18/8 Fine Men’s Salons – leading the trend for a decade!

Move over mantyhose — men’s makeup is the next big gender-bending business.

Though it’s dwarfed by what the female beauty industry rakes in annually, men’s skin-care products are trumping expected sales, according to Alessandra Codinha in The Daily Beast.

She reports that American consumers spent over $5 billion on men’s grooming products in 2012, more than twice what they spent in 1997.

Men aren’t just buying shower gels and shaving cream, either. Men’s makeup is also on the rise.

We can thank savvy marketers, in part. Advertisements rarely describe men’s cosmetics the same way they do women’s: Eyebrow pencils are “brow and beard correctors.” Foundation is now a “sculpting face stick” or “urban camouflage.” And concealer — one of the most popular products — is a “confidence corrector.”

Men’s cosmetic companies such as 4Voo, Menaji, and Kenmen strive to make products and packaging seem as far from the female beauty industry as possible, writes Codinha.

Even big brands like Sephora and Clinique are cashing in on men’s desire for “manly” concealer and lip balm. The goal is stealth makeup that makes men look more handsome, not more feminine.

“The world has come to a different place now when it comes to men taking care of themselves,” MAC makeup artist John Stapleton says in a men’s cosmetics instructional video. “I th