In this issue, we take a look back at the ´90s in The Way We Were, sponsored by Hair U Wear. American Crew turned the industry on its head back then by introducing a line of products specifically for men. Since then, Aveda, Goldwell, Matrix, Paul Mitchell, Redken, Joe Grooming, Woody's Quality Hair Grooming and others have introduced their own men's lines. We've also added the word "metrosexual" to the lexicon to market to men everything from facials to pedicures. You might say that American Idol's Ryan Seacrest, who has boasted about having just about every spa service known to man, is the poster boy for metrosexualism. Even the Brawny Man, Georgia-Pacific's paper-towel spokes-icon, hopped on the bandwagon recently, undergoing a makeover designed to "bring out his softer side": Out is the Castro Street mustache; in is a new hairdo (he's a brunette, not a redhead now).
 Brett Vinovich |
Still, if you can believe an item that appeared in a recent issue of Newsweek, the tide may be turning. In "A Manly Comeback," Catherine Skipp and Arian Campo-Flores report that a growing group of men, who "shun metrosexuality, with its often feminine esthetic, in favor of old-school masculinity," is using plastic surgery to look more masculine. Skipp and Campo-Flores call these men "retrosexuals." One of them had 3,000 hair follicles "ripped from his scalp and transplanted into his face, chest and belly." A year later, after deciding his chest wasn't hairy enough, he added an additional 2,400 grafts. And that's not all. Plastic surgeons are reporting an increase in the number of men asking for rhinoplasty (that's a nose job to most of us) to enlarge, rather than reduce, the size of their noses. Why? It makes them look more masculine.
 Manly men are springing up on billboards all over the country. |
Before launching Matrix Men a few years ago, Matrix conducted a bit of market research that showed that most of your male clients are about as metrosexual as Paul Bunyan. Maybe they were onto something. Still, whether men are in the Ryan Seacrest camp or not, most of them are not using bar soap to wash their hair. Good thing, too, because there are more men's lines than ever on the market. In this issue, we rounded up some of the best. Turn to page 72 to find out what's out there.
 Seacrest out: Ryan Seacrest's brand of metrosexuality may be on the wane. |
 Win a woody's three-pack of holiday essentials! |
—Brett Vinovich, publisher, [email protected]