Trends for Men's Grooming
The modern man simply has to take grooming seriously if he wants to feel good. There are few sensations more irritating, after all, than the nagging suspicion that your appearance is letting you down. With that in mind, let’s examine some of the trends that men are turning to – or those that they might turn to in the near future!
Bagginess
Recent years have witnessed an unwelcome fashion trend, which demanded that men cram their legs into the most restrictive jeans possible. Taken to the extreme, this development invariably causes the trouser-wearer to look absurd (but then, one might say that about just about anything in the world of fashion). A far more pressing concern is the restrictive effect that skinny jeans have on the blood supply to one’s extremities. Even if your toes haven’t yet turned blue, the discomfort associated with tight trousers is in the process of finally relaxing. In some parts of the world, the pendulum has swung back in the opposite direction, and men are wearing the sort of tent-like apparel that’ll see their legs move more freely – but which marginally increases the risk of being trapped in an elevator door.
Hair
If you’re going to go to the trouble of washing your hair, then you might as well spend an extra few seconds conditioning it as well. With shampoo manufacturers long having taken the step of packaging shampoo and conditioner into the same miraculous package, men really have run out of excuses not to. By taking this step, scalps across the planet have become fuller, lusher, and more glorious. Who would want to go back to the way things were? A new development in the world of men’s hair-care has seen the rise of so called ‘deep’ conditioning. This involves applying a single very intensive moisture-providing substance to your hair each week. It’ll require a little bit more effort, but the results may prove worth it – just rub it into your scalp at the end of each shower, and then let it rest for around fifteen minutes before you finally rinse it out. If that seems like a long time, then you could always use those fifteen minutes to do something useful – beard-trimming and sink-unblocking being two worthwhile activities.
Morning Ritual
This one isn’t so much a new male grooming trend as a resurgence of an older one. While women might receive some justifiable criticism for taking too much time to get ready for an evening out, this isn’t a state of affairs that’s worn into our DNA. In days gone by, men would devote just as much time to getting ready each morning – and often even more. The routine of getting up each morning and restoring your face to the point where, even if you’re not blessed with a perfectly-proportioned face, everyone can see that you’ve made an effort not to look dreadful. A big night out the previous evening might leave a considerable mark on the quality of one’s skin, eyes and hair – and the application of a few key products can make a considerable difference. Increasingly, men have access to a larger arsenal of weapons with which to fight against bags, wrinkles, overgrowth and acne. By working this stuff into a fixed ritual that you perform each morning, you’re more likely to remember all of them.
Caffeine Shampoo
One unexpected development has been the advent of skincare products that are infused with caffeine. After all, we were all aware of the benefits and drawbacks of this traditionally-orally- administered stimulant; rather few of us suspected that great things might be achieved by massaging it into our scalps. Caffeine-infused men's grooming products act as anti-oxidants, fighting free radicals and thereby promoting skin elasticity – or, at least, that’s the idea. It remains to be seen whether caffeine is going to remain a permanent addition to the bathroom cabinet, but it’s certainly worth giving a try in the immediate future.
Beards – the end?
One of the most visible trends in recent years has been the encouragement of beard-growth. While just a few years ago the beard would have been the exclusive preserve of sailors, lumberjacks and the interminably lazy, now everyone’s wearing them: from actors to sportsmen to singers to the person who collects your rubbish. Of course, there’s no way that this trend can last forever. Beards have fallen in and out of fashion for time immemorial, and so an inevitable relapse into clean-shaving is something that even the most optimistic purveyor of beard-maintenance products will have to prepare for.