Male vanity is no myth

The world of beauty is no longer strictly a woman’s prerogative. According to The New York Times, one of the biggest myths of the beauty industry is that it’s only for women! Men today take as much care as women do to look good. Go to any gym, dietician, dermatologist or cosmetologist and you will see the patient ratio between both sexes is almost the same.

No longer is a man satisfied with having a pretty arm candy by his side, he wants to look equally hot. Boys too are inspired by unrealistic beauty standards, with washboard abs, chiseled jaw lines, a glossy mane and blemish free skin on their list of aspirations.

Platelet-rich Plasma Therapy (PRP), a form of treatment for hair loss where a person’s blood is drawn, processed, and then injected back into the scalp has a huge male following. It seems men are happy to have their head stuck with a bunch of needles for half an hour, if that’s what it takes to maintain a thick mop of hair.

A less painful procedure that is also proving to be a hit is cool sculpting, a fat freezing procedure that gets rid of stubborn love handles and other unwanted fat. Similarly, the Keto diet has as many male followers as female, with men known to get openly competitive when comparing body fat percentages with each other.

Dr Sach Mohan, London-based cosmetic surgeon and founder of Revere Clinics, who treats many celebrities (Rita Ora is a well-known client) says the ratio of men to women is 50:50 when talking about his patients. “Anywhere else in the world, women will hide what procedures they are doing from their husbands, but Indian couples come together for a joint consultation. In fact, wives encourage their husbands to take care of themselves,” he says.

Dr Mohan feels this change has become more visible in the last five years. “Prior to that, the only male patient would be a groom coming to me three weeks before his wedding,” he says, adding that there is nothing wrong with men indulging in dermatology and cosmetic care when their manicures and pedicures are on par with women.

Their main picks, according to Dr Mohan, are a hydra facial followed by laser hair removal. Hyper-pigmentation is also a huge issue with Indian skins and men are as keen as women to undo years of sun damage. Picogenesis is the most popular treatment that uses sound to shatter excess pigment on the skin. “Everyone from India comes for this,” he says.

Similarly, in the world of fitness, Pilates is loved equally by men and women, with Kobe Bryant, David Beckham, Tiger Woods and Hugh Grant being some of the more prominent fans.

Mitali Sanghi, founder of The Pilates Studio in Hyderabad admits, “Pilates was actually invented by a man for men of war as a rehabilitative form of fitness. Although the ratio of men doing Pilates is low, one thing is that whoever starts Pilates loves it and continues with it. The few men we have as clients are actually more regular and dedicated than some of the female clients.”