Back in my dating days, one thing I’d do without fail when I first started seeing a guy was snoop around his bathroom and medicine cabinet… on the down low.
Like Marc Anthony, I felt I *needed to know* about hidden dentures or preserved body parts in jars.
To my eternal relief, I never found anything scary, just mostly run-of-the-mill, boring dude stuff like deodorant, razors and whatnot.
I’ve been out of the loop for a while now, but with more men paying attention to skin and hair care than ever before, dating women face a new breed of conundrum.
Legions of single ladies are out there snooping medicine cabinets across this great land, and many of them are finding shelves filled with beauty products previously reserved for us, like toners, eye creams and leave-in conditioner.
I’m all in favor of well-groomed guys, but how would you feel about dating a man who owns more beauty products than you do?
Loading ...Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
this was a good one karen !
i was actually having this conversation with my fiance who is a soap and water kind of guy – he is the anti mens beauty product spokesperson lol
prob the only things he uses aside from soap and water is cologne and leave in conditioner and thats cause hes got curly hair like me – but even his shampoo is like bare bones no frills lol
he totally doesnt get my technique of multi product usage for something as simple as a shower
i guess i couldn’t handle a guy who prettified himself more than me as it stands i am a no frills hair kinda girl and my makeup obsessions are really more focused on my eyes and not so much the rest of my face
Hi Yadi,
Wow, you can get your guy to use conditioner! That’s awesome. El Hub has no concept of it, LOL.
And don’t even get me started on the dry skin/lotion situation!
Great way to find out if d chap got a gf. I tell you!
Pink bottles, mascara, strawberry saltscrub n alike.
Too many, too girly beauty products and it’s a hell naaw!
“I asked him and he told me his auntie left them after her visit.”
yeah right.
Hi The GF,
Yeah, I guess I was kinda snooping for that as well. You never know!
My man really takes care of himself – he has actually tought me a thing or two about skin care, and I think it’s sexy as hell! He’s religious about sunscreen, as every man should be. He looks years younger than guys his age, and he isn’t even 30 yet!
Also, I think people need to get over themselves and these obsolete gender roles that so many seem to be fond of. Men need grooming as much as we do, and why not let them? At least most guys in Scandinavia take care of themselves, but we seem to be a little more easy going…I don’t know?
I personally think that razor bumps, zits, bad hair and wrinkles are quite unattractive, but have it your way. 😉
Hi Astrid,
That’s awesome that your guy takes care of himself. I think maybe your country might be a bit more progressive in terms of men’s grooming. Here it’s just really taken off in the last few years, and it seems like some aspects of it seem more accepted than others.
Hi Karen! Great question to start my Tuesday…I don’t know really, the two guys in my life (dad and 8 yr old bro) don’t really have many beauty products. My brother likes putting on perfume for the girlies and getting his makeup done though – but as a vampire, LOL!
If a guy had as much makeup as me though, I’d sort of freak out. Unless he was a make-up artist too!
.-= Marce’s last blog post… MAC Brave New Bronze Lipstick – Review =-.
Hi Marce,
Ha, in that case I’d be dipping into his stash 24/7!!
Can you imagine — “Honey, can I borrow your MAC Russian Red? I can’t find my tube.”
Given the insane amount of makeup/products I have, I honestly don’t think there’s a straight man alive who could have more — so that would be a no :).
Plus, as I said yesterday in response to your emo question, in any marriage there is only a certain amount of money for items like grooming, and I think it should go to me, LOL. Hubby is very well-groomed, but soap, facial wash, and a nice aftershave do it for him — and for me.
Hi Faye,
LOL, one of the reasons why I thought of this question came about after reading your comment. El Hub is like your guy — low maintenance on the manscaping end.
Never again! I once dated a guy who had an arsenal of products in his bathroom — on the ledges of the sink, jammed in the medicine cabinet, overflowing from his shower caddy… You name it, he had 3 of them. He was the most narcissistic, self-centered person I’ve ever met, and it didn’t take me long to learn that his obsession with looks definitely applied to me, too. This is NOT the type of guy I want to be with.
It wasn’t just him, either. I’ve seen it over & over again. In my experience, a guy who grooms too much is overly concerned with his appearance…and yours, too. Most likely, he’ll be turned off by little (human) things, like forgetting to shave your legs when you’re late for work. It’s too much work to keep up with a guy like this…and considering I’m the type of girl who won’t even go to the gym without a little makeup, that’s saying a lot.
.-= Kristen’s last blog post… Makeup Forever Glitter in Silver 2 =-.
Hi Kristen,
What an interesting perspective. I never really went out with any overly groomed dudes so I never experienced this. It makes me kinda glad I found somebody on the low maintenance side.
I went out with my ex for a year and he spent a lot of time getting ready. He stayed at mine once and had a wash bag. The wash bag fell open and some concealer fell out. I was a bit horrified and didn’t say anything!
I like boys to be clean and using a facial wash gives extra points…however using facial wash, toner and moisturiser is maybe going a bit too far!
.-= Daisy’s last blog post… Face Love- Ashley Olsen =-.
Hi Daisy,
Wow! I guess the concealer was really good — could you even tell he was wearing any before you discovered it in the bag?
If he had more than me (and my collection is HUGE and youtube documented) id have him sectioned!
.-= tali’s last blog post… Rouge Bunny Rouge Haul & Review =-.
Hi Tali,
Hey, at least you could share!
Ha! I’d say “absolutely!” — that is, if I wasn’t such a beauty junkie! Any guy with more products than me either needs to be committed or isn’t straight 😛
But hey! If he’s just a cute metro guy with a lot of products who isn’t a total narcissist… sign me up!
.-= Rae’s last blog post… Smokey blue-grey eyes =-.
