Mirror, mirror, on the wall?

Jan 18 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

Metrosexual man came, saw and now, as Michael Bennet finds out, he looks set to conquer the once women-only beauty business

The metrosexual, a term first coined at the start of the millennium is now firmly entrenched in modern life and no-one bats an eyelid at a man discussing his skincare regime.
 
"I think men have had the back-seat for so long with regards to what they can wear and what they can do and how they can look," says Dion Padan, the young entrepreneur behind the newly opened Hooka Men's Grooming Studio, on Liverpool's Wood St, which offers a range of beauty treatments for men.
 
"Men now want more than just a haircut - it's gone beyond the whole barbershop thing.
 
"It's more about having an individual personal look rather than having the traditional short back and sides.
 
"We're trying to push the boundaries in terms of what is available for men."
 
Leon Skidmore, salon manager of Voodou for Men on Bold Street, agrees with Dion.
 
"We do a traditional shave with a cut-throat razor, hot towels, face massage," he explains. "But we also offer colour, shaves, hair art, massaging, waxing, eye treatment, facials, bronzing, manicures, foot grooming, especially for men."
 
It is certainly a far cry from days of old when butter would suffice as hair gel.
 
But could men be going too far? Are we due a "menaissance" and a return of the rugged man's man? Or is it possible to enjoy regular facials and have fancy haircuts and still retain your masculinity?