Is mens attitude to beauty products changing?
It’s normaly women who take ages over the way they look, spending hours in the bathroom over their various beauty routines and applying loads of different moisturisers, creams and hair products every day. Time was most men would laugh at this, claim that all you needed was a bit of soap and some deodorant and you were ready for the day – and any man admitting to having more of a beauty routine than having a shave in the morning would be called ‘such a girl’ by his mates. But a new trend is emerging for men who care as much about their appearance as any girl, men who buy all sorts of beauty products and spend a lot of time and effort on skin care, and trying to achieve the perfectly coiffured hairdo. There are more and more men’s beauty products available both in shops and online, and the message is getting out that manly men can moisturise too!
Almost all the main brands for beauty have a fast-growing selection of products for men – from scented soaps, aftershave and deodorant to moisturisers and makeup. There are loads of men’s skin care products available from specialist men’s beauty sites online as well as a large variety of choice from high street brands like the Body Shop, Clinique and Clarins. You can even get makeup that’s especially for men – The Men Pen is a concealer stick that claims to be purposely formulated for men’s skin – whether it’s really any different from the concealer sticks that women have been using for decades or not, it has made the option more accessible to regular men who wouldn’t usually dream of using makeup.
As for hair, there are loads of men’s products available to help style-conscious men sculpt their hair into the perfect look. Again many of the main high street brands do men’s versions of their best-selling styling products, and men can choose from loads of different gels, waxes and sprays to keep hair looking good. You can even get men’s hair straighteners – the Mk 4 mini styler GHD straighteners are designed with men’s shorter styles in mind.
So what does this mean for the future of men’s grooming? Skin and hair care is certainly getting more accessible to men, and losing the stigma that used to go along with it. Perhaps for those boys who still think having a daily skincare routine is ‘girly’ it’s time they caught up!
