Everyone wants to be beautiful. Men just don’t like to talk about it. But the market for men’s “cosmaceuticals” has grown by leaps and bounds, with no end in sight. All those morning-after, under-eye circles, those ragged nails, and dull, dead skin buildup will soon be a thing of the past, if the men’s grooming industry has its way. This quiet revolution began with men raiding the medicine cabinet, using their wives’ or girlfriends’ beauty products. Now men are demanding their own products, and cosmetics companies are happy to oblige. Designers have responded with clean, sans serif typography and sleek, but buff, packaging—unfussy and unfeminine.

The business of selling beautifying products to men is booming. Call them “grooming-aware,” “neo-masculines,” or what you will, men in the mainstream are (mostly) unashamed of using products formerly only used by women. And these are not just the stereotypically vain, affluent swinging bachelors.

On Dec. 31, 2004, under a New York Times headline “Tough Guys, Shapely Eyebrows,” one can find bus drivers, mechanics, firemen, and construction workers who are waxing, tweezing, getting seaweed wraps, manicures, and facials. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy popularized the acceptability of (straight) male attention to typically female concerns: moisturizing, hair care, exfoliation, and yes, even makeup.

There has been an explosion of new products designed and packaged to appeal to men. Tom Granese, founder of Regimens (a retailer of personal grooming products “specifically designed from a masculine perspective”), says, “The male segment of the beauty category has an estimated annual value of $4.5 billion … it’s anticipated to increase to $5.5 billion by 2006.”

Only a couple of years ago, a few pioneers tried and failed to bridge the perception gap: L’Oréal launched Surface, a cosmetics line for men including concealer, brow pencils, and eyeliner, which only lasted a year and a half. Estée Lauder, under its Aramis label, briefly launched a men’s cover-up The market wasn’t ready.

Now almost every major cosmetics company is catering to metrosexuals, the fastest-growing segment of the personal grooming category. Clarins, Lancôme, Nivea, Biotherm, and Shiseido have either recently launched or are about to launch men’s lines. Shiseido says “Even tough guys have a soft side. The design concept for Shiseido Men was centered on the ideas of ‘toughness and tenderness.’ The straight and curved lines of the package depict this masculine contradiction with a hint of Japanese elegance.” Shiseido Men’s “Anti-Shine Refresher” (for a matte facial finish) may look tough but it incorporates pressed powder in its ingredients.