Guys don’t realize how good they have it.
Sure, they’ve got to wash their hair, shave their faces and throw on some aftershave.
But come on. It takes much longer for women to shave two legs, wash their long locks and put on makeup. As for styling hair: Women have to dry, curl, spray, then spray again. (OK, some women are pretty low maintenance, but most are into primping.)
For some men, owning a hair dryer and styling products is way too complicated. Even shaving isn’t an issue for some of them. “Guys don’t have a lot of patience. They don’t want to spend a lot of time on grooming,” said Michael Gilman, co-founder of groominglounge.com, a Web site devoted to men and their grooming habits. J.D. McCully, a color specialist with Sephora in New York City, said there are fewer expectations for men when it comes to beauty. “Society makes it much easier for men,” he said. “A shave and a hair cut are it.”
Most guys don’t realize how much women go through, not only during their morning rituals, but also at the store. “Men who shop for cosmetics with women are totally shocked by the amount [of money] women spend,” McCully said.
For the most part, men don’t have the patience to tend to their grooming needs, they want products that are quick and easy, Gilman said. Instead of buying three products for three different things, they want one product that does all three. And they don’t want to have to search for it.
“Guys are more concerned about their looks,” McCully said. “But they’d rather reach into their wife’s or girlfriend’s medicine chests for them. There’s still a stigma to it. They want to use the products, but it’s not considered macho to go to the cash register with them.”
But don’t let them fool you, ladies; Men are beginning to spend as much time primping as women. According to groominglounge.com, men spend about 51 minutes getting ready every morning, just four minutes short of women’s 56-minute daily regimen.
Some remedies for embarrassing issues
Guys can visit www.groominglounge.com for great grooming ideas. Here are a few products they suggest for those issues you don’t talk about at parties:
– For the uni-brow or back-hair: Lycon Waxing Kit ($40)
– For nose hairs: Panasonic Personal Trimmer ($29)
– Hangover helper for under-eye bags: Molton Brown Eye Rescue ($39)
