The Man in the Mirror : A Sampling of Male Opinion Shows That Men Are Taking Skin Care Seriously

NOT LONG AGO, for almost all American men, skin care began with a soapy lathering and ended with a slap of drugstore after-shave. Today, cosmetics industry sources say, men’s toiletries represent a $1.3-billion business; sales of men’s skin treatments in department stores alone were $21 million in 1987, a 14.5% increase over 1986. And many U.S. retailers say they expect men’s lines to be the largest area of growth in cosmetics in the next 10 years. Does that mean that by the turn of the century we can expect American men to be wearing makeup?

In Japan right now, men’s skin-care treatments and masculine makeup are a big business, says Daniel Samakow, founder of Venice-based Gruene, which makes men’s toiletries and skin treatments. But Samakow predicts that it will be more than 20 years before the typical American man wears foundation and blusher. “And even then I’m not convinced that it will happen,” he says. “But skin care is another story. Men are already responding.”

As more attention is focused on health and fitness, men are discovering the importance of regular skin care. While some men are now sampling the benefits of salon facials, many more are exploring their options for at-home skin care. Response to men’s products has been so great that Samakow’s company, for example, went public last spring; at press time the stock was trading for about three times its offering price.

Why will men pay $6.50 for a tube of Clinique for Men shaving cream when they can get Barbasol for about $1? The pricier brands “set up my beard better and moisturize all day instead of drying my face,” explained one of 11 male participants in a Los Angeles Times marketing research study on men’s skin-care habits undertaken this year.

Although shaving cream was the participants’ most frequently purchased product, most of the men also buy facial cleanser in addition to some form of astringent and moisturizer.

According to the study, women play a big role in selecting the products men use and how they use them. The 11 participants reported that they began using products because of a wife or girlfriend, not because of advertising.

The men also unanimously prefer to be helped by females at the cosmetics counter: “Women just know more about the products because they’ve been exposed to cosmetics since they were children,” one man said. “I don’t want a guy touching my face or rubbing cream on my hand,” another declared.

The men say price is a big consideration. “I don’t understand how my wife can come home with two or three bottles that cost $35 each. It’s ridiculous,” said one man, who later noted that he routinely buys Clinique’s M-Lotion, a 2-ounce bottle of moisturizer that sells for about $9.50. “I’m sure I’m paying more than my wife does for similar products,” another asserted.

Although the men agreed that they would be embarrassed to talk to their male friends about skin care, they said that regularly using such products makes them “feel good--like I’m doing something healthy, like working out or eating the right foods. But talk to another guy about it? You’re kidding.”

And as far as makeup is concerned, the 11 men could not foresee the day when they’d be dabbing colors on their faces. The reason is that using makeup simply does not seem “masculine.”

model: Pat Banta/Elite; location: Bullocks Wilshire; sales associate: Samantha Wilson