Alex Grossman heads to the gym four mornings a week for an hour-long workout and shuns most carbohydrates to keep himself looking fit and vibrant.
The 35-year old advertising executive has a regimen for youthful skin as well: In the morning, he washes his face with a soap-free cleanser followed by a moisturizer and then a sun screen. At night, he dispenses with the sunscreen but adds an eye cream. Every week or so he scrubs with an exfoliant.
“Your face is what people see so I want to look as youthful and healthy as possible,” said the San Francisco resident. “There are a bunch of 25-year olds that would love to take my job. So to keep it I want to look as good as possible but I also want to look good for myself.”
Whether they are prowling for promotions, business or mates, men are becoming more concerned about their appearance, driving up sales of male skin care products and sparking the development of new lines in the process. While dismissed in some quarters as a metrosexual fad when it first surfaced in the late 1990's, the trend has shown staying power.
Sales of men’s skin care products sold in department stores jumped 13 percent last year, more than twice the total growth for the overall and women’s skincare markets, according to NPD Group, a marketing information company. In 2003, revenues from men’s skin care products rose 10 percent while the women’s and total market advanced only 6 percent.
The growth in the market isn't relegated to the high-end products. Sales of men's skincare products surged 68.6 percent at mass market retailers compared to a 6 percent increase for women's products, according to the research firm ACNielsen. Men's shampoo and conditioner sales rose 17 percent while the market for women and unisex hair products was flat.
Expanding sales are driving cosmetics companies to introduce new men's products, including department store brands such as Shiseido and Estee Lauder Cos.' Clinique and mass-market lines from Avon Products, Gillette Co. and L'Oreal.
In September, drugstore chain CVS Corp. will introduce an exclusive line. The company quadrupled its shelf space for men's grooming products last year and sales are up over 20 percent this year, said Suzanne Hock, CVS' category manager for men's grooming. The brands don't seem to be swiping customers from one another because the category is growing rapidly, she said.
A shift in cultural attitudes has made it more acceptable for men to primp and preen. Shows like “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and “Extreme Makeover,” and sports figures turning up looking sleek and coiffed on television and in magazines, are reinforcing the idea that paying attention to grooming isn't just a feminine trait.
“There is just more cultural pressure on men to look good,” said Karen Grant, a marketing expert at NPD Group.
Grant believes the boom will continue for at least another two years because the market is still minuscule, $59 million in sales last year, compared to the $2.1 billion women's segment.
Marketers of men's products say many of their customers are prompted to pay attention to their skin by the women in their lives.
Matt Geis described himself as a typical guy, buying “whatever was on sale.” But when a former girlfriend didn't approve of his nonchalant approach to skin care, he tried several products and now uses a Nivea cleanser and moisturizer.
“I notice a difference. My skin is as smooth as can be,” said Geis, a 33-year old bartender in Greensboro, N.C. “People say my skin looks good.”
Marketers say men still need to be coaxed to the beauty counter because they either don't believe or don't understand the products' benefits the way women do.
A large part of promoting cleansers, moisturizers and other facial products to men is education, said Rob Robillard, senior vice president of marketing for L'Oreal's L'Oreal Paris division. For example, one recent ad for an anti-wrinkle moisturizer in L'Oreal's new Men's Expert line explains that hydrating can fight wrinkles — hardly a news flash for women.
Robillard declined to say how much the company is spending to promote the new line, but it is running TV commercials on sports programs and print ads across various men's and sports magazines. Sampling at baseball stadiums is a major component of the strategy.
Sports tie-ins are also popular with other men's skin care products. One AVON catalogue featured NASCAR diver Kasey Kahne, while New York Jets quarterback Chad Pennington graced the cover of another.
Lilliana De Stefano, director of Fine Fragrances, Specialty Bath and Men's products at AVON, said the company opted for sports tie-ins because men relate to athletes and today's players are more polished-looking than ever before.
“These guys (sports figures) are really good looking. They are like movie and TV stars,” said De Stefano. “They're all dating hot models and are groomed like never before.”
Former professional football player Fred Barnett said he really starting paying attention to his grooming products in the early 1990s.
He was being interviewed on a TV show and “I was horrified by how I looked,” said the TV show producer and radio host.
Even though he is no longer in front of the camera, the 39-year old Philadelphia resident says he is constantly trying new products to keep a youthful appearance.
“I go through so many products,” he said.