A New Face For Men

In the mess of the 5th Avenue H&M the Thursday before Easter weekend there were countless languages flung around like the clothes hanging off the racks, or on the floor. I noticed a man speaking Spanish and whipping his shirt on and off to try different polos on in the men's section. Though I understand his refusal to wait on the mile long line to the dressing room, I noticed that his perfectly bare chest, all tan, did not in fact, match the color of his face, which was powdered beige. I have seen makeup on men many times before, but never a man who looked like this. He did not look gay, he did not have a punk rock look, he was utterly "normal" looking with khaki pants and a boring brown shirt. Beneath the powder I saw no blemishes or disfigurations, he was straight and wearing a thick layer of beige foundation. Why would he want to wear makeup and when would a boy think it appropriate to wear makeup?

Foundation is a funny thing that is more difficult to put on than it looks. Foundation must be as close to one's skin color as possible and it absolutely must not be binged on. A foundation binged face looks clownish and completely contradictory to its purpose.

The first men that come to mind when discussing men's makeup is the eyeliner of pop/punk rockers like Pete Wentz or the Marilyn Manson. News anchormen and stars wear makeup. It is important for when a person who is going to be on screen or having pictures taken of them, or, if they just want to be noticed. But foundation is a different phenomenon, and when worn with no plan to be on screen is another interesting situation.

Men wearing makeup is a similar type of pampering to the way a woman would wear

makeup, it is not for a show, rather than how one looks at themselves in the mirror, or admires

a short glance in the upcoming window. Men use makeup to feel good about how they look.

The way one would go to get a massage or their nails done, but makeup is an interesting form

of pampering that is solely visual and not necessarily "healthy" or reenergizing.

It has been a popular belief, however, that a man wearing makeup is either gay or ridiculously out

of touch to the way they are portraying themselves. However, we Americans seem to be the

ones out of the loop. It has been more acceptable in Europe for a man to wear makeup than in the United States. The trend for men wearing makeup is becoming more and more popular, and concealer, no less. Forbes Magazine wrote an article about men's wearing makeup and how the importance of grooming has become more and more important for men and women. Makeup is now taking a crucial role in this cleaning routine. Websites and companies have been created just for men's makeup such as kenmen.net and MYEGO Cosmetics among many others.

Makeup for men was once a form of standing out, a statement that was both radical and controversial. However, the scenes are shifting. In a society where there are screens everywhere, where one is judged so harshly, makeup has a different role. Everyone is looked at through the images in the media, there is a much higher standard of what is beautiful, it seems only natural that a man would be as concerned about his image as a woman. As long as society has become so nitpicky with looks, let the men's concealer sales rise.

It was a silly thought for me to judge this man who was wearing makeup and taking his shirt off. His pampering himself was much more appropriate than I had suspected, in my old American ways of gender definitions. The man looked just as normal as any other man, but with a little bit extra that, for him, was probably sharp and sexy, and that seems to be the new future.