The man and his moisturizer

“Aiyo, Jillian, how come u look like an auntie when u are only so young? For goodness’ sake, wear some make up la!”

This was what a MALE customer of mine said to me one day. And I found out that he has got better tips on personal grooming than any of my girlfriends. Ouch!

Gone are the days when the desire to look good and smell good is solely a woman’s privilege.

Gone are the days when spas, beauty and slimming salons are out of bounds to the men out there.

Gone are the days when only the fairer sex contributes more to the beauty industry in the pursuit of ultimate beauty.

In this day and age, the quest for good looks is part and parcel of everyone’s lives. Men included. The male preoccupation for aesthetic harmony, is now COMPARABLE to that of women.

Social conventions traditionally have it that women should be more concerned about their appearances than men. But hey... think about it for a while. Do you know that male displays of vanity dated back to the days of Narcissus?

For many years, Japanese men have been going to salons, getting their eyebrows neaten, their pores cleaned and their hands manicured. Just 5 years ago, men in the other parts of the world would have squirmed at the mere thought of stepping into a salon. Nowadays, the trend has swept the rest of the world’s male population by whirlwind and has given rise to a brand new species: the metrosexual.

The term “metrosexual” was actually invented by Mark Simpson, a British writer. It describes an urban male with a strong aesthetic sense who spends a great deal of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle and is NOT afraid to embrace his feminine side.

An epitome of the metrosexual is none other than the famous footballer, David Beckham, sexual scandals aside, who has been known to paint his fingernails. Even in the local scene, our very own comedian Mark Lee has gone through multiple facial peels, to smoothen his orange peel like skin. Kumar? He's definitely in touch and embracing his feminine side. *grin*

This is not only happening to the rich and famous, my customer for one, spends his free time working out and going for facials, shopping and making sure he slaps on his trusted moisturizer on a quotidian basis.

Until recently, the male grooming market was just about shaving creams and toothpaste. But at the end of the last century, fashion and cosmetics brands started to capitalize on metrosexuality to break into the men’s market. Jean Paul Gaultier, who was one of the first to go into the industry, lauched a product line for men and within 6 months after the launch, more than 500,000 items were sold!And listen to this!

In a survey done by the British retail chain Superdrug, women are asked to identify annoying habits of their husbands or boyfriends.

More than 3 quarter of the participants say that they hate it when their man swipe their beauty products, ranking it a BIGGER sin than leaving the toilet seats up.

In a recent FHM survey done in Wales, a total of 67 % of total men under 40 now use a moisturizer, 76 % use a blemish concealer and 85% admitted to spending more than 45 pounds a month on skincare! Goodness! That’s even more than what I spend on grooming myself! Can't believe men are getting more and more vain these days.

In France, for instance, the growth of men’s beauty products OVER-PERFORMED the whole market, with an average increase on 7% from 1997 to 2001. In 2003 alone, men’s cosmetic products counted for 10.5% of the whole French market.

In Singapore, more and more beauty salons are coming up with programs for the urban male and they are also making a huge impact in the way that the Singapore Man sees personal grooming.

With more men working in the services industries and having occupations where personal appearance has become a key success factor, it is hardly surprising isn’t it?

At the end of the day, men are moving away from the traditional idea of “the closer you resemble monkeys, the more manly you are”. In my humble opinion, men are the new women, and this idea is here to stay. Oh and by the way, I don’t really look that bad, do I?