FASHION + BEAUTY
La Touche Beauty
Focus on Male Grooming
This month, Touchell Thaddeus, salon owner at La Touche Beauty, Lindfield, has chosen to focus on exploring the rise of the male grooming industry.“ It was predicted that 2016 would be the ultimate year for male grooming and it definitely seems to be looking that way, as one-third of men admit to spending at least 30 minutes a day on their personal appearance, and 29 percent admit to touching up their looks throughout the day,” says Touchell.“ With 52 percent of male consumers considering their appearance to be either important or very important, the male grooming market is certainly one that’ s rapidly evolving.”
Male grooming- what is it? As a term, ' male grooming ' is relatively new to our vocabularies. A few years ago, it was introduced by clever marketing people who wanted to open up the profitable( but then very feminine) beauty industry to the other half of the population.
“ I believe it is safe to say the word ' grooming ' was carefully selected for its own connotations: dogs are ' groomed ', chimps ' groom ' each other- it sounds uncomplicated enough to attract even the most burly biker groups and pub goers,” says Touchell Thaddeus, salon owner at La Touche Beauty, Lindfield.“ If it had been called the ' male pampering ' industry, I am certain the financial forecasts probably wouldn ' t be quite as impressive as they currently are at an expected value of £ 54.2 billion worldwide- an incredible increase of £ 41.5 billion from 2007.”
Today, people speak of the ' metrosexual man ': the suave, sleeklooking guy who ' s just as happy downing lager at the rugby club as he is choosing a gift for his mother’ s birthday. In tabloid articles, the
' metrosexual ' is often described as the ' new breed of man '- a brand new phenomenon storming the modern western world. This happens to be a complete myth.
“ The truth is that men have traditionally been plucking, waxing, moisturising and styling themselves pretty much since the inception of time,” adds Touchell.“ Historians reckon ancient Egyptian men spent hours every day removing every single hair from their bodies, applying blossom perfume to their skin and even drawing dark kohl eye-liner around their eyes in a bid to enhance their appearances.”
“ When it comes to male grooming habits, there’ s definitely been a shift in attitude over the years,” says Touchell.“ Gone are the days when men would just roll out of bed, hop into the shower, and be out the door in five minutes. Now, they participate in a skin care routine that would probably give the average female a run for her money. For today’ s men, it’ s apparent that there is an interest to look good, and to ultimately feel good about themselves and why shouldn’ t they?”
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