I wanna see your Peacock!
“Oh my, what big eyelashes you have,” says LRRH. “All the better to seduce you with,”
says...the woodcutter, “It’s my new Revlon Custom Eyes Mascara”.
Text: Emma McCarthy
The beauty industry has come an awful long way. Technology is opening new facial frontiers
and no feature is off limits. People can change their face, their race or their age with acid,
staples and scalpels. You’re in the minority if you have visible frown lines and your own
teeth. Orange is a whole new classification of skin tone. Gaga’s grown horns. Makeup can
bypass the brushes and be applied with needle and ink. You can pin, glue or sew other
people’s hair onto your own. Fish can munch away your bunions. You can get vaj/penazzled
with your fortnightly Brazilian. Skincare products can enhance your mood. Iris implants can
make your brown eyed-girl your blue-eyed babe. Botox injections can replace deodorant.
Snail slime softens skin. Bull sperm makes a great conditioner. Mini Miss beauty queens are
fighting it out for the right to wear the crown. Beer baths are replacing jacuzzis. Justin
Beiber’s prepubescent face has spawned a legacy of Biebette’s and Belieber’s. Plugs are the
new toupees; 3D nails are the new French manicure. Dracula fangs, elf ears and split
tongues are no longer reserved just for Halloween. Toes can be chopped and tucked ready
for their Choos. Designer vaginas, penis extensions and anal bleaching can reinvigorate your
sex life. And even pet plastic surgery is on the up, with ear pinning, doggie facelifts and
testicle implants next on the agenda after the morning walk.
Oh yes, it’s come a hell of a long way. At times for the good, at times for the gimmick and at
times for the God awful, all in the name of Western vanity. Through all the nips, tucks, pulls
and plucks, discussion about slap seems pretty pedestrian in comparison. So why, after all
that this generation has seen and become accustomed to, is men wearing makeup still
considered radical?
Walk into any MAC store and you’re confronted with a big hunk of girl appreciation. Girl
about Town’s, Creme de la Femme’s and Lady Blush’s reign supreme, completely at odds
with the male store assistant that’s handing you the samples. While ‘male grooming’ is
tipped as one of the fastest growth markets, manufacturers see a massive divide between
what classifies as skin care and as makeup; the skewed mentality being that while straight
and gay men need little persuasion to buy the lotions, scrubs and hair straighteners, they
aren’t yet ready for the Serious Stuff. The products that are out there often hide behind
butch adjectives like anti-ageing and firming, camouflaged behind the mirage of the
‘treatment’ and doubling up as skincare. But as more and more of the average Joe MetroSex
puts on the morning war paint, how will the female orientated beauty world respond? His
and hers division, or unisex mix n match?
Michael Phillips is a man not so timid with the blend and stipple. “I was the boy in school
who was gay, with a face like a pizza and orange hair” he confesses. “I think that’s why I
went onto study makeup.” Now, as international representative of New CID cosmetics,
makeup artist to slebs such as Jodie Kidd, Sophie Ellis Bextor and The Saturday’s and proud
owner of a decidedly unpepperoni-like complexion, Michael sees the market conforming to
the way of skincare; with men keeping to their corner and women to theirs. “It’s all about
packaging and presentation,” he thinks. “Take for example YSL’s touché éclat. It’s exactly
the same product for both markets, but they put it into a grey pen, with a man advertising
it, and they can sell it to a man. Regardless of what’s inside that tube, generally speaking
and for all intents and purposes, it needs that grey pen. It’s about men feeling comfortable
with products aimed at them.”
Throughout the marketplace, brands are following the logic that men respond to sober
packaging, tailored incentive and scientific fact. Clinique’s popular Stop Signs Serum was
recast as Stop Signs Age Defending Complex for the male market and Aramis’ line, Surface,
is collectively billed as a “collection of self-improvement tools”; a ‘toolkit’ cleverly disguising
products such as bronzer as Healthy Look Gel and concealer as Correcting Stick, (perhaps
anti-wrinkle cream as Polyfiller?).
“I mean even if you look in my bathroom now,” continues Michael, “I use LAB series
skincare, which is for men. I think even being gay, knowing that LAB series skincare IS for
men, that does make me feel that I’m using the right products.”
UK High Street giant, Boots, and rival, Superdrug, began to see the potential virtue and
economic sense behind launching such products for men, and both attempted to break past
the periphery and dip their toes into the men’s makeup world. Boots recently opened a
couple of ‘men only’ shops, one in Bristol, one in Edinburgh, offering in-store grooming
goodies ranging from a wet shave to a full-on facial, and back in the summer of 2008,
Superdrug launched its own line of cosmetics, the rather bizarrely named Taxi Man. While
the line did successfully manage to conjure up mental images of London’s cabbie’s
powdering their noses in their rear view mirrors, it wasn’t so successful at actually selling.
Never heard of Taxi Man? Don’t worry, neither had we. It flopped. And as for Boots, after
an initial wave of publicity and promises, the company abandoned plans to open more
stores along the same vein.
At the time, Taxi Man’s representative and Superdrug’s director of trading, Jeff Wermyss,
couldn’t see fault with the logistics of the line. “We believe there is a real market for
cosmetic products”, he stated, with confidence. “The majority of our customers are women
and we believe that these products will be bought by women for their partners, as well as
by men themselves.” Citing red-blooded love rats, Russell Brand and Robbie Williams, as its
raison d’etre, Taxi Man took the defiantly so-straight-it-hurts road in an attempt to reassure
its male clientele that wearing makeup is not necessarily unattractive to women and the
benchmark of impending homosexuality. “These days, you can be macho and wear
makeup,” Jeff theorised. “Men are more obsessed with their appearance than ever before.
