A guy’s guide to grooming: Real men use mud masks
LONDON — Paul
The 38- year- old father of four played football in college, loves bourbon and never pays more than $ 20 for a haircut. Yet every evening, he applies wrinkle- fighting Olay skin cream to battle the crow’s feet around his eyes.
“It’s 25 bucks for a bottle, but it’s worth it,” said Bopp, awealth manager in Columbia, S. C. “My dad looked like he was 60 when he was 42. I don’t want that. The days of being aNeanderthal are over.”
Men like Bopp are proof that guys’ grooming products — hair serums, eye rollers, exfoliating scrubs— are reaching a wider audience than ever. Global sales of male toiletries other than razors, blades and shaving cream will rise 5 percent to $ 17.5 billion this year, surpassing the shaving segment for the first time, according to Euromonitor. Unilever, with its Axe and Dove brands, has 26 percent of the market, more than Procter & Gamble Co., Nivea maker Beiersdorf and L’Oreal combined.
“The key objective among all the manufacturers is turning a regime that you have to do into a ritual youwant to do,” said Phil White, European planning director at marketing firm Geometry Global, part of London- based advertising groupWPPPlc. “They are trying to establish that ritual.”
Bopp
is
not
metrosexual.
Rough around the edges
That hasn’t been easy as 90 percent of menspenda half- hour or less getting ready in the morning, according to researcher Mintel. Ben Voyer, a social psychologist and marketing professor at ESCP Europe business school, said that’s due to the perception that men get more attractive as they age, so they don’t need to take care of their skin, and because men simply don’t worry as much about howthey look.
Women use cosmetics “to signal beauty and youth, which are the attributes men look for,” Voyer said. “Men, on the other hand, have traditionally signaled status andwealth, the attributeswomenlook for.”
Manufacturers have found clever ways to convince guys to worry about their looks, explaining that their skin is different — thicker, tougher, more oily — and requires specialized products. As a L’Oreal ad once warned: “You think you’re aging well? She thinks you’re letting yourself go.” Half of American men now use skincare products as part of their daily routine, Mintel has found.
“Six years ago, I had one shampoo, a body wash and a toothbrush and that was it,” said Adam Causgrove, 29, a grant administrator in Pittsburgh, Penn. “As I’ve gotten older and more self- aware, I cannot begrudge anyone for wanting to put their best face forward.”
Male beauty brands aren’t new — Beiersdorf introducedNivea forMen back in 1986. These days, niche brands like Britain’s Bulldog and France’s Nickel, part of Inter Parfums Inc., are helping expand the market.
Both lines appeal to men by explaining in simple terms how, when andwhy to use their products; Nickel’s revitalizing serum is called “Morning- After Rescue.” And Bulldog, now sold in 13 countries, takes a cheeky swipe at Dove’s Men+ Care and L’Oreal’sMen Expert ranges, calling them “women’s brands in disguise.”
Most men, though, don’t mind using brands geared to women. While 70 percent ofmenages18to24use facial skincare products, only two in 10 buy male- only brands, Mintel found. Causgrove, for one, swears by Crabtree& Evelyn’s alcohol- free aftershave. “I don’t know if it’s only for women, but I get horrible razor burn and this is really good,” he says.