SHOULD MEN WEAR MAKE-UP?

Jared Leto and Pete Doherty show off their eye make-up

Monday May 5,2008

By Jo Willey

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(5)

DAVID Beckham has never appeared shy of embracing his feminine side, having stepped out in both a sarong and pink nail varnish.

And his apparent fondness for waxing could not have gone unnoticed after his provocative pose in a recent underwear advert.

Now it seems that the male beauty regime is set to get a great deal more complicated after the first men’s make-up range has been introduced.

Extravagant French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier has launched a range of 17 products for men, including bronzers, eyebrow pencil and even an eyeliner.

The Monsieur range is the latest offering in a rapidly expanding male grooming industry, which soared to around £806million in Britain last year, up from £639million in 2002.

Although men wearing make-up is nothing new – from David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust face decor to Robbie Williams and his fondness for eyeliner – this is a first for a whole range of products specifically designed for the male population.

EYECATCHING: Russell Brand

A spokeswoman for Harvey Nichols, which is stocking the brand, said Monsieur was already proving popular with “fashion-conscious straight men to metrosexual and gay men”.

She added: “In general there has been a great boost in male grooming products, and men’s make-up is a natural extension of this trend. Many men already borrow their girlfriends’ products.”

Subtle bronzers, concealers and tinted moisturisers are all now apparently acceptable additions to a morning routine for the image-conscious male.

But Lee Kynaston, grooming editor at Men’s Health magazine, said that men’s grooming should remain “invisible”.

Many men already borrow their girlfriends’ products

A Harvey Nichols spokeswoman

He added: “Does the average woman want a guy to wear more make-up than her? Men still want to be men and women want men to look like men.”

Among the Monsieur range is a powder or fluid bronzer as well as an eyeliner pencil. Last year, clothing chain H&M launched a mascara for men.

And Clinique has an M Coverstick, which is a concealer for men, although it is kept in the men’s “skincare” range.

A study has found that the average woman will spend more than £8,500 on cosmetics over six decades.

Lipstick, eye shadow, foundation and blusher costs the average woman more than £130 every year.

Foundation is the most expensive item, with females spending £1,998 on the cover-up in a lifetime.

***DO YOU THINK MEN SHOULD WEAR MAKE UP?***

***DO YOU KNOW ANY MEN WHO ALREADY DO?***

HAVE YOUR SAY BELOW!

David Beckham, pictured with wife Victoria, has always been in touch with his feminine side

MAKE-UP FOR MEN?

06.05.08, 11:20am

Why not?
We are not actually talking about 'men', merely those who have the normal apendages which class them as the male of the species. The use of the word to describe something more than that depends on how much more of what?
After all; the article includes all variations of sexual preferences. Immagine your personal - not biological- deffinition of a 'man' then if wearing make-up does not deter from it then all's well. personally; I do just that and the result is another source of a good laugh in a world short of such a comodit. As a matter of fact; this was high fashion for males in the 18th Century. Basically; it's another way of conning people out of their money. Women have been conned about this for as long as I can remember.
This is just an extension of the same thing. No big deal!

• Posted by: meagain • Report Comment

WHAT'S NEW? MEN WERE WEARING MAKE-UP 300 YEARS AGO

05.05.08, 7:41pm

Yet another marketing gimmick.

Let us look at a typical Englishman in England: He wears those stupid three-quarter length trousers, earrings, facial piercings and a baseball cap to top it all off. He looks the idiot he undoubtedly is.

Let us look at a typical Englishman abroad - especially in Spain: He is still wearing those stupid three-quarter length trousers, earrings, facial piercings, a baseball cap worn back-to-front and the locals are correct in thinking that England is full of idiots.

I do hope Dictator Prudence Brown does not start slapping a hefty spite tax on unisex make-up - half of the muppets in the House of Conmen will object to that!!

David Beckham for Prime Minister - he would show Downing Street a thing or seven.

• Posted by: ReubenMohawali • Report Comment

MOST DEFINATELY NO

05.05.08, 5:00pm

I can't even bare seeing men wearing earings, they look ridiculous. I don't want a man 'in touch with his feminine side', I want a real old fashion 'MAN'!
Oh for the days when men were men and women were women, the days of my childhood, when men were much more masculine and on the whole smartly dressed. I have such memories of my fathers wardrobe with smart blazers and ties in, with cuff links being the only jewellry a man would consider. And he was a working class lorry driver.
Yes I know some of them were still gay, but at least it wasn't 'in your face'.
The thought of my husband fussing in the mirror over what eyeshadow to wear is quite simply unbearable.

• Posted by: Jac16 • Report Comment

NO TO MAKE UP FOR MEN

05.05.08, 3:54pm

After having been married to a transvestite for 15 years I baulk at the idea of men wearing makeup. Their feminine side is all very well but how far do they then take it in the bedroom? Let's leave them out of this exclusively feminine activity. I wouldn't touch a male with make up on with a barge pole. It's not so much the make up itself but what's behind it..... and they aren't straight. And the effects on the children, who as little ones say things like:- Why does Daddy dress like Mummy? in a state of confusion as other 'daddies' don't look like that.

• Posted by: Jane_E_London • Report Comment