Marketers (and girlfriends, wives and mothers) push for more men’s beauty products

According to a recent Globe article, more and more young men are taking their style cues from primped-to-the-nines man-gods like David Beckham, even if it means sporting such cosmetics as “guyliners” and “power bronzes.” The only problem is that due to a combination of general cheapness and a fear of being spotted in public buying flowery-looking jars of beauty cream, many men continue to shop for their products where they feel most comfortable: in their wives’ and girlfriends’ makeup kits. This, to the likely horror and annoyance of women everywhere.

The Globe reports, “Sixty-one per cent of men believe it’s important to always look their best, but just 27 per cent of them are willing to spend more to get their desired look, P&G found.” (Accordingly, many men still think they achieve perfection by showering with bar soap in the morning and maybe shaving.) Apparently many men who would buy skin care products don’t—not just because of price, but because of the frilly, fem-focused packaging and girly product names. So companies like Toronto-based, male-focused Bread and Butter Skincare are using “masculine hues and lingo” to bring more guys on board. They use simple steel grey and white tubes for their products, like fragrance-free facial moisturizer.

Similarly, Nivea for Men will use a deep blue rather than the line’s signature royal blue. “It communicates to men partly by presenting the products in pumps and tubes, which men are familiar with from shaving, rather than jars, which they associate with women’s makeup,” said Larry LaPorta, general manager of Beiersdorf Canada, which makes Nivea products.

Despite the shift to man-friendly packaging, women still make up half of the buyers. That’s why Bread and Butter hands out samples of its men’s line in women’s clothing stores. Yet it is unclear whether the women are buying the products because they want their partner to look like Becks, or because they’re simply sick of their man using up all the night cream.

• Men’s beauty industry pumps out big bucks [Globe and Mail]