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| MenandboyS grooming store in Bangalore, India |
This is my virgin men's grooming blogpost. I promise not to use the words “metrosexual” “retrosexual” or “ubersexual,” as many recent bloggers of male grooming and skin care use these words attempting to sound intellectual, like they really know what they are talking about. I don't know what they mean and, quite frankly, am tired of reading that same stuff over and over.
So...what IS up with the male grooming market? The male grooming market has been booming globally for years. Booming globally EXCEPT in the United States. We are the laggards. Maybe it is due to the economy, which is an easy scapegoat for the Theory of Negativity, but more likely, it is due to guys lack of education on the importance of having good skin or how to develop a daily skin care regimen. All we learn is shaving and using whatever the marketeers with the big ad budgets sell us, whether that's FusionProGlide or Schick vs. Edge or Old Spice or Skin Bracer. Thanks, I needed that.
Look at what's been happening in Asia, where demand for men's skincare products has exploded the last two years. In 2010, China surpassed the United States in sales of dry facial skin care products (i.e. a subset of men's grooming and skin care products, primarily moisturizers, cleansers and exfoliants, not shaving, hair or toiletries) with $269.6 million in sales vs. $227.4 million in the U.S. An article in the December GCIMagazine explains “Asian men strive for fair, flawless skin and will go to extreme measures to attain it.” It is a normal expectation that males are taught to care for their skin from a young age, to keep one's skin fresh and healthy, to want to remove the dead skin cells on one's face and rub on a moisturizer. A common unity - dare I say, religion - of maintaining healthy body and spirit.
Look at what's been happening in Asia, where demand for men's skincare products has exploded the last two years. In 2010, China surpassed the United States in sales of dry facial skin care products (i.e. a subset of men's grooming and skin care products, primarily moisturizers, cleansers and exfoliants, not shaving, hair or toiletries) with $269.6 million in sales vs. $227.4 million in the U.S. An article in the December GCIMagazine explains “Asian men strive for fair, flawless skin and will go to extreme measures to attain it.” It is a normal expectation that males are taught to care for their skin from a young age, to keep one's skin fresh and healthy, to want to remove the dead skin cells on one's face and rub on a moisturizer. A common unity - dare I say, religion - of maintaining healthy body and spirit.
Better yet in India. Gillette is planning to open 2,000 salons there by 2013 which will go beyond traditional barbershop shaves and offer facials, manicures and pedicures. That's ambitious, but Gillette views an underserved market exposed to international grooming and fashion trends.
Therein lies the key. Men want good skin. Men want healthy skin and are willing to make the effort to have that, to go beyond just a shave and a haircut. Men take pride in a well-groomed appearance to show class and experience.
In the U.S., many men believe they take pride in how they look simply by virtue of shaving or stopping at QuikCuts, but few truly are, trying to get away on the cheap, spend and do as little as possible as quickly as possible. That mentality has to change, or the U.S. will continue to be the world's grooming laggard.
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Well, we've finished Movember moustache month (intended to create awareness of prostate cancer). Hear hear, I don't have a moustache and look lousy with one, but I am all for creating awareness of prostate cancer, and I wholeheartedly encourage men over 45 to have their prostate checked, i.e. get a medical checkup annually.
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