Men’s toiletries

Abstract

For a long time the toiletry industry saw the male market as offering a major potential for growth because of the low usage of personal-care products amongst men compared to women. Until recently it proved a difficult market to succeed in, but there are clear signs that there is now real and significant growth in this segment of the industry. However, the growth is not uniform in all markets; the European market has grown more, with higher per-capita consumption, than the US [1]. The activity undertaken by a majority of men on a daily basis, namely shaving, has proved to be the entrée into a wider male toiletries franchise for a number of brands. Shaving-related products probably account for the male-oriented skin-care sector and those positioned for sensitive skin have a particular appeal as a significant portion of men both in the UK and a number of European countries perceive themselves to have sensitive skin. While the structure of skin is described in the chapter on skin preparations it suffices here to describe differences between the skin of males and females. While skin does thin with age, men have a thicker dermis that helps to give their skin greater elasticity as they get older. The thinner skin of females, when subjected to the elements, UV radiation and pollution, is more affected by the resultant cumulative damage thereby accounting for the more pronounced deterioration with age. Males exhibit greater sebum production than females and possibly this accounts for the propensity of male skin to form spots. Sebum production increases until middle-age for both men and women, falling off after about the age of forty. This rate of decline is similar for both, though women have a much lower production rate at all ages past puberty. In short, gender differences in skin relate to the action of the sex hormones testosterone and oestrogen which become particularly active from the onset of puberty onwards [2].