The growing trend amongst men to wear make-up has been on a
steady rise in recent years, thanks in no doubt to popular celebrities such as
Russell Brand, Johnny Depp and Zac Efron. Men have been wearing make up for
centuries, especially musicians and singers who have popularised certain trends
to make it more accessible to others. Notable men who have worn make up in the
past have included Boy George, David Bowie and Prince to name but a few. But
with the modern trend in perfectly kept men being known as metrosexual, is this
modern take on make-up the one that lasts?
It can be hard to exactly pinpoint when the tide turned for
it to become more acceptable for men to wear make-up, but when the UK high
street store Superdrug started selling make-up that was designed solely for
men, the shift into acceptability possibly broke new horizons. For many years
it had been popular for men to wear what was now termed ‘guyliner’ and
‘manscara’ to help accentuate ones’ eyes, and with more and more celebrity
males seemingly quite happy to endorse and promote their own metrosexuality, it
was only a matter of time before the looks hit the streets.
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| Img: apetogentleman |
Men have become increasingly more obsessed about the way
they look, and with the big brands that are most commonly associated with
women’s cosmetics seeing a gap in the market, the marketing steamroller of the
cosmetics industry was just about to roll into town. Whilst male grooming isn’t
a new addition to the modern man; barbershops, tailors and specialist
gentleman’s’ clubs have always been art of a thriving and diverse culture in
just about every large city in the western world. This apparent new foray into
the world of male grooming has been met with the argument that the feminisation
of the modern man has already started.
Jokingly aside, most open-minded individuals would agree
that there is nothing wrong with taking care of yourself and looking the best
you can be, but with more male beauty products on the market today that were
previously only associated with female grooming, many men are wondering if this is
just a new phase, or maybe this time around, the make-up is here to stay.
Being part of a multi-billion dollar industry, the male
grooming sector of the cosmetics industry is one of the fastest growing sectors
in all beauty products, with facial scrubs and anti-ageing serums making up the
majority of purchases. Eyeliner and manscara only make a tiny dent in those
figures, but with the growing trend of new products being released onto the
market daily, this figure is set to soar.
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| Img:taximan, uk |
So while many men will still sniff at the idea of wearing
make-up, the generation that is growing up around this modern fascination with
male grooming may well be the strongest influence yet that make-up is not just
a exclusively female-only attraction and that men of all walks of life are
enjoying the pleasure of improving their image with the help of a little
make-up. With names like ‘Taxi Man’ being the leading products in the Guyliner
range, you can see that make-up for men isn’t shy of a hint of comedy.
