The New York Times has an article about the numerous new anti-aging skin care products now available for men.
Anti-aging creams, lotions and gels for men, which started showing up in
late 2003, are proliferating this spring. In March alone three men's labels
rolled out age-fighting concoctions for men's skin, which is thicker and
oilier than women's: Men's Expert, a child of L'Oréal, offers anti-wrinkle and skin-saving gels (available at CVS stores). Shiseido Men makes a "total revitalizer" (now sold at 77 department stores, like Barneys New York, but expected to be widely available by August). And Skin, a new label
from the fashion designer John Varvatos, created in Shiseido laboratories,
has a men's concealer as well as moisturizing and wrinkle-smoothing
products (only at Saks, Nordstrom and in Mr. Varvatos's boutiques).
The Times also points to this website from L'Oréal, which uses flash web technology to show a 20-something man age into a 68-year-old man (see photo in top right corner). The site also says, "You think your skin is invincible? Think again!" Together the text and photos make a frightening argument that is sure to get men to fork over the cash for skin care products. Lately men (with help from women) have been catching on to the need for a regular skin regimen. See our Moisterize It Like Beckham entry to see how Victoria Beckham helped her sports star husband. Of course, the biggest help of all for great skin is to not smoke and avoid the Sun. The Times article says many of the ingredients in the men's skin care products are the same as those in women's products -- like the anti-oxidants vitamins A and C. However, the skin care products are made differently since men shave frequently and have oilier skin:
But what is meant to be most manly about the new potions is how they are made.
Hormones, the very things that make men men, make men's skin oilier and as much as 20 percent thicker than women's. "Testosterone production overwhelms the skin's sebum glands, which then produce more oil," said Scott Michelle, a chemist who helped develop Solutions Based. That also makes men's pores larger and more prominent and their wrinkles deeper.
The daily act of shaving complicates matters, said Dr. Sandy Tsao, a dermatologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "Men need to shave constantly, so that irritation can lead to some discoloration and ingrown hairs," she said.
A WOMEN'S product, which contains a lot of oil to treat women's drier and thinner skin, can irritate men's skin and clog their pores. Men's products "have to be easily absorbed and can't be greasy," said Alan Meyers, a senior vice president for research and development of L'Oréal.
