Male Makeover: Primp, but minus the tags

They have taken metrosexuality in their stride & moved on. Men today spend time in salons, like the cuts of their designer suits immaculate & love to primp, but they want none of the tags that always accompanied this earlier.Maybe it started after Shah Rukh Khan created a storm in a bathtub. Or maybe David Beckham and his love for sarongs and Posh's nail paints were to be blamed.And if none of these two sound good enough to you, you can always accuse the media of creating issues where there were none. Say what you will but metrosexuality was a revolution. And it was a revolution whose reigning colour was pink - make it polka-dotted too - smelt of woody, spicy and citrus-y fragrances and the scene of battle was a salon where women would give the men getting a pedicure a derisive look and would move over to the article they were reading - how to look good in 15 minutes.
But almost a decade has passed since the first groomzilla found his way to the salon to get his hair done. Today, primping and face massages are as much a part of a man's schedule as having a boys' night out or taking out time for weekend golf.
But boy, do they hate tags! Try to bracket them as mirls or metrosexuals , and they will cry blue murder. "Why don't women get straitjacketed based on what they wear, how much time they spend in a mall or whether they visit a beauty parlour once or twice a week? I like to look good and spend money on myself. So, what is the big deal?" asks Suketu Sinha, a budding author. And these are the questions urban males are asking frequently these days - 'Yes, we go to the salon, so?', 'Yes, we go crazy buying clothes and accessories for ourselves over the weekend, so?', 'Yes, I spend time deciding whether I should add streaks to my hair or wear them long, but so what?' In other words, why is such a brouhaha being created if the reigning god of the silver screen, Shah Rukh Khan, decides to endorse a product that will make men look fairer? As grooming expert Javed Habib says, "When my dad started a salon, the ratio of men and women visiting us was 10:90. And even those who would come looked apologetic about it. Today that ratio is 50:50. And men's visits are not occasion specific, as in they not only come for a treatment if they are getting married or if there is a big meeting on the horizon. They come regularly and for all kinds of treatments - manicure , pedicure, facials, massages, hair treatment… the works. They want to look nice and they do it openly and without any apologies."
And the figures tell their own tale about how the Indian male is a new creature these days. He spends more time primping in front of the mirror as compared to a woman. He spends more on hair care than a woman does. He likes accessorising his looks and doesn't need mummy/girlfriend's help to find the perfect fit. And if money and time were no constraints, he would love to go the whole hog in beauty treatments. In other words, metrosexuality has become an intrinsic part of his mental and physical make-up . As VJ Yudi says, "What is the harm in being wellgroomed ? I go to a salon at least once a week and I am not in the least embarrassed about it. Why should I be? Who wants a dirty looking guy around?" Nobody. Not even women. The same fairer sex which once felt that Armageddon would be a better option than having to see their guy getting a rejuvenating facial. As anchor Pooja Bedi says, "My man should be obsessive about me and concerned about his looks. Otherwise it doesn't work." She, like numerous other women out there, can't figure out what the big deal is if men shop more than they do. Sociologist Rima Nagar puts things in perspective when she says, "Today there is much more pressure on Indian men to look good than their fathers ever faced. Also, men have accepted the ideal of female beauty and are using the same grooming fundamentals." But, as the men would say, what is the big deal?
About 37% of men spend on hair care, as compared to only 28% women
Men will be spending Rs 14.5 bn annually on grooming products soon
30% of fairness cream users in India are men
Urban men spend an average of 20 minutes in front of the mirror each morning, while women primp for 18