Men like their moisturizers and sunblock, lip balm and after-shave gels.
But are they ready for makeup?
With shows like “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” introducing men to the finer points of grooming and the buzz about the “metrosexual,” the time may be right to offer men some of the products women have had in their beauty arsenal for years.
Jean Paul Gaultier’s Tout Beau Tout Propre line, which includes a concealer, eyeliner pencil and bronzer, has sold briskly at stores in Manhattan since it was introduced last month.
“Men’s grooming has come out of the closet,” says Maggie Ciafardini, executive vice president and general manager of Beaute Prestige International, which produces the cosmetics and skin care line.
“It’s not for every man or every city. It’s for the man who’s comfortable with himself,” she says. “He feels comfortable admitting that he needs the products. Although it’s for a very small segment of the male population, it’s selling beyond our expectations.”
“I wear eye cream, but I draw the line at color [cosmetics],” says Denver resident Scott Thring, 36, who has a background in the cosmeceuticals industry.
“I’d say yes to the bronzer, but no to all the other stuff,” says K.C. Veio, 37, a lawyer.
Some experts say it’s going to take some time for the trend to filter down.
“The things that scare anyone away at first are things from the style world that they embrace years later,” says Lloyd Boston, a New York-based style contributor to the “Today Show” on NBC and author of “Make Over Your Man.”
“No one would have dreamed body piercing would be so commonplace today, or that men would be highlighting and tinting their hair,” he says.
Men will wear makeup eventually, but “it will be a slow process–the link will be strong male icons doing it first,” he says.
He also thinks women will play a big role in whether men’s cosmetics are accepted.
“Women have the final say in what men wear. If a husband gets a nick or scrape and the wife helps him cover it with concealer, applying it discreetly, there you go,” he says.
“American men are more open,” Gaultier told Women’s Wear Daily. “(They) are taking care of themselves more and more.”
The line isn’t designed to make guys look feminine, he said, but to accentuate eye color or complexion.
Select Neiman Marcus stores and Bloomingdale’s in New York will have the products by the end of the year. The line will be sold in 50 stores across the country within a year, according to Ciafardini.
Another line getting notice is XCD–a not-quite acronym for Enhance, Camouflage, Defend from King of Shaves–which the company bills as products “that merge high-performance skin care with technology.” Translated, the line includes self-tanners, tinted moisturizers and an eye cream.
Among the customers for XCD is British soccer star David Beckham, who buys the products at the drugstore, according to this week’s People magazine.
Beau way
Jean Paul Gaultier’s Tout Beau Tout Propre male cosmetics line includes a bronzer and brush, $42; kohl pen and concealer, $22; lip balm, $18; lip roll, $18; and a nail pen, $16. Packaged discreetly, the pen and concealer look like an ink pen, and the bronzer comes in a plastic cube with the brush stored in the top.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)