There is no longer any pain in being seen to be vain.” Whilst the rhyming slogans hit all the
right notes, the products themselves did not. But where, or what, was the failing?
“I think if men really want to wear it anyway, then they will, and probably already are, but
for a new or insecure market there has be some sort of graduation”, says television and film
makeup artist, David Llobera. “Sneaking your girlfriend’s kit is one thing, but a new makeup
line that abjectly states ‘here, start wearing makeup!’, well, that’s really making a big
statement.” Instead, he considers that it would need to be presented as a professional
device which affords it a sense of luxury and sophistication– “not some high street
experiment”.
As for Taxi Man, the now-infamous Guy-Liner was made chunkier than the bog-standard
eyeliner equivalent, and apparently therefore easier for men with their big-and-strong
hands to use. However, it was less clear exactly how the Manscara differed from normal
mascara. “Same shit, different face,” says David, in response to this, choosing to embrace a
future of unisex product currency, but even he concedes that this may be verging on the
idealistic as the market is a tough nut to crack and a minefield of unwritten rules.
Skin care has evolved not only from the psychological need for differences, but also out of
the anatomical. Apart from the obvious sprouting of facial hair that most women won’t see
until post-menopause, as a general rule of thumb, characteristics of men’s skin include
smaller sebaceous glands and therefore less absorption of active ingredients, and when
combined with testosterone, also higher levels of oil secretion. This makes the skin greasier
and prone to blemishes, but looking younger for longer. While the skin is thicker, meaning
less sun damage, it is also, surprisingly, more fragile than a women’s, due to daily shaving,
increased exposure to damaging environmental elements and an evolution of not giving a
toss about skincare. This, along with the fact that men have around half the amount of
nerve fibres in the facial tissue which leads to less sensitivity, has bolstered a range of
skincare full of beefed up ingredients that would only serve to irritate a women’s skin. But
should it be a natural and necessary progression for the cosmetics industry to follow the
lead of the skincare? Michael thinks so, as he talks through the 5 new products that New
CID cosmetics are pushing at the men’s market: i-Groom, i-Fix, i-Open, i-Bronze and i-Prime.
“Minimal, basic, easy to use, all men would need them,” says Michael, “and they work to
simplify a man’s routine.” The primer, for example, is publicized as a shine reducer without
the need for powder, the i-groom wax tames thick and coarse hair – “think of this as a hair
product for your brows” – and the pencils are doubled-ended to give maximum kit in
minimal packaging. As indicated by the i-prefix of the zeitgeist, the products are also sleek
and ultramodern in matt white and chrome, so as not to be too conspicuous slipped in the
wash bag next to the Gillette MACH3.
“Personally, I think using men’s products is a bit of a cop out, if I’m honest,” disputes David,
“and I feel like I’m potentially missing out on some amazing, innovative ingredients because
of how far women’s cosmetics has come and because of how much there is to choose
from.” It’s essentially the same for makeup, of course, because a men’s line will offer,
perhaps, three different shades of foundation – light, medium and dark – but women have
come to expect so much more. For David, what’s lacking in the industry right now is men in
advertisements or visuals that show consumers how to achieve the look. “Men will lead by
example,” he explains, “They want education of a product and reassurance that this is the
right product that will do the job required, without the need to ask. Education can be
achieved through the right advertising, because if a man sees everything he needs to know,
then he’s much more likely to go for it.”
Michael also believes this could relate to the increasingly high spends of the male market.
“Generally, men don’t ask the price of products. If they’re told that they need something,
for their hair or skin, then they would just take it, and not think ‘I’ll just check the price and
then shop around’. They go on advice,” says Michael. Such habits in spending were mirrored
by a recent OnePoll survey conducted in the name of – that most closeted of institutions –
sports nutrition, and on behalf of the Multipower group. According to the survey of 18 to 35
year olds, the young British male’s weekly spend on sprucing up has now overtaken that of
the fairer sex, who are apparently spending an average of £11.72 per week, as opposed to
women who spend exactly one pound less.
If browsing isn’t on the agenda and Tom, Dick and Harry aren’t passing trade secrets, then a
fledgling peacock’s first and only point of call is going to be what pops up top on Google. Of
course, this becomes even more paramount when the products out there are few and far
between. But as we all know, advertising doesn’t just sell a product; it creates aspirations, a
persona and a lifestyle, and makeup is a part and parcel of a lifestyle choice. “While guyliner
is a trend and an acceptable thing to do for a night out,” offers Michael, “brands like YSL and
Jean-Paul Gaultier are not focused on the trend, they’re focused on the lifestyle – on the
business men who wear concealer, the city boys who wear bronzer and the men who want
to look better, younger, groomed and more professional.” Products for products sake, a la
Superdrug, were not marketed to a particular lifestyle, unless you count Black Cab drivers,
and so were pretty much doomed from the off.
But every poreless, flawless buck has a story about their First Time dabbling in the paint box
of life. While fair skinned Michael had his Aunt’s burnt sienna Rimmel stick, David ‘came
clean’ straight away to any compliment received. Perhaps because it’s not a rite of passage,
as it is for any sweet, young filly who’s grown up with plastic lipsticks, peel off nail varnish
and Barbie’s ever-fresh radiance, but, rather, a more intimate decision with unforeseen and
unknown reactions.
“I’ve got quite a few straight male clients who are terrified that someone will see that
they’ve got concealer on,” admits Michael. “But it’s like cosmetic surgery, if you know
there’s something available, why should you walk around with dark shadows under your
eyes or a face full of spots?”
Even given this logic, the taboo is never far from the forbidden fruit, but, really, can’t a guy
wear a bit of gunge in this day and age? Surely it shouldn’t equal taking a vow of secrecy.
Toolkits are for boys and builders; for the rest of us, there’s a palette.