Boys Catch The Beauty Bug (2/3) By Bekki Stephenson

(1/3), (2/3), (3/3).

At face value, this reasoning may sound absurd however, having been addicted to coconut hand cream for the past 2 years I do sympathise with him. Are multi-million pound beauty franchises the new drugs of the 21st century? Probabaly not, but the withdrawl symptoms from them certainly leave us feeling inadequate and insecure and with such pressure being put on men to look and smell great, is it any wonder British men now spend £1.3 billion a year on grooming products alone.

No one else can be more credited with popularising male grooming then, cosmetic guru David Beckham. Despite being in the sterotypical macho world of football, he openly wears sarongs and nails varnish and even admits to wearing his wife's underwear (although I do wonder how they fit). While many would see his fashion faux pas' as no more than a marketing gimmick, sociologists have taken his personal choices a little more seriously, linking the rise of the metro man to the increasing amount of female power in the workplace. Truth or just over-analytical nonsense? I'll let you decide. But one thing is for sure, the number of celebrities groomed to perfection is huge.

Perhaps this is the major contributing factor as to why men are so clued up about their beauty needs. Living in a world where celebrites have such great influencial power on our lives, it is not uncommon for us normal folk to imitate what we see, in the hope that we to can somehow become as beautiful/wealthy/succesful as them (alhtough wishful thinking for 99.99% of us).

With the rise of reality television programs such as Big Brother, the number of people hoping to make it big in the celeb world is phenomenal. With all this competition it does not come as any surprise that men should strive to be better looking than the rest and if this means hours at the beauty parlour, surely that is just a price that must be paid. However, all this said, I would be interested in witnessing what would happen if beer bellies, spots and body odour were to become the Hollywood in thing.

As predicted, the beauty market has had an immense reaction to the male grooming bug. Men's skincare products are becoming big business and companies are spending millions on marketing campaigns and masculine-looking packaging to attract even the manliest of blokes. Highstreet chain Boots has even opened a specialist store in Edinburgh which caters exclusively for men and has launched a male only section in one of its Bristol stores.

The choice of balms, lotions, gels and scrubs to freshen, revitalize, scruff, optimize, and exfoliate can be overwhelming to the amateur groomer, so here are some tips to ensure your man looks body beautiful.

Nothing is worse than chafing when it comes to snogging your man in the back of the taxi on the way home! To ensure your fella's skin is kept as smooth as silk you will need to instill in him the importance of shaving lotions and potions. Gels tend to be better than foam when it comes to wet shaving, as they allow the razor to glide more freely over the skin. Go for a gel such as Refinery's (£12 available at www.mankind.co.uk) which contains aloe vera extract that soothes and moistens the skin while combating irritation. After shaving it is important to apply an aftershave balm which will help stop any soreness and burning. Hackett Heritage (£7 at Boots) does a fab balm which will ensure that your man's skin is kept soft and free from unsightly rashes.

Continued ... Next Page (3/3)

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