Hi Rae,
Hopefully you both would have the same skin type! That would be really handy. 🙂
This one runs in the family: some of my male cousins actually own more skin/hair care products than I do. Of course, they look really good but livin’ with them ain’t easy. The constant bathroom and mirror hogging in the AM can drive any girl off the wall!
lol
yeah my honey is the queen of ashiness i cannot get him to moisturize skin at all – his hair yes cause like i said its curly like mine so there’s no way around it even though he buzzes it short – textured hair just need the moisture lol
i mean its pretty funny come to think abt it it seems like el hub has very similar non moisturizing habits to my fiance lol
lets lock them in a room and harass them with a rich fragrant lotion lol why should we be subjected to the ashiness when we are pretty good abt un ashing lol
Hi Yadi,
LOL! We should threaten then with video games. “Ya’ll can’t play until you moisturize!!!”
I agree with Kristen that a guy who’s obsessed with his appearance will carry that self-centeredness (?) over to other aspects of the relationship. But I can’t speak from personal experience. My hubby is a soap-and-water kinda guy. I’m trying to convince him to use a moisturizer, even an oil-free one, but he believes in stripping his skin bone-dry; he likes that “tight” feeling. Meanwhile he constantly complains about his oily skin and huge pores… sigh.
Hi DanielleO,
LOL, does he ever make crazy claims like moisturizer burns?! That’s El Hub’s schtick. I know it totally doesn’t, but he just likes to pretend that his body repels all grooming implements.
girl that would work like a charm
my home entertainment unit is like an arcade, xbox360, playstation 3 and Wii
not to mention the psp and nintendo DSI for portability lol
my fiance is a total game freak
so thats perfect we can threaten them no moisture no games lol
let me tell you my fiance has also used the whole lotion burns excuse too so now i know they are even more alike
Hmm interesting. My boyfriend is a soap/water kind of guy, too. Works for me.
-meream
.-= All Women Stalker’s last blog post… 6 Cute Kate Bosworth Looks =-.
Hi Karen
I actually meant that we’re a bit ahead on more than skin care…lol
I think that everyone should use sunscreen every single day, no matter if their girlfriends think they’re self-centered. Why is a man who takes care of himself self-centered, but a woman is not? Double standards I suppose.
A LOT of people get skin cancer, and the only way to prevent ageing and skin cancer is, yes, sunscreen. Every day. Okay, so us people way up North only need it from May to September…:D But still, you must force sunscreen onto your hubbies…even if they cry lol
Sounds like our El Hubs would get along well, Karen :).
Hubby is British, and most men there just don’t get into products — at least his fam and friends. However, he is an EXTREMELY natty dresser — only the best quality suits, shirts, and he has all kinds of designer gear. Now it’s conservative stuff — Thom Browne, Paul Smith, Saville Row, Armani, Zegna, Ralph Lauren — but still, I think his total wardrobe may cost more than mine. He’s not really a label whore — i.e. he doesn’t go around talking about this or that designer — he just has expensive tastes.
I guess I can’t point any fingers given my expensive makeup pash :). Hubby never comments on it at least, which is nice — does yours?
I probably wouldn’t really care as long as he was cute and had a great personality! however, if I found him gazing into every shiny surface he passed I would probably think he was a little vain…
Like Kristen said….Never :). I once date a guy that didn’t had so many beauty products (maybe because he couldn’t afford it) but he was very into himself. He was going to the gym daily to grow muscles and have a perfect body, he was looking in the mirror all the time. At first I was thinking that he only looks in the mirror before we go out to check on his outfit, but after I realize that everytime he saw a mirror, he must look on himself for about 5 min or so.
Persons like this, obsessed with themselves put price only on looks and not on feelings or other stuff.
.-= Tavia’s last blog post… Chic’s favorite articles of the week: new fall 2009 collections & new perfumes =-.
Boyfriend scrubs and uses moisturizer, and even wants to get a facial. He also takes very good care of his hair, and occasionally steals my Touche Eclat. I don’t mind 🙂
For me it wouldn’t bother me unless he really looked like he used more products than me! My bf is kind of a product junkie like me. So since we’ve been dating he’s amassed a small collection of tools and products including a backbrush, Secret Clinical Strength, facial brush, several tubes of H2O, a stash of Pond’s face wipes, Tweezerman tweezers and a pumice stone. But he would never admit to his brother or any of his guy friends that any of that stuff was his!
For me it wouldn’t bother me unless he really looked like he used more products than me! My bf is kind of a product junkie like me. So since we’ve been dating he’s amassed a small collection of tools and products including a backbrush, Secret Clinical Strength, facial brush, several tubes of H2O lip balm, a Costco sized stash of Pond’s face wipes, Tweezerman tweezers and a pumice stone. But he would never admit to his brother or any of his guy friends that any of that stuff was his!
I’m kinda standing in the middle of the scale. I think it’s vital for a guy to take care of himself – like hair or body. hey, there’s nothing wrong with sunscreen. better safe than sorry, right? And I don’t want my children to be (that’s going a little bit far..) I hate men who don’t wash their under garments over a week, that’s not attractive.
However, I DISLIKE men who wear makeup. I can be tolerant when it comes to spot concealing. That’s it.. I don’t want to see men wearing makeup in daily life, it’s not a theater production, so no need for that. (okay, Adam Lambert is different, I like to see him on stage) XD
Jeez, so much haterade. Come on, ladies, this is the 21st century. I voted yes — just because he has a lot of makeup or grooming products, doesn’t automatically make him a narcissistic jerk. For me, it’s all about the person, not their possessions.
I own so many beauty products I can’t imagine a man (or many women) owning more than I do!
The one thing I really absolutely can’t understand is how my boyfriend has never washed his face in his life!