Men who moisturise

Skin and personal care products are now beginning to target the newly self-conscious Indian man.

Did you know that men, on average, spend 20 minutes in front of the mirror every morning, compared to women's 18 minutes? Even if this recent survey is taken with a pinch of salt, the fact of the matter is that men today are becoming increasingly conscious of their appearance.

Yes, the Neanderthal look is out, and our male counterparts are willing to spend generously on personal grooming.

"Looking good is not just a female prerogative. Looking one's best gives you self-confidence, very important in today's competitive world," says Shahnaz Husain. While 30 per cent of the total clientele at Shahnaz Herbal salons in Delhi happen to be male, VLCC too claims that around 35-40 per cent of its clients are men.

"If you visit a salon today, there's a greater chance of you sitting alongside a male customer being pampered with a pedicure or a manicure," says Sandeep Ahuja, managing director and CEO, VLCC.

Small wonder that FMCG companies and chains of beauty and personal care clinics are focussing on this hitherto untapped category and launching new products like gels, hydrating creams and herbal grooming products solely targeted at men. Growing at a whopping 200 per cent annually, the Rs 750 crore men's grooming industry indeed appears to be on a roll.

Interestingly, industry observers cite the boom in the services sector and the growing stress of urban lifestyles as prime reasons for this spurt in personal grooming among men.

While the well-groomed look is a necessity in the services sector, be it hospitality or airlines, self-indulgence is also seen as the perfect way to de-stress. Bollywood baadshah Shah Rukh Khan featuring in the Lux commercial in a bath filled with rose petals can well be viewed as a harbinger of this phenomenon of male self-indulgence.

"About 35 per cent of our clients for our head to toe programmes or for consultation for acne, skin tightening or pigmentation happen to be men of all age groups," maintains Vandana Luthra, chairman of the VLCC group.

Taking its cue from in-house research findings, the group behind the chain of beauty clinics and personal care products across the country, has launched 'Fuel for Men', a range of grooming products for men. The range comprises a face wash, after-shave balm, shaving gel, hair cleanser and a hair styling gel. Reasonably priced between Rs 75 to 145, all the products have exotic herbs as the key ingredients, claims Luthra.

Going by the overwhelming response to the handful of products that it launched last month, VLCC now plans to come up with some skin care products "to take care of the dehydrated skin that some men have due to constant shaving".

The company is also looking at a fairness cream for men. "But we will position it differently, for I personally believe one can't really change the colour of one's skin. All that can be done is remove suntan, pigmentation and acne, which makes the skin look lighter," points out Luthra.

Talk of fairness creams for men and what immediately comes to mind is Fair and Handsome. Emami, the Rs 320 crore personal care and beauty products company, with its basket of usually ayurvedic products, launched the fairness cream exclusively for men in Andhra Pradesh, the biggest state consumer for fairness products, last year.

Given its success, it was subsequently introduced in other regions. FMCG major Marico also entered the premium male grooming category with its Parachute After Shower Hair Cream for men. This happens to be the first non-oil product under the Parachute brand. With aqua-moisturisers and a zingy fragrance, the product, which is priced at Rs 29 for a 50 gram tube and Rs 55 for 100 gram jar, takes care of everyday hair styling.

Yet another company that has come up with grooming solutions for men is Modi Revlon, which launched its range of 24Seven fragrance and personal care products recently.

The new range comprises a deodorant spray, a cologne spray and an aftershave splash. Priced between Rs 185 and Rs 550, the fragrances of 24Seven deodorant are available in four variants "" Platinum, Krypton, Xenon and Gold. The 24 Seven cologne and aftershave splash are available in Platinum and Krypton. Although the company is currently focussing on the fragrance segment, it doesn't rule out getting into the skincare segment soon.

"Men have begun experimenting with skincare. So though we're currently strengthening our women's anti-ageing category, we may get into the skincare segment for men as well," says Deepak Bhandari, associate director-marketing, Modi Revlon.

Meanwhile, it's Shahnaz Husain who claims to have been one of the earliest players in the men's cosmetic care segment.

"With a keen foresight of future trends in male grooming, we opened our men's salon and launched an entire range of men's grooming products called Man Power as early as 1993," she says.

The Man Power range today comprises a huge basket of about 30 products including cleanser, toner, scrub, moisturiser, face masks, shaving cream, sunscreen, hair oil and ointments for problems like spots, acne, pigmentation and hair loss.

Derived from plant ingredients, the range allows the selection of a total skin and hair care routine, keeping specific male requirements in mind, says Husain. Buoyed by the success of her Fair Ever for women, she now plans to come up with a fairness cream, anti-ageing and anti-marks cream for men soon.

POWERING MEN

An average grooming-conscious male today spends an average of an hour-and-a-half in a salon, as against 40 minutes just two years ago

Research also points out that men spend 20 minutes of their time on personal grooming every morning, compared to 18 minutes for women

Experts claim an average upper-middle-class man today is willing to spend up to Rs 1,000 every month on grooming

The Rs 750 crore men's grooming market in India is growing by almost 200 per cent

While the hair segment is a Rs 200 crore market, fragrances are Rs 250 crore