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FRIDAY February 13, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 21, 2003 The new look of 'Masculine' By John Darling Tidings Correspondent Beauty and the Beast have finally gotten together. The French Quarter salon has seen a new interest in male grooming since "Queer Eye for the Staright Guy" appeared on television. But not all men are getting into the act. Many still go for the shave-and-a-haircut approach. Photos by Peter Hahnloser | Ashland Daily Tidings After centuries of the macho, shave-and-a-haircut approach to personal esthetic care, men are branching out and wanting, like women, to look younger and sexier, have tighter, younger skin - and they don't care who catches them getting a facial or being slathered with foaming mud mask. All the rage now in the media, the trend is called "metrosexuality," a term coined by British author Mark Simpson to describe urban, non-gay men who seek traditionally feminine beauty care: wax facial or body hair, exfoliate (creams or brushing to remove dead skin), get manicures and pedicures, indulge in body wraps and polishes and, of course, the now-tame hair colorings and massages. "It's the baby boomers," said Patricia Kolker of Blue Giraffe Day Spa Salon. "They're a much more aware generation. They've heard so much publicity on skin care - but they don't like what they've heard about plastic surgery. It's too invasive. They're really starting to take care of themselves in their thirties, rather than waiting till their late fifties, like the older generation now." "Men are accepting their feminine side more," said Lezlie Amstutz, whose nails were being worked on at French Quarter. "Women are asking men to do it. There's nothing more attractive than a guy with neat, clean nails." French Quarter owner Renee Fox said the tv show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" - in which gay men do a makeover on a straight guy - has boosted business tremendously and legitimized primping and just plain "lookin' good." Surveys show men are actually coloring their hair more than women these days - and the college guys like doing it for each other. About one in five hair color clients are male, she noted. Middle-aged men are going for "blending," which is mixing in blond tones to take away that gray look. It doesn't leave a big "grow-out line," she said. Couples are coming in together for body wraps, hot stone massages (a slow, rhythmic massage with 30 stones costing $120) and reflexology, said Kolker. And women are turning their guys onto the adventure by giving them gift certificates for pedicures and manicures, said nail technician Beryl Patner. "One man, after the first nail treatment of his life (on gift certificate) said - that was amazing, just tell me how often to come back. Women admire this - a guy who is into healthy maintenance of himself and has some concept about fashion." Many men have bad toenails from wearing boots all their lives or, with age, can't reach their feet easily, thus prompting them to get pedicures, which include soaking in a foot Jacuzzi, plus massage of feet and lower legs, she added. Stylishly coiffed actor Brant Watson, 23, of Ashland goes for blond tips on his black hair and confesses to having blown it trying to do become totally blonde, but doing it himself. "It turned out orange because my hair is so dark." Many of his friends shave their chests and sometimes their entire bodies for esthetic reasons, he said. Many others get the salon wax treatment on chests, necklines and backs, which lasts about a month, Kolker said. Men are paying a lot more attention to facial hair now and have decided it's "not gay" to eliminate "unibrows," unruly eyebrows and other unwanted face hair with tweezing and waxing, said Fox. Marketing of male beauty products had induced men to avoid supermartket stuff and go for the higher-end salon moisturizers, conditioners, shampoos and styling products, like pomades and clays (they give you that look of being at a salty ocean beach for a week), Fox noted. "It used to be that dad took son to the barber and they all got trimmed together," said Shar Apilada of French Quarter. "Now mom takes the boys and they get styled together. Young boys in middle school, even in grade school know the looks and the products and they want to be stylin'." Said Melinda Thomson, also of French Quarter, "The macho thing is gone. We get every kind of guy in here. You'd be amazed. We're a very visual culture and everyone wants to look good now. It's synonymous with energy and vitality. It makes you feel better and reminds everyone they are attractive and beautiful." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: A new improved archive search is coming! Look for it in mid-February! .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - ODOT Road Cams