last year, Glass told Beauty Independent that Wakse was on track to generate $9 million in sales and nearly double that by summer this year.

In another project with Sadrolashrafi, he ran the sexual wellness brand Nauox from 2023 to 2024. Preceding Nauox, Glass had natural skincare products brand Joos from 2018 to 2023. Outside of beauty, he started portable seat brand EverUncharted in 2024.

Glass’s portfolio of beauty brands is growing with Scent Generation, an affordable fragrance brand soaked in nostalgia and aimed at millennials and gen Zers. It’s slated for a spring debut, and he has a fourth brand on the docket for 2026, too.

Why does NGS Beauty endure as Glass’s beauty pursuits proliferate? “It’s like my blank canvas,” he says. “I am not answering to anybody but myself. NGS is a true representation of what I envision a skincare brand should be, and it’s a way for me to get out all of my creative juices.”