Men -- Would You Wear Makeup if it were Socially Acceptable?

Makeup for Men
By DAVID RAKOFF

Published: December 14, 2003

Heretofore, men's personal grooming has been more a matter of maintenance than augmentation; a haircut as opposed to a henna treatment. But in this age of rampant metrosexuality, when even Maxim magazine has its own line of hair color for men, the arrival of Jean Paul Gaultier's Tout Beau seems a cultural inevitability. Tout Beau is the first line of makeup specifically aimed at men. According to a Gaultier press release, the Tout Beau line -- including a powder bronzer, a concealer and kohl liner for eyes and lip balm in three shades: natural, fair skin and tawny -- is a ''bold, virile line of revolutionary tools'' designed to ''enhance masculinity'' and ''offer each and every man the right to be naturally handsome.''

The packaging is understated. The bronzer and brush are concealed in a shiny black cube, an architectonic plaything one might find on an executive's desk. The nail fortifier looks like a squat black marker, and the concealer/kohl pen is a dead ringer for a Pilot Razor Point.

The advertising, on the other hand, makes no attempt at obfuscating the ultimate purpose of Tout Beau. The face of the campaign is a pouting model in an open, French-cuff linen shirt. His black fedora is tilted jauntily over his right eye, while his left is rimmed in kohl. The kohl is everywhere, actually: the upper arch of his eyebrow is outlined in it; a sharp line of the stuff extends down from his sideburn, accentuating the angle of his cheekbone; and above his mouth -- a plummy, shining moue -- are two slender strokes of a painted-on mustache. He looks smooth and tandooried.

Gaultier has proclaimed that 90 percent of the sales of his men's makeup in France have been to straight men. And since Tout Beau was introduced in the United States last month, sales have been brisk -- Macy's moved $13,000 worth of men's makeup in the week after its debut. Fashion-world observers say they're not surprised that regular guys would be reaching for the mascara. ''With people living longer and longer,'' says Pete Born, vice president of Women's Wear Daily, ''they are expected to remain productive for a lot longer. All of a sudden, appearance is an integral part of one's ability to make money.'' Who knows? By this time next year, perhaps the innocuous corporate badinage of men across the country will have morphed from ''Hot enough for you?'' and ''Don't work too hard'' to ''Dude, where's my concealer?''

See what cosmetics have done for this guy!

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