How 'groomy' is your guy?
By Olivia Barker
USA Today
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Does he ... or doesn't he? Only his dermatologist knows if a man is on Propecia, the baldness drug — but other guys are wondering.
Ditto whether he's unfurrowing his forehead with Botox. Or brightening his mug with microdermabrasion.
The number of men undergoing nonsurgical cosmetic procedures is on the rise. In 2006, 202 percent more men went under the Botox needle vs. in 2000, 112 percent more had their skin sloughed via microdermabrasion, and 49 percent more had it resurfaced with lasers, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Younger men are also increasingly submitting their scalps to the scalpel. In 2006, 17 percent of men ages 20 to 29 sought surgical treatment for hair loss, compared with 15 percent in 2004, according to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery. Last year, 31.6 percent of men between 30 and 39 underwent the procedure, vs. 28.7 percent in 2004.
Today, talk is about "trying to gauge how far we as a sex are willing to go to improve our looks," says Men's Health fashion and grooming director Brian Boye. (At Men's Health, grooming ranks "right up there" with fitness and nutrition in terms of reader request for coverage.) "We're trying to gauge how acceptable it is, and it is definitely becoming more acceptable. ... But we're still nervous to talk about what we're doing until we get sense of what everyone else is doing."
Guys are going to great lengths to save some of their hair — and lose other strands. Because uni-brows are unseemly, Ace, maker of the classic barber comb, is launching a men's grooming line this September that includes testosterone-friendly tweezers fashioned from blackened stainless steel and red rubber gaskets. With a wider grip and diamond texture, they look "a lot like tools," Ace brand manager Christin Hartsfield says, "like a Maglite flashlight."
Then there's the Philips Norelco Bodygroom, a razor meant for manscaping below the beard, which launched last year with a, um, cheeky Internet ad, www.Shaveeverywhere.com, that proved a hit. The site was updated last month with a short mockumentary about the history of male deforestation, starring a medieval-looking device called the Tuft B-Gone and its creator, Frank "Furback" Sack.
If the metrosexual introduced basic moisturizer to the general male population, guys are now jumping on the anti-aging buzzword brigade, targeting creases such as crow's feet. Elemis' Time for Men line launched this month and includes a wrinkle reducer and an eye reviver. Male-marketed Peter Thomas Roth introduced a crow's-feet fighter in May.
High-end anti-aging creams and serums are among the top sellers for men at Beauty.com, where, yes, they really stop and shop and post (typically anonymous) product reviews, says the company's Kathleen McNeill. They're focused on growing the men's business. For guys, "the online environment is less intimidating than going into a department store and talking to a commissioned sales associate," says McNeill — not to mention that "beauty counters are very feminine."
Manhattan dermatologist David Colbert has been on Propecia since it came out; "probably several thousand" of his patients have tried it. "My brother's bald, but I'm not," he says.
He's seeing a shift in perception. "There was a point in time when people weren't telling other people they were on it," Colbert says. Now, as Propecia use spreads from urban centers to middle America, "I don't think there's any stigma to it at all. ... It's just part of routine maintenance."
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