New reports are showing what we generally thought we knew about men and beauty stereotypes is entirely wrong. In the past years reports are showing massive growth of sales of men’s beauty products. This trend goes against the idea men are mostly ambivalent when it comes to their skincare and beauty.
When it comes to the statistics everything we know about gender and beauty stereotypes is apparently wrong. Recently a leading beauty industry corporation took on a survey task to include almost one thousand Americans, the initial goal was to get an insight into how both men and women integrate beauty products into their daily routine. At the same time the goal of the research was to gain an insight into which products both men and women are using, and possibly detect a few growing trends. The results were simply said surprising.
When asked why do they use beauty products majority of men said it’s important for work or to simply please someone, while women stated reasons such as looking younger and healthier as pivotal. Nevertheless the research showed nearly four out of 10 men of both genders are looking to minimize facial features they are not happy about by the use of beauty products. Naturally fixing uneven skin tone was one of the primary reasons nevertheless both sexes are interested in reducing the effects of aging. Following is the daily need of both to moisturize and nourish dry skin, in a pretty much equal percentage of the thousand participants. Comes as the least of a surprise that men are most worried about their hair, most of their beauty budget goes out on products softening and nourishing their hair as well as preventing hair loss. Still, only 2% of men are spending more than hour a day on their beauty routines. However men are also very concerned about their body appearance, and that is a huge chunk of their beauty routine. Thus this new standard of beauty shuns perfection and is instead rooted in health.
“Men are now more body-conscious than ever, they are increasingly pursuing a toned and muscular physique, in the mode of actors such as Daniel Craig or Ryan Gosling. A survey by the Centre for Appearance Research found that 78 percent of British men wish they were more muscular, and one in three would give up a year of their life if they could achieve their ideal body weight and shape.” said Victoria Buchanan, visual trend researcher and beauty expert at The Future Laboratory for CNBC
Big difference does show when it comes to time men and women spend on their beauty routine excluding the basic hygiene habits. While 14 percent of women spend less than five minutes a day on their beauty care, that number rises to 40 percent when it comes to men. Nevertheless surveys show more than fifty percent of population spend twenty five to 30 minutes a day on additional routines. When it came to age the amount of this time spent on using the products did not change significantly. Those who spent a large portion of their income on beauty products have rated themselves as the most attractive without the use of the same products they purchase. Most of the participants when asked to rate their attractiveness without the help of the beauty industry gave themselves an average rating of 5.7 out of 10, shockingly with the aid of these products the rate went up 30%. Such a high jump in personal opinion shows the impact of the industry on our thinking, and simply said shows how much a consumer values a beauty purchase.
How about spending? If you ask the general population most of us will say women are the ones spending the most on beauty and makeup. This is where the research shows the game is indeed changing for the beauty industry. When it came to this part of the research equal results are registered by both sexes. Full 46 percent of people are to spend less than 25 dollars a month on their beauty products. When it comes to spending fifty to hundred dollars a month men are shockingly in the lead, with 20% of them willing to set aside the amount while that is only 19% of the female population. What if you double the amount? In that case only 5% of men and 6% of women are willing to spend more than hundred dollars a month on their beauty shopping. These results are already game changers in the industry. When it comes to the modelling industry a new crop of ‘beauty guys’ is taking over the scene, with fragrance and beauty deals for men now ranging from hundred thousand to one million dollars per campaign. Supermodel Garrett Neff reportedly banked one million dollars for his Calvin Klein fragrance campaign deal few years back, while he’s also the face of Salvatore Ferragamo’s men’s fragrance. Other male models shaping the beauty guys term are supermodel David Gandy who’s now a synonym to the Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue fragrance while Jon Kortajarena is the face of Bulgari and Jean Paul Gaultier fragrances and Juan Betancourt is Tom Ford’s favourite beauty guy. However some of this male models are actually the cause of the trend changes, 17 percent of young men aged 16 to 24 think male models in ad campaigns have made them more self conscious of their appearance, and 26 percent of all men surveyed agree that men are sexualised in adverts just as much as women.
Still, women still do not realize how much men are ready to spend on products each month but when it came to estimating how much the same sex spends they were sure other women spend three times more than they actually do. Another moment showing how much we value the importance of enhancing our look, is the fact fiftythree percent of respondents are willing to spend more if and when their income rises. So, how do we choose the beauty products? Both sexes were sure to name price as the most important factor, stil they were also looking after product reputation as well as the ingredients. Finally they were all ready for a trial and error and what charted high is the recommendation of friends and family with online tips and falling behind the word of mouth.
It’s a confusing time to be a man, new standards of beauty are emerging and the advertising industry is constantly showing the athletic ‘ideal’ body. All this means that men are turning from beauty and good looks to health and the industry knows how to use this trend.
Photographer Trent Pace
Creative Director Kyle Mitchell
Model Thomas Taylor
Hair Styling and Makeup Emma Bainbridge
All garments by Jayden Trifunovic at 0 Mutual Friends
Words by Zarko Davinic
*Article published originally in October 2016 issue of MMSCENE Magazine
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