Manly Make-up
Give the cosmetics industry some credit. Instead of line-extending themselves to death, they are doing what marketing experts say should be done in a mature industry: find a way to expand your market. They are doing just that.
However, the market they now seek is men.
Because I am a baby boomer male, age 43, I am supposedly among a growing number of men who have become concerned about their appearance...to the point of even wanting to use cosmetics to erase the effects of aging.
For the full info on this, please visit:
I know...male rock stars have been using make-up for years. Ozzy Osbourne has gone through more mascara than most women, and KISS probably put Max Factor's kids through college. But that's just for stage theatrics. Now we're talking make-up for the common man.
And that's where I draw the line (or is it eye liner?).
No way, no how am I getting up an hour earlier so I can put on my face. No way am I going to exfoliate my skin, add gel to my eyebrow, or puff a little powder onto my cheeks.
Call me a grump. Call me a traditionalist. Call me a product of my culture. But I'm just not going to start trying to be a pretty boy to delay looking old.
Yes, I realize that it is culture that dictates what is appropriate behavior for men and women, and thus there is no hard and fast law prohibiting men from adding a little color to their face. Furthermore, I realize that culture and its expectations can and do change (hey, ever noticed how it's OK for a man to wear a pink shirt nowadays?).
But this is on thing that I want nothing to do with (dangling preposition and all).
Most women can benefit from the strategic application of make-up, but unless you happen to be a newscaster or politician, I think that men look better with just their plain old weathered skin.
I always admired my grandfather. I thought he looked very stately in his later years...wrinkles that bespoke years of hard work and concern for his family, toughened skin that had been scraped daily for 70 years with a sharp razor, and a moderate permanent tan that attested to his outdoor nature.
That's the way I want to look when I get old (if I ever get there). My grandmother looked pretty, but my grandfather looked pretty tough.
It does not matter to me how much they "masculinize" make-up with different names and phrases, or that they even dumb it down for even the most aloof male to understand their applications. I'm simply not going down this road.
Sorry, Estee Lauder...you've got to find a different way to broaden your market.
©2002 R. Nicholas Gerlich
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