Men in love with grooming products

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Soccer fans might have been excited when it was announced that David Beckham would be coming to the United States to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy. But nobody was cheering louder than the executives in the fashion and beauty industries.

Becks could be a considerable force, especially in the men's grooming sector, which already is experiencing tremendous growth (worldwide sales rose from $26.3 billion in 2005 to $29.7 billion in 2006).

The term metrosexual, for whom Beckham was the poster boy, may be dead, but the man who cares about his skin, his shave and his wardrobe is not.

"Now, more than ever, men feel that it is important to take care of their skin," said Oneeka Botu, director of skin-care marketing for Clarins.

Companies making men's skin-care and grooming products have kicked into high gear. Men who want to erase under-eye circles, plump up fine lines and reduce pore size now don't have to filch from their girlfriend's or wife's medicine cabinet.

Companies such as L'Oreal, Clarins, Kiehl's, Shiseido, Clinique, Lab Series for Men, Elemis, Anthony Logistics, Jack Black, Zirh, Sharps, Nickel, Molton Brown and Dior Homme have lines and products targeted to the XY set.

Beckham is hardly alone in caring about his skin. When he moves to Los Angeles he will join a roster of Hollywood pretty boys who don't leave home without their body scrubs and face creams.

(Johnny Depp, who will be seen in May in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," apparently goes nowhere without La Mer skin-care products.)

Men are growing more educated about grooming products and sophisticated in choices for their beauty needs.

"It's growing. By some estimates, the product side of the business is growing twice as fast as the women's side, albeit off a much lower base," said John Esposito, co-founder of Truman's Gentlemen's Groomers in New York.

Clarins monitors and analyzes what men are buying in order to stay on top of the business. The company has seen a huge jump in facial care, especially lip products, toners, clarifiers and anti-aging treatments.

"I think that men were experimenting in the early 2000s when there was a major focus on the men's beauty business," Botu said. "Today, a lot of men have discovered what they like and what works for them and are buying those products."

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