Male grooming services and products are on the rise and it looks like this trend will be sticking around for some time.
In the past, a boy’s rite of passage was shaving, usually learning how with the instructions of his dad. Should he use cold or warm water? How much lather should he have? How to slide the razor? There is much a boy learns about shaving from his father. This was pretty much the extent of male personal grooming.
Today, however, there are so many male personal grooming products on the market. In fact, there’s so many that it rivals the female products. Many of these products have turned sophisticated – shaving cream is no longer called shaving gel while aftershave is now post-shave balm. And, it doesn’t end there.
What happened to influence male behavior to become so sophisticated? When did social stigma allow men to purchase male grooming products and to spend time on their personal grooming habits? How did the male grooming industry break into that psychological barrier to offer these kinds of products?
Global Industry Analysts projected, in 2010, that sale of grooming products for men would exceed $33 million by 2015. The reported listed reasons for this increase:
- The rapid increase of metrosexual men
- Increasing size of middle-class
- Advanced alluring products
- Increased connectivity to the Internet
In a world once dominated by women, male grooming products are on the rise. The percentage is on the rise… although at the moment the numbers are small. And, it’s not just occurring in one market but many of them.
The time has passed for men having to borrow their mother’s, wife’s, girlfriend’s beauty care products. Today, men can moisturize without being afraid of what it may look like to anyone else.