Well guys, it looks like our turn. After years of encouraging women to cleanse, tone and moisturise, the cosmetics business is intent on persuading us to do the same. Admittedly, many of us have already taken a covert dip into that mysterious jar in the bathroom, but now the marketing nous, scientific know-how and deep pockets of the beauty giants are aimed directly at our faces. With good reason; in 2003 sales of men’s cosmetics grew by 21 per cent and in the same period there was a 210 per cent increase in American men seeking non-surgical cosmetic procedures such as Botox or laser treatments.
Women’s cosmetics in macho packaging have been muscling into aftershave territory for quite a while, but this time it’s different. Noella Gabriel, the director of treatment and product development for Elemis, and her team have pored over the differences between male and female skin to produce man-friendly products. Men have different needs from women, she says; our skin is thicker, has less fat underneath and, although it tends to be drier, it produces more sebum, (an oily secretion) on the chin and neck.
She pinpoints shaving as the male cosmetic speciality; every morning we perform a sophisticated microdermabrasion, removing two layers of dead skin with the stroke of a blade. The plus is that shaved skin retains its youthfulness; the minus is that it tends to end up either oily or dry.
Gabriel believes that men don’t buy into miracles so her seduction technique is practical. Shaving can irritate, so her aftershave products contain soothing, anti-inflammatory ingredients such as camomile. They are topped off with masculine smells such as samphire, a seaside parsley plant, designed to set us up for the day. The blurb on the back of men’s cosmetic jars combines the usual hard sell with the science about our skin’s special needs, as Gabriel also believes that explaining the science is the way to a man’s wrinkles (and his wallet).
After shaving, she wants to look into our eyes; while the daily scraping keeps our chins young, our eyes can look disproportionately haggard. She is keen to encourage men to keep a pot of eye gel by the computer and to apply it every few hours, a good way to keep your colleagues entertained in an open-plan office.
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Tim Brown, the head of product development for Procter & Gamble Prestige Products, has been developing the Hugo Boss skincare range with the help of an evolutionary psychologist. His researchers have turned up the idea that an attractive man has an even skin tone, a shade or two darker than an equally attractive woman of a similar age and social status, whatever your ethnicity. They also dug up research in the United States that says for every 20 per cent a man increases his attractiveness, his salary rises by $2,200. So you won’t be surprised that Boss is preparing a male skin cream that will gradually produce an even, subtle, darker skin tone.
Hugo Boss also realises the importance of science when it comes to flogging skincare to men and has exploited research from the US National Institutes of Health. Pentapeptides are fragments of a skin protein that were thought to encourage wound healing. They didn’t but they do have a side-effect of reducing dark circles around the eyes and evening skin tone. And they have an added bonus of tightening skin, reducing wrinkles. Hugo Boss has taken that research and incorporated them into a cream.
This poses the question; is there really any difference between the stuff in the blue pots and the stuff in the pink pots? Well, not really, according to Brown. There is no way of telling whether a product is for men or women just by looking at the ingredients’ label. The differences are more subtle. Smell and degree of oiliness are the most obvious; men do not like slapping on heavy grease.
However, the differences between male and female skin are real enough, according to Nick Lowe, a consultant dermatologist and spokesman for the British Skin Foundation. He points out that men are more lackadaisical about sun protection than women — the main cause of ageing — and need to be particularly careful of bald spots, ears and necks. Other problems suffered by men are ingrowing hairs and irritated skin so anti-inflammatories and antiseptics do have a real part to play, and are a clever marketing pitch, too.
So should we all be buying blokes’ stuff, or are all these potions and lotions destined to go the way of Jean Paul Gaultier’s male skirts? Dr Lowe thinks not and believes that most of us could do with a good moisturiser that can soothe the skin after shaving. So stop nicking your partner’s goo and get stuck into the mysterious world of men’s beauty products. Boys, we’re worth it.
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Dr Toby Murcott is a former BBC science correspondent