Makeup Treatment for the Modern Man

While she is becoming bold, he is becoming beautiful. As the modern Indian woman gears up to meet challenges in the  corporate boardrooms, her counterpart, slowly but steadily, sheds his stereotyped traditional macho male role model and readies to explore the feminine world.

Meet the modern Indian metro sexual who has just discovered the joys of dressing up. This exfoliated, moisturized, tweezed, blow-dried and sweet smelling man, like the resplendent peacock, is keen to announce loudly that he can be as adventurous as ‘she’. He has, after all, tasted the forbidden fruit - the orange peel facial or the cucumber and clay face mask.

Men are dressing up like they have never done before, points out a global survey done by multinational advertising agency Euro RSCG. "The new age man has realized that it is not macho to be macho anymore and is keen to break the
traditional male roles and explore the feminine world," the survey says.

The New Age Look

So why should the new age Malayalee man be keen to be left behind? From regular visits to beauty parlours to patronising Clarins -a Paris based cosmetic company exclusively for men, or sporting Sindoor as a fashion statement he has done it all.  

"Grooming is essential for both men and women. And since the past few years, Indian men have been as keen in presenting their well-groomed persona to public as Indian women. For well-dressed men, shaving or haircut had always been a necessity, but now a regular manicure and a pedicure are an absolute must," says Javed Habib, who runs Habibs,  one of the most popular beauty salons for men across the country.

Officials at the better known beauty parlours in the country’s metros agree that over the past few years, the number of men opting for facials or manicure have increased to a significant extent. "When the men’s section at Sangam opened about 15 years ago, most of our customers came in for a shave or a haircut. But now quite a number of them come in for beauty treatments as varied as eyebrow shaping to waxing or facials," they said.

Men’s Parlours

Today, men can opt for a wide range of beauty treatments, just like women, says Ajay  of the Shahnaz for Men. The salon, which has branches all over the country, offers the same beauty treatments to men and women. "Even for men we have facials like the pearl or the gold facial, which are becoming increasingly popular. Eyebrows and threading of upper lip is now as essential to a well-groomed man as a shave or a haircut. After all, if given an option, who would like to have bushy eyebrows or joined eyebrows?" he counters. 

One of the customers of the reputed chain of the Shahnaz parlors, remarked that earlier it was considered effeminate for  men to groom themselves or dress up for an occasion. According to Bipin, "But now the entire outlook has  changed. A man has an equal right to make himself look good as a woman. And for me nothing is more relaxing than having a facial on a Sunday after a hectic week."

In this race to look good, professional compulsions also seem to have played a part. Bipin affirms that most of his friends  in the metros were regular visitors to the Shahnaz parlour. Roy who works in the client servicing section of an international advertising agency pointed out that in metros like Mumbai where there is cut throat competition in every sector, it is a must for a man to be well groomed in order to be successful. "Being well groomed gives me the cutting edge. I’m sure my clients won’t like to interact with a sales person who has dirty nails or smells awful. Besides, my hectic schedule leaves me little time for relaxation or grooming myself. Hence a visit to the parlour is a must," he said.

For professionals like Bipin and Roy, hailing from middle-class families but holding plush jobs, shelling out Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1,500 a month for the beauty regime is "money well spent." For the likes of actors and models, operating in an industry where looking good is mandatory, the monthly expenditure is often as high as Rs 4,000. "The John Wayne era of  tough, hard-looking lover is gone. The new age women prefer men who are not only well dressed but well groomed. To keep with the times, manicures have become a bare necessity for them.

Grooming, a must for Men

Beauty treatments have always been a must for male actors and models. What is interesting is that in the past few years it has become a regular part of the regime of the middle-class office goers. Even in the so called conservative metros, most young working men now visit a parlor and not the para saloon for a shave or haircut. The barber for them is now a stylist and more and more of them are experimenting with hair colours or dyes.