BAXTER OF CALIFORNIA aims for a "highend apothecary" look, according to president J.P. Mastey ... "We keep (the packaging) very simple: only enough information to know what the product is."

Many product lines are designed with a medical/pharmaceutical look, using a subdued palette of blacks, blues, and grays, and brushed metallics, olives, and browns. The typography is not strongly masculine but rather gender-neutral and antiseptic. Simplicity and sleekness rule. Product names and descriptions are frankly vanity-based, using adjectives such as anti-aging, high performance, revitalizing and renewing, and ultra-hydrating, and verbs like stimulates and tones and moisturizes and defends.

These new products are decidedly different from the traditional men’s aftershave and pine-scented soap-on-a-rope. Ingredients such as high-percentage exfoliating acids are relatively new for men: Menscience’s products feature hydroquinone, and glycolic and salicylic acids. Package designer Charlie Calderin wanted something “not medical but technical, indicating a product that works, that appeals to men, and is refreshing.” Calderin used a modified Standard (a font from T26), smoothing out the corners, and paired it with Interstate. After testing “a rainbow of colors actually printed on products, we decided on silver, black, and orange, which felt clean and was unlike other palettes.”

Anthony Logistics for Men’s line includes deep pore cleansers, body scrubs, soothing eye cream, and lip balm. Kent Hunter art directed the project: “The packaging needed to look good in a man’s medicine cabinet—for those prying eyes at parties. Nononsense, masculine, clean, and modern. Classic Swiss red, black, and gray color scheme, using a Swiss version of Helvetica.”

Bulliecare caters to different skin types with a range of moisturizers. Owner John Cypher looked through a lot of type books and chose Eurostile Extended 2 and Eurostile Extended Normal. “I was going for a modern barbershop or pharmacy feel. It had to be simple: Guys like simplicity of use and portability for travel and the gym. We chose clear plastic bottles because our research showed guys like to see how much is left in the bottle. The products were designed to have distinctive ‘manly’ colors: amber, blue, white, brown.”

Baxter of California, launched in 1965, may be the granddaddy of men’s cosmaceuticals. In 2000, new owner J.P. Mastey also chose Eurostile when he updated and modernized the line. “Guys gravitate toward a ‘generic’ bottle—they shy away from products that look feminine. We use frosted packaging to expose the product colors, which are not too bright or synthetic.”

“The men-ü logo has been specially drawn. Its original inspiration was Bauhaus; we used the lightest weight and extended it 200 percent. We also altered the angle of the crossbar on the e to align with the hyphen between the n and u. We liked the subtlety of the smiley face created by the umlaut over the u, which we picked out in a different color. For product descriptors, we wanted to achieve a comfortable balance with the brand name, so we chose Helvetica Neue 93 Black Extended."

Department stores and specialty shops have responded to the need to market to men. Barney’s men’s department in New York has a “men’s spa” which carries the hipper, metrosexually targeted men’s lines, while Kiehl’s is downstairs with Clinique and Origins (these are considered non-gender-specific in their packaging). Kiehl’s has been offering its unisex natural and fragrance-free products since 1851, but has been quick to capitalize on the current trend by adding a men’s line—“Facial Fuel Energizing Moisture Treatment for Men,” for example. Clinique for Men includes exfoliating formulas and eye treatments.

What else is new? Pierce Mattie, a leading consultant to the industry, says packaging trends for men are “more flavorful” and targeted to more stratified market segments, “such as the 35-plus straight white guy, or the 25-plus gay man. Now there’s a lot more color: bright green, yellow, orange,” he says. “More than 40 lines launched in the past year, and they want to stand out. The typography is more interesting … there’s a tattooed Asian influence.”

Makeup for men is still a taboo topic, he contends. But online retailers carry a full line of traditionally female-only products for men, including Menaji, 4Voo, and Male Species. On these sites forward-thinking men (or, as Mattie refers to them, “advanced groomers”) can order everything from nail polish to blush, eye shadow, and mascara. And Jean Paul Gaultier has just launched a line of male grooming products, Tout Beau Tout Propre, including a lipstick for men (“Sneaky Kiss”) and a combination under-eye concealer/kohl eyeliner for men. Doug Shingleton from Barney’s says that if men are looking for makeup in the spa, they are referred to the Nars counter in the women’s section, because it has “mild tones of foundation.”

Whither goeth metrosexuals? Will it ever become universally acceptable for men to indulge their vanities and fill their closets with grooming products “specially formulated” for them? As agedenying baby boomers fighting wrinkles and under-eye puffiness join forces with younger men unafraid of spas and salons, the future looks bright for marketers and designers who cater to the male peacocks.