Published on October 30, 2019

HOW MEN'S GROOMING HAS CHANGED

Fifteen years ago, it would have been hard to convince the average man to use more than a single block of soap to look after himself from top to toe, let alone a root-boosting hair tonic, alpha lipoic acid night serum or white algae anti-ageing eye cream.

What is clear is that men continue to embrace grooming in all its forms, with no slowdown in sight. Social media has arguably had the most significant recent impact on body ideals. A constant stream of comparison with friends and colleagues, easy access to celebrity culture, brands and influencers always selling to us – it all means we’re more conscious of how we look than ever before. We now live in a global community, and we’re also influenced by trends from around the world.

In November 2018, Chanel launched a makeup line for men in the UK, but the French fashion house chose to debut it in South Korea, where men have long had an advanced take on bathroom habits. One look at androgynous K-Pop stars like BTS tells us all we need to know; glossy lips, meticulously groomed brows, flawless, poreless skin and hints of mascara: these are the current aspirations for a lot of young men in the East Asian nation.

Of course, some will argue that a bathroom cabinet stocked with anything more than a gift set body wash diminishes traditional ideas of ‘masculinity’. Ten years ago, most alpha males believed that armpit juice was all that was needed to attract a mate. But what’s wrong with wanting to be a smoother, fresher version of our original selves?

Content from Fashion Beans ; Jessica Punter

Today, a daily Korean seven-step personal care routine is becoming more the norm, with a tsunami of new, sophisticated grooming products launching every year. But although we have them, do we know what we’re doing with them? To save you the mortal embarrassment of heading to the emergency room having ingested half a tub of sugar wax, here is a definitive guide to all things grooming: a handbook on hair, a manual on manscaping, a primer on, well, primer. You get the idea.

Male grooming can be traced back millions of years to when cavemen used hinged shells to tweeze whiskers from their face. However, the trend didn’t move from the fringe to mainstream culture until much more recently.The gay community was one the earliest adopters of male grooming during the 1970s, from the ultra-preened and plucked-all-over look to the ‘hairy bear’ tribes.

A few decades later in the noughties, the football pitch became the next global platform, with the likes of David Beckham (who now has his own range of men’s grooming products) first castigated then celebrated for his ‘metrosexual’ commitment to cosmetics. Simultaneously, there was a burgeoning obsession with the gym body.

All the while, with the female market reaching saturation, beauty brands began eyeing the men’s category as ripe for growth. Fast forward to the present day, and global revenues in male grooming are expected to reach $78 billion (£60bn) by 2023, according to research firm IMARC. Global warming has had an impact, too. Recent summers have brought some of the hottest days ever recorded in the UK, resulting in a spike in self-tanning, and a 30 per cent increase in male body waxing, according to beauty booking platform Treatwell. Since the beginning of 2018, the website has also seen a jump in demand from men for regular haircuts, hair colouring, Brazilian hair straightening and facials.

By Trevor Studd