While beauty treatments and make-up lines for men are often perceived to be for the minority, some men’s brands, such as MMUK MAN and MYEGO, believe the tide is changing, reporting that men’s grooming has seen a 38% rise in the UK.
According to these brands the man who would not care much about his skin or maybe just use their partner’s moisturiser or beauty products, has now turned into the man who is looking for his own ‘men’s’ products, and this has opened up an opportunity in the market for with more enhanced cosmetic products for men.
“Men are no longer intimidated by the thought of wearing make-up,” says Alex Dalley, co-founder of MMUK MAN.
“As long as the packaging looks nice and masculine in a black or brown box and the products are worn undetectable all day long.”
Catching on
In markets such as Korea, men’s cosmetics are considered the norm and there is great market potential there, but there are also suggestions that Europe could follow suit, with the UK seeming like a willing participant.
A survey, conducted by secret sales website HushHush.com last year found that one in ten UK men admit to wearing make-up, but they prefer to keep their cosmetics regime a secret.
The study found that 11% of the men surveyed admitted to wearing make-up secretly with more than half saying they did regularly, and one in five admitting to do so every day.
The products feeling the most love from the surveyed male population turned out to be concealer with 71% admitting to using it.
MMUK MAN agrees with these findings claiming the modern British man’s grooming routine includes the likes of bronzer, foundation and most popularly concealer.
In light of these findings, MMUK and MYEGO say that subtle products that retain a form of masculinity is the way forward for brands.