Men's Anti-Aging Products Have That Healthy Glow

The Los Angeles Daily News reports that increasing numbers of men are rubbing things into their skin to delay the onset of wrinkles and crow's feet:

... cosmetics makers now hawk increasingly popular creams, gels and other concoctions to fight off the signs of age that besmirch young men's faces.

... Just five years ago, there was nearly no market for such products. Today, major manufacturers such as L'Oreal Paris, Avon and Shiseido Men and hipster labels like Billy Dangerously and Jack Black alike sling the concoctions.

The "cosmeceutical" market - which the research company Packaged Facts, the publishing division of MarketResearch.com, defines as skin products with both a cosmetic and therapeutic component - accounted for $13.3 billion in sales last year, a 7 percent annual increase. That's up from $2.6 billion five years ago and should account for more than $17 billion annually by 2010. The men's market still remains an unquantified slice of the total, but represents a fast-growing niche for companies.

A May 2006 market research report on "Cosmeceutical and Anti-Aging Products in the U.S." has sections with nothing but good news for the manufacturers of these products:

• More Plastic Surgery, Yet More Health-Consciousness, Too…
• Boomers Still Make Best Targets
• Gen-Xers Getting Long in the Tooth
• Surprise! Twentysomethings and Teens Fret About Wrinkles

There is no mention in either location of a surge in upmarket men's hair coloring, but our guess is that guys are still borrowing their wife / girlfriend / etc's bottles, or hiding the L'Oreal under the spark plugs and basketball shorts when they check out at Target.