The metrosexual male’s love affair with facials and cosmetics keeping pace with his female counterpart, seems to be over going by recent trends, observes Ritusmita Biswas.

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Women have finally got their men back. Metrosexual grooming is passé. Of course, cleanliness is still prized but not the overtly-made up manicured look as far as men are concerned. This has led to the shutdown of several unisexual parlours across the country. Says Kakoli Sengupta of Kolkata, whose parlour Glitz and Glamour shut down its men’s wing sometime back: “There were other reasons too but the predominant fact was that the takers were becoming few. In fact, for the last two-three months there were absolutely no men approaching us for facial or other skin or hair care solutions.”

“All of them came just for routine shave or haircut. Hence it made no sense for us to stock expensive ingredients of gold and pearl facials for them or to keep regular employees to cater to the male clients. Therefore we were forced to shut down our men’s division,” she says.

A spokesperson for Sangam Beauty Parlour for Men that has been around for the last 15 years agrees that as far as grooming is concerned metrosexual look is clearly passé. “The last five years had seen a surge in beauty treatment for men. But not any more. Men now mostly come here for the routine care and that does not involve facial, foot massage, manicure or pedicure like earlier. Occasionally for a special party, some men do indulge in a facial but for sure they are not a part of the regular skincare regime,” he adds.
Most of their clientele who follow a regular regime of manicure, pedicure, facial etc are people who are in the show business, says Ajay Chakraborty, spokesperson of Shahnaz Herbal for Men in Kolkata. “For the others, it’s just regular shaving or massage. But yes, we do have clients who do facials once in a while as they need to chill out or relax,” he says. Like Arindam Basu, who was indulging in a ‘galvanic’ facial in the Shahnaz parlour. Basu works in one of the hi-flying firms in the IT hub of the Salt Lake. “For me nothing is more relaxing than having a facial on a Sunday after a hectic week," he says. “It is more for a de-stressing factor than for any cosmetic reason,” he adds.
However, recent trends seem to point out that the makeover-guy crowd is not so hot any more. A recent global survey reveals that more than 61 percent of women would rather see a man's hands rough and working hard than well-manicured while nearly half (47 per cent) opine that their ideal man spent his money on electrical gadgets rather than cosmetics. Ninety-two percent of women said dependability is the most desirable characteristic in an ideal mate. Around 16 percent chose "fashionable” and 62 percent chose "strong" as a desirable characteristic. And only 9 per cent believed that their men should spend their money on designer clothes.
Things are not so cut and dried though. A multinational company has launched the “Fair and Handsome” cream in the country targetting the male, a counterpoint to the (in)famous “Fair and Lovely” variety for women which has irked feminists and sociologists alike. They, however, may have the last laugh as the “men” are supposedly trying to become fairer, as per the ad, to attract the modern woman!

A recent issue of the TIME magazine has also run a cover story on how males across Asia (read South East Asia) are preening before the mirror for hours and spending thousands of bucks “ to look good,” because the ‘girls like them that way.’
Back home, however, women are singing a different tune. Reshmi Megrotra, working with a top IT firm in Jalandhar says: “Of course, I want my man to be loving, caring and taking a part in the household chores. If that means a metrosexual man I am okay with it. But if being metrosexual means spending hours over a manicure, pedicure or facial massage or being unduly bothered about what moisturiser is right for the skin, then it rather turns me off. Yes, my man should be neat and presentable but not made up.”
Agrees Saon Bhattacharjee of ICICI, Mumbai. “I frankly cannot believe that in my kind of profession men have the time to ponder for hours over what sunscreen to use or sit half the day for an orange peel facial. I would rather utilise that time to earn money,” he says, adding, “Yes, my job requires that I am always presentable but that can be achieved at home simply by bathing, shaving, and wearing clean clothes.”

So what made the metrosexual man fade out? “Masculine vigour, verve and fortitude, and maybe even a little endearing fashion cluelessness –have always been traits that women have liked to see in their men. I believe that metrosexual was a concept that had to fade inevitably. It is quite difficult to refute traditional roles that have been in vogue since ages and establish new role models. That maybe the reason why today’s generation is agreeing to concepts of sensitivity, caringness and domesticity in men but doing away with unnecessary attributes like love for cosmetics, over grooming and maintaining oneself etc, “ says psychologist Sanjay Ray.
Macho is definitely in. And who is the ideal macho man? “A tough guy who is kind and funny within. A man is macho only of he is gentle too. Insensitive and boorish is not macho at all,” says 28-year-old Saloni Sen who will be tying the knot with her fiancé Abhisekh this winters.