Now, Real Men <i> Can </i> Moisturize : Encouraged by Reassuringly Masculine Ads, Some Men Are Following Skin-Care Programs

When Don Grossman called on a client to convince him that his new line of skin-care products for men would be a big seller, the client didn’t argue.

Instead, he spun around in his chair, removed two books from the shelf behind his desk and retrieved a bottle of women’s moisturizer that he had stashed away like old whiskey.

For men, “skin care” used to mean soap and water. Real men didn’t moisturize.

There’s evidence, however, that a growing number of men are embarking on more sophisticated skin-care programs. They’re using toners, moisturizers, scrubs and fragrances like never before.

Matthew Schafnitz, 47, chief executive officer of Brakke-Schafnitz Commercial Insurance Brokers in Irvine, has followed a skin-care regimen for seven years that includes daily use of a moisturizer by Lauder for Men and a facial once every five weeks.

By taking care of his skin, Schafnitz says, he hopes to prolong the “eventuality of aging.”

“I think (the skin-care regimen) works, from the comments people make. They’ll say, ‘God, you keep getting younger looking,’ or ‘You look great.’

“It’s like taking care of leather on a Rolls-Royce. If you keep it nice and clean, it will last longer.”

Still, he won’t go near Lauder’s Auto-Tan Self Tanning Lotion.

“That’s too much like makeup,” he says.

Despite Schafnitz’s sentiments, the first blush of makeup has already appeared on the cheeks and chins of a few adventurous men.

Some are using products such as bronzers and tanning gels that look suspiciously like their feminine counterparts--blush and rouge. One sign that the taboo against makeup on men is lifting: Clinique, Estee Lauder and Chanel all report increased demand for their “self-tanning” lotions for men.

While makeup for men seems a far-off concept, those working the cosmetic counters remember a time when fragrance for men was revolutionary. Now their counters are crowded with colognes and after-shaves.

“Once those barriers go down, a lot of other barriers go down with them,” says Peter Lichtenthal, director of marketing for Estee Lauder in New York City.

Fragrances have helped introduce men to skin care by making them more comfortable in cosmetics departments.

Terri Calandrillo, spokeswoman for Clinique in New York City, says men were far more reluctant to approach her at the cosmetics counter 10 years ago.

“It was hard to get them to stand there 30 seconds,” she says.

They would quickly pick out a skin cream, then slink away with the goods rolled up in a plain store bag tucked under their arm.

“It’s so different now. They come right up with a list of what they want. And they ask questions (about products) that would never have been asked before.”

Younger men, in particular, have become more interested in caring for their skin, Lichtenthal says. They’re more exposed to media that emphasize looks and health.

“The baby-boom generation is aging. They’re more concerned with their appearance than prior generations were,” he says. “I don’t know if vanity is the right word, but they do have a strong concern for their appearance and grooming.”

As the link between sun and skin cancer becomes more apparent, they’ve also sought ways to protect their skin.

Cosmetic companies, eager to foster men’s new-found concern for skin, have been expanding their men’s lines in recent years. They’ve been offering a wide range of lotions and creams in packaging that’s reassuringly masculine.

Clinique’s Skin Supplies for Men comes in gun-metal gray, for example, although the company admits that products such as M Lotion are often identical to those sold in the pink and green floral boxes at the women’s end of the counter.

“The containers are plastic, they’re gray, they’re comfortable to hold, and they have a wider body. All of this is done with men’s consideration in mind,” Calandrillo says.

Companies are also careful to call their products by their most masculine-sounding names. Lauder’s Auto-Tan might remind its customers of cars, and Shaker Talc is a much more macho moniker than powder. Clean-Face Tonic sounds like something Hemingway might have ingested on a trip to Harry’s Bar.

Grossman, vice president of MensCare Products in Huntington Beach, decided to offer skin care for men without making them go near a cosmetics department. He introduced his line in spring of 1990 to drugstores and supermarkets so men could just pick up a moisturizer off the shelf.

“These products should be as easy to buy as razor blades or deodorant,” Grossman says. “Department stores have created this full-service luxury item, and we’re trying to take away that mystique.”

He wants the stores to keep his products away from the cosmetics and put them with men’s toiletries, right up there with shaving lotion and razor blades.

“We don’t want them anywhere near the makeup,” he says.

His MensCare Products consist of a facial scrub, wash and toner (“an excellent way to stimulate the pores”), after-shave moisture gel, overnight moisturizer and shaving cream. They come in bold black- and white-striped packaging.

“Men are still wary. We have to be very careful how we present this product,” he says. “There’s no question this is for men. There’s no reference to beauty or to women anywhere in our copy. And we advertise the product only through media for men.”

Ads for MensCare have appeared in sports magazines like Runner’s World and men’s magazines. The company placed a full-page ad in the January issue of Esquire showing a man’s face being showered with sprinklers and recently began airing commercials on ESPN, the all-sports network, that feature men walking through a carwash to illustrate the harshness of the soap-and-water routine.

Despite the growing acceptance of grooming products such as Clairol’s new hair color for men, Grossman says some men are still closet users of skin-care products.

“They won’t admit they’re using Oil of Olay because the bottle’s pink,” he says. “But they’re using it, trust me.”

Some are even using the wrong products on their faces because they’re so desperate for relief, he says. For example, they’re putting hand lotion on their faces.

Grossman says this, too, shall pass.

“I remember the days when men wouldn’t use hair dryers or cologne or hair conditioner,” he says. “Now they’re as accepted as anything.”

Even as men’s skin-care products become more accepted, questions remain as to whether all of these new products are necessary.

Dermatologist Richard Klimkowski of San Clemente says that products with sun screens are most beneficial to the skin.

“The biggest problem I have is getting men to use sunscreen. Many are reluctant to put any goop on their face,” he says.

Without a sunscreen, many of the exotic creams and gels on the shelves will have “marginal, at best, results,” he says. Such products have what he calls “a subjective benefit.” If it feels good, and you think it’s working, do it.

Some men, however, still regard the skin-care lines with some suspicion.

Antonio Cagnolo, owner of Antonello’s restaurant in South Coast Plaza Village, still relies on soap and water as the cure-all for his complexion.

“I follow my grandmother’s recipe,” he says. “She used soap and water, and her skin was like silk until her last day.” His grandmother lived till she was 101.