Sodom and Gomorrah on a Planetary Scale: Famous Brands Launch Makeup and Skincare Lines for Men with Sales Increasing by 77%

Men’s grooming is a booming business: a recent study cited by The Guardian revealed that spending on male beauty products has increased by 77% year over year.

The subject has been in the spotlight this week after former Neighbours actor Jason Donovan was photographed emerging from the Bondi Beach in Sydney wearing black nail polish. “My product is me, self-maintenance is a selfish existence. I like to have a massage twice a week, and I adore a foot massage and having my nails done,” Donovan recently stated for Times.

Men’s nails have had a moment in the spotlight lately with celebrities like Harry Styles, rapper A$AP Rocky, and Jeremy Allen White, the star of the TV series The Bear, making a statement. It’s not just about nails. Perhaps driven by the rise of male beauty influencers sharing beauty tips and makeup routines on social media, dedicated men’s makeup products have appeared on high streets and in luxury beauty salons in the UK and the US.

Chanel launched a makeup line for men in 2018, followed by VIP men’s beauty lines like Styles’s Pleasing and Idris Elba’s S’able Labs, which have already influenced the way men in the UK perceive grooming. Celebrity endorsements have also played a role by appointing male celebrities as ambassadors, such as Tom Daley for Rimmel, encouraging non-celebrity men to experiment with their looks. The impact may be gradual in the real world – most spending on beauty products and treatments is still carried out by women.

Beauty-conscious men come in all shapes and sizes: John Gessler, a 60-year-old caregiver and Guardian reader from Barnsley, uses “a bit of moisturizer for my dry parts” and anticipates that he might need to adjust his routine in the future by using “a bit more moisturizer.” On the other hand, Fernando López, a Guardian reader from Miami, uses a face exfoliant, an eye cream, a vitamin C serum, and receives Botox injections twice a year.

At the other end of the scale is 74-year-old John King. Not only has King not washed his hair for over 12 years, but in the last five years, he has simply rinsed off in the icy rivers of the Ardnamurchan region, Highland, Scotland. “I don’t use soap or deodorant, and I don’t smell, not even when I’m working hard cutting firewood,” said the former architect. “It was a revelation to me to realize that the entire cosmetic industry is based on a confidence trick. We simply don’t need these products.