Friday 12 September 2008

Metrosexuals gone mad!




We've been getting all girly in the Echo newsroom this week.

Make-up has been the hot topic of conversation after I discovered Superdrug has started stocking a range specifically for men.

Products from TAXI London include the aptly named Manscara and Guy-liner, with a concealer and lip balm available sometime this month and are, according to the company "essentials that a guy would perhaps normally borrow from his other half."
Now call me old fashioned but I hardly class eyeliner as an essential for a man and have certainly never been out with anyone who's borrowed mine (or at least not that I know of)!

I thought I'd drawn the line at skinny emo boys stretching (and, no doubt, seriously injuring themselves) into 15-year-old girl's jeans but nevertheless, it's out there - although all you local boys wanting to rush out for your Manscara and Guyliner (both £6.50) will have to go to Leicester or Nottingham I'm afraid, Loughborough's just not metro-friendly enough just yet.

Apparently, the range of male grooming products stocked on Britain's shelves has doubled in the last three years, with the UK male grooming market now currently worth around £700m annually and predicted to rise to over £820m by 2009.
This I can believe, especially after a quick survey round the newsroom to see how much Echo men spend on grooming products, including the essentials like shampoo and shaving foam.

One member of the newsroom, ahem Colin, uses more products than his wife, spends more time in the bathroom than her and spends about £40 a month on products - more if he's getting his nails done!

Suddenly I'm having flashbacks (or should that be flashforwards) to me one day in the future sharing foundation with my nearest and dearest, with "Have you taken my eyeshadow again" arguments instead of "you look fine without it" ones. But then maybe I'm just being sexist - if it was the other way round I'd probably be the first to start shaking my bra in defiance!

I did actually find myself asking Colin for beauty tips - at least now I know where to go for hand cream.
And I have to admit, he's got pretty good skin so he's obviously doing something right. He says he got it from his dad who, now in his 80s, looks more like 60. As much as I hate to admit it, maybe more men should be moisturising? Come to think of it I'd better start...
  • I took to the streets of Loughborough to see how much the rest of the men in the town spent and what people think of men in make-up. See my article in this week's paper.

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