The New Male

Men now make up 29 percent of all spa goers. Here's a telling update that includes inspirational salon/spas/barber spottings from around the world.

More beauty-based ideas, of the Metrosexual kind no less (ah — how 2004), as male beautification continues its waxed & plucked victory march. Male grooming salons and spas are seeing brisk business (as Springwise reported before). Men now make up 29 percent of all spa goers, according to the International Spa Association, while many European spas even report that men comprise 50% or more of their business. Here’s a telling update (and hopefully a source of inspiration) of some recent salon/spas/barber spottings in this field: The Dandy House Men’s Beauty Day Spa is a Japanese chain offering everything from eyebrow trimming to body hair removal to weight-loss programs. Dandy House plans to expand from its current 54 salons to 100 by 2010. (Source: The Star.) JOQ Day Spa for Men is an Atlanta day spa designed and devoted exclusively to men, offering manicures, pedicures, facials, body wraps, massage, microdermabrasion, waxing and tinting. Nickel, the French male cosmetics brand, is now big in spas, too: Nickel Spas for Men have several treatment rooms, manicure and pedicure stations and a lounge area. The design and decoration of the spas makes them ‘very masculine and yet sophisticated environments’. There are spas in Paris, in New York and in San Francisco. G.room is a “cool retail space where men can feel comfortable and consider their total appearance, in a no-nonsense masculine environment”. The store can be found on London’s Carnaby Street. Three more stores will be opened by 2006. http://www.sharpsusa.com/ And how about supplying all these new male beauty centers around the world with the creams and gels they apply by the gallon? Sharps has carved out a profitable niche by taking traditional barbershop products and transforming them for the 21st Century. In their own words: “We’re outfitting new jack barbers with products for modern prep. It’s your neighborhood cut shop remade into a place where you can get it together. Total prep from barbers with attitude.” Think quirkily named products like Kid Glove Shave Gel, which goes on transparent when it is applied to the skin so shavers can see each hair being swiped off.From Dubai to Paris to Tokyo to New York, this is where real money is being made, and we’ll reiterate our earlier advice: a backlash following the metrosexual hype will not stop male grooming from flourishing. Spas, magazines, personal care lines: this will be a clean and smooth market for a long time to come!