Shopping Jan 11, 2008 @ 11:39am

Explain: Men’s Beauty Products

by Natalie Hormilla

Clinique for men.jpg Tuesday’s launch of Armani’s first beauty line for men has us thinking - who buys this stuff?

It’s been our experience (ahem), that men tend to just borrow their girlfriends’ products, often times a surreptitious act while in the shower.

But we keep reading about beauty lines intended specifically for men, especially by non-drugstore companies.

Clinique, Frederic Fekkai and Bliss are just a few beauty brands with products intended specifically “for men.” But we’ve never known any guys to actually buy themselves men’s beauty products. In fact, when we have seen guys buy skin care/hair stuff, we’ve seen them in Duane Reade, buying gender neutral options like Neutrogena.

We don’t know if this is an embarrassment of doing something “girly,” or if men’s products are sort of pointless, as if men’s skin and hair is really so much different from women’s, for whom most beauty products are made.

Do you buy men’s beauty products, either for yourself, or for a boyfriend? Or does it strike you as the same stuff but in darker packaging?

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posted by guest

Jan 11, 2008 12:03PM

I am a male that buys products that are specifically designed for men, because our skin is different. Our skin is thicker and we have to deal with grooming chores that (most) women don't have to deal with, such as shaving.

posted by marc lover

Jan 11, 2008 12:14PM

i buy kiehl's products for my husband. he would never think to shop for these types of things himself. he asks me to buy refills when he runs out, but it doesn't bother me to do that, cause i usually pick up a little treat for myself.

posted by guest

Jan 11, 2008 12:20PM

wow. you need some guys around the office! men buy this stuff, even the low end stuff like the axe brand. and while gay guys are not afraid to buy "girly" things, they are, of course, all over designer products "for men."

posted by shinyredthermos

Jan 11, 2008 12:23PM

i live with my boyfriend and his friend (its interesting) and their product use is minimal.
i keep a massive bottle of head and shoulders in the bathroom so they doesnt use my superexpensive shampoo. and they have a stock of dial soap bars because i am sure they would not want to be caught dead using a loofah or smelling like i do.

our roommate does have 2 kinds of hairgel that seem to be packaged gender neutral. the only products my boyfriend uses are kheils aftershave lotion (which he is obsessed with and i am sure his face would burn off in the winter if he didnt use it) and the bodylotion "pour homme." his mom bought those for him about two years ago and he still has yet to use the entire bottles.

for most products like a simple shampoo or body lotion i think the formulas are the same but its all about the smell. men dont want to smell like floral grapefruit. but products like the aftershave lotion for a mans face seem like something they need and should use.

p.s. if you have a low maintanance boyfriend who doesnt use a lot of product like mine but you still want him to smell "musky" i highly suggest sneaking old spice body wash or the kheils body lotion pour homme into his bathroom. they just smell so good.

posted by guest

Jan 11, 2008 12:48PM

I try, but my husband refuses to use anything. He spends maybe 20 a year on all products including deodorant and shampoo. If it isn't really really cheap he will not use it. Every now and then he will bring over a little bit more expensive body wash and say he wants it because it smells yummy, but then its only like a 1.99.

posted by guest

Jan 11, 2008 1:04PM

Like the comment above said, I also pick up beauty items for my boyfriend when he runs out because he likes to seem "no nonsense". He doesn't care whether the products are marketed for guys or not, but I usually end up with something gender neutral like Aveda, Bigelow, Boot's, Keihls, etc.

My hair stylist thinks it is funny that he won't go out and buy this stuff himself, and I agree with her that he's missing out on the best part: samples! I always rely on sampling a product before I buy it because why would you just blindly choose a beauty product? She sent me away with a bunch of samples for the new Aveda men's line to have him try out and I ended up liking the products much more than he did. He wasn't into the smell or the "manly" packaging, but I ended up buying a few items from the mens line for myself.

posted by guest

Jan 11, 2008 1:09PM

I buy products for my boyfriend. Eye cream from Kiehl's and Bliss and face wash and an ingrown hair treatment gel from Anthony Logistics for Men. Men have to take care of those pesky ingrown hairs from shaving and waxing.

posted by James

Jan 11, 2008 1:14PM

Perhaps it's the age of the men you're observing. I think 20-somethings do very little to take care of their appearance, but men in their 30's+ begin to take notice. I use Nivea or Neutorgena eye cream & moisturizer...either designed for men or unisex. American Crew shampoo/conditioner, Bumble & Bumble for styling. Even if a man's skin is different, there's little difference between the products aside from fragrance. But can't I buy it based on dark packaging alone?

posted by Peter

Jan 11, 2008 1:24PM

I like to buy that stuff for myself... it looks much less feminine than if I bought its girly counterpart because the packaging is more masculine (or at least neutral, if it's from Keihl's or something). Plus, the formulas are different for men's skin.

It's funny, the Clinique men's line even sells bronzer and concealer... not something I would want to try.

Remember fashionista, some of your readers are men.

posted by guest

Jan 11, 2008 2:47PM

My friend's mom actually introduced me to Clinique Men's Bronzer (a facee gel). it's amazing. and it looks totally natural because we all know a man would never be caught dead with a fake looking tan. i am tempted to stock up on the stuff because their men's line might not last as long as my need to be lightly bronzed.

posted by kenya

Jan 11, 2008 3:12PM

there are many men who buy their own bathroom or grooming products. some even buy beauty products for their girlfriend.

posted by thegirlwhoblockedherownshot

Jan 11, 2008 3:43PM

My boy friend uses old spice because he thinks its manly for him *he does smell good with it* I want him to go for other things but hes such a homophobe about other men products he think its for gay guys only...its pretty stupid

posted by guest

Jan 11, 2008 5:10PM

I use Clinique's men's face scrub. It's the best ever, the women's scrub just doesn't exfoliate as well.

posted by T

Jan 11, 2008 6:28PM

I've been known to convert a few of my straight guy friends, especially my brother who is now a Clinique for Men addict. But basically straight guys have more important things to spend their money on..like beer.

posted by guest

Jan 11, 2008 9:18PM

I work at a place that sells Bliss, Kiehl's, Kate Somerville, Anthony, Art of Shaving, Lippmann (who makes a fantastic white nail polish BTW), Caudalie, etc., and a definite percentage of our customers are men, shopping for their own mens product. Not all of them are metro, either. It's stupid to think that all guys don't care about their skin or appearance. You'd be surprised.

posted by guest

Jan 13, 2008 8:14PM

My dad is obsessed with kiehls, bliss and art of shaving products...he's very grooming intensive. Some of the kiehls products are really great and I use them for myself.

I think the key difference between men's and women's beauty products is the packaging. I took my boyfriend into keihls and he was more comfortable buying products targeted towards men because they had little ariplanes on them.

posted by guest

Jan 14, 2008 9:51PM

men have a different pH balance to their skin, they shave their faces, things like that